Global warming has become one of the major challenges faced by the world today. Use of renewable energy can help mitigate the adverse effects of climate change and environmental pollution. However, owing to high up-front costs and the risk of commercializing renewable energy initiatives compared with conventional technology, a barrier exists in securing financing of renewable energy projects. This article aims to explore the knowledge of the emerging crowdfunding in general and more specifically, to focus on how best to employ this new funding source for renewable and sustainable energy projects. Firstly, incorporation of literature findings is undertaken from two fields: crowdfunding and renewable energy development. A case study approach is employed to demonstrate how crowdfunding has been applied in renewable projects. Eight international cases were chosen to represent various crowdfunding models that differ in terms of reward and returns associated with the investment. Crowdfunding can play a significant role at the start of a renewable and sustainable energy project's life-cycle. A variety of crowdfunding approaches may be used to finance the early stages of renewable energy development, particularly when stakeholders are the beneficiaries, or the concerned groups related to environmental protection and sustainability. Crowdfunding is also suitable for supporting research and development efforts of innovative green technology start-ups. This article introduces crowdfunding as a new source of green financing and gives evidences for using crowdfunding in renewable and sustainable energy development, in comparison with other funding sources

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The attention paid to professional ethics in the construction industry is increasing (HKIE and HKEDC, 2000; HKCIRC, 2001). The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE) worked jointly with the Hong Kong Ethics Development Centre (HKEDC) and developed the ETHICS PLUS decision-making model for construction and engineering professionals to ensure that they prudently exercise judgment and discretion in resolving ethical dilemmas in the workplace (HKEDC, 1996). In the investigation of the process of ethical decision-making using ETHICS PLUS model, it is found that Hong Kong engineers are conscious about identifying problems and the relevant ethical issues but pay less attention to the welfare of all stakeholders. This paper presents an investigation of the moral judgment of Hong Kong construction professionals in resolving social dilemmas compared with professional dilemmas. The Defining Issues Test-1 (DIT-1) and test instrument containing cases related to the field of construction are used. The findings show that construction professionals scored differently in social cases and construction cases. The construction professionals responded as conventional rule-oriented decision makers on social issues and used post-conventional thinking to make judgment in a professional setting. This reflects that there is a discrepancy between the moral judgment of the construction practitioners on social issues and professional practice.

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