Abstract
The transition towards low-energy buildings in the United Kingdom is challenging. Several policy changes have affected the actions and agency of actors. Drawing on the sustainability transitions literature, we analyse the development of the low-energy homes niche, focusing on the dynamics between intermediary organisations and policy development for low-energy homes. Based on rich interview and secondary data, we note how the existence and activities of transition intermediaries are enabled or curtailed by policy changes. We identify niche development phases along with the position and activities of intermediary organisations. In the predevelopment phase, non-state transition intermediaries have formed when government policy has been weak or market-based. During take-off, targeted policy initiatives have created protective spaces and stimulated the emergence of new intermediaries aiming to consolidate the niche. State-affiliated intermediaries have been established as part of active energy efficiency policy, but later ceased to exist or became privatised. Existing organisations have adopted intermediary functions to advance low-energy homes in response to policy. Furthermore, intermediaries have on occasion influenced policy development, often through cooperation among an ecology of intermediaries. In conclusion, we raise questions regarding intermediaries in the changing governance context.
Highlights
International oil crises of the 1970s led to official building energy efficiency policy in many countries, paving a way towards low-energy buildings
From our initial historical narrative, we identified nine phases related to policy development, which constituted sub-phases to the broader transition phases of predevelopment, take-off and gradual backtracking
We were interested in when and why new intermediary organisations had emerged or existing organisations subsumed intermediary roles for low-energy homes, and what influence these intermediary organisations have had on policy development
Summary
International oil crises of the 1970s led to official building energy efficiency policy in many countries, paving a way towards low-energy buildings. The existing building stock still today contributes a significant share of carbon dioxide emissions globally, and the transition to low-energy buildings has not progressed very far. The field is abound with barriers for the adoption of system innovations that would significantly reduce energy demand from buildings [1,[2]]. Despite new strategies to overcome barriers [2] and the long-established sustainable buildings niche [3,4], the UK transition (largely dependent on energy efficiency policy to stimulate change) is very slow. We focus on the development towards low-energy residential buildings (from here on referred to as ‘low-energy homes’) in the United Kingdom (UK). A considerable sustainable housing movement has developed in the last 30–40 years, promoting concepts such as ‘autonomous homes’, ‘eco-homes’, ‘sustainable homes’,
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
