Agency and capacity in the planning and design phase of building renovations

Katharina Reindl

doi:10.1007/s12053-020-09885-1

Katharina Reindl

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12053-020-09885-1

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Abstract

The building sector is a large energy consumer and is responsible for high CO2 emissions; hence, improving the energy performance of buildings is vital. Building renovations open opportunities to improve their energy performance.Building professionals and other actors in the early phase of renovations decide what energy efficiency and saving measures will be implemented. Their role is studied here from a middle-out perspective (MOP), investigating the different actors’ agency and capacity. Agency refers here to an interest in and a willingness to implement energy efficiency and saving measures, and capacity refers to the ability to implement such measures. Higher agency and capacity are said to increase the realisation of the planned energy efficiency and saving measures.The data was gathered during three planning and design phases of renovation projects of a municipal housing company in a middle-sized Swedish town. A case study was conducted which is based on semi-structured interviews with actors from the planning and design phase of the renovations, as well as participant observations and a document analysis.The levels of agency and capacity of professionals in the middle of a project’s planning and design phase are investigated thoroughly, but the here defined top and bottom levels are also in focus. The analysis shows that a mismatch in agency and capacity on the different levels hindered the uptake of energy efficiency and saving measures in the planning and design of the renovation projects.

Highlights

Improving the energy performance of buildings is broadly acknowledged as an important task (GramHanssen and Georg 2018)
Actions to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions are needed as a climate change mitigation strategy (e.g. Janda et al 2014; GramHanssen and Georg 2018; Thuvander et al 2012)
This study investigated what influence there is from the top down to the middle, and from the bottom up to the middle in the planning and design phase

Summary

Introduction

Improving the energy performance of buildings is broadly acknowledged as an important task (GramHanssen and Georg 2018). The building sector is a major energy consumer, accounting for almost 40% of energy use and about 30% of the CO2 emissions in the EU as well as in Sweden. Actions to reduce energy use and CO2 emissions are needed as a climate change mitigation strategy Many international and national agreements as well as targets exist for energy efficiency and reduction in order to mitigate climate change (Jonsson et al 2011; Mangold et al 2016). The current trend shows that Sweden will not be able to meet the 2020 energy efficiency target (Xylia 2016), and, in order to reach the 2050 targets, extensive energy renovations are needed The current trend shows that Sweden will not be able to meet the 2020 energy efficiency target (Xylia 2016), and, in order to reach the 2050 targets, extensive energy renovations are needed (e.g. Mangold et al 2016; Meijer et al 2009; Thuvander et al 2012)

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