Collaborative Planning for Clean Energy Initiatives in Small to Mid-Sized Cities

Problem, research strategy, and findings: A growing number of small to mid-sized cities are implementing initiatives to promote energy conservation, efficiency, and renewable energy use in their communities. We need to better understand how these cities have approached this issue and the processes by which they adopt clean energy initiatives. We surveyed representatives of small to mid-sized cities to identify the types of clean energy initiatives they have adopted, the processes by which they were developed, and the obstacles encountered along the way. We also conducted 10 in-depth interviews with representatives of targeted high- and low-adopter cities. While many of the cities are aggressively pursuing clean energy opportunities in their municipal operations, far fewer are taking action to promote clean energy community wide. The high-adopter cities that have developed community-wide clean energy initiatives often did so using a variety of community engagement and stakeholder outreach methods.

Takeaway for practice: Local officials who wish to promote clean energy use should start with energy efficiency and renewable energy investments for municipal facilities. Subsequent community-wide clean energy programs should focus initially on incentives for local residents and businesses, and should be framed in a way that emphasizes both environmental and nonenvironmental benefits. These initiatives should be developed through collaborative planning strategies, which can help educate residents about the benefits of clean energy initiatives, create dialogue with stakeholders who would be affected by these new initiatives, and introduce valuable outside expertise to the planning process.     

Impacts of energy legislation on organizational motivation: a case study

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to reduce operational energy use in non-domestic buildings and mitigate climate change, the UK government has introduced Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) legislation to motivate large organizations to implement energy-efficiency (EE) measures. However, evidence suggests that an organization’s behaviour with regard to EE measures does not follow rational cost minimization, demonstrating potential ESOS weakness. A case study is presented that assesses whether ESOS can lead to EE measures deployment despite different overarching agendas. A generic qualitative approach is used to assess the change within the organization; auto-ethnomethodology was used to assess the change within its facility management (FM). The results demonstrate that the energy audit delivered through an agenda of cost minimization was weak in creating organizational behaviour change. However, the ESOS audit along with the research process led to a mindset change of the FM, resetting an overarching agenda from cost minimization to co-evolution between a building and its occupants, further empowering the FM to facilitate behavioural change within the whole organization. These findings suggest that the success of EE policies can increase if policies shift from understanding end-users as passive to proactive and capable of shaping better outcomes for themselves and their organizations.     

Risk and regulation: can improved government action reduce the impacts of natural disasters?

From an examination of national policies for risk mitigation, the paper asks what types of laws are successful and should be more widely adopted, and what does not work. Three types of regulations are considered: (1) regulations for constructing new buildings and code enforcement; (2) regulations for intervening in/upgrading the existing building stock; and (3) regulation of the insurance industry. When applied, improved codes can substantially reduce the impacts of natural disasters. However, unnecessary complexity is shown to compromise implementation and enforcement. The widespread destruction of buildings in the earthquakes of Kocaeli, Turkey, in 1999 and Gujarat, India, in 2001 was not due to inadequate codes. Destruction occurred because codes were not generally adopted. Improving the application and enforcement of codes in developing countries are necessary key measures. For the strengthening of existing substandard buildings, some regulations exist and some successful programmes of evaluation and strengthening are in progress. However, lessons from the US experience indicate legislation is needed to back such programmes, and further incentives for action are needed. Several national insurance schemes for natural catastrophe losses (US programmes for flood, New Zealand programmes for earthquake, and French programmes for all catastrophic natural hazards) have considerable potential to stimulate mitigation activity. Ultimately, coercion by government is only part of the answer. The success of any government action depends equally on the development in society of a 'safety culture' in which citizens both understand the risks they face and are prepared to participate in the management of them.     

National building stocks: addressing energy consumption or decarbonization?

The Building Research & Information special issue titled ‘Climate Change: National Building Stocks’ (2007) focused attention on the potential that the national building stock has in reducing CO₂ emissions. However, can this potential be realized? To do so requires faith in energy models that suggest that demolition, new build, and the refurbishing of existing homes with insulation measures can deliver massive energy savings by 2050. But why, in the future, can there be increased efficiency and reduced consumption, when this has never occurred in the past? It is argued that the central weakness in the special issue papers is the neglect of the relationship between energy consumption and energy efficiency, and of the ‘rebound effect’. The primary goal, should after all, be to reduce carbon emissions rather than energy use. Hence, emphasis should be placed on decarbonizing the centralized energy-supply systems. However, there will be a role here for micro-generation, building on the favourable image that energy efficiency has amongst the public. In 2050, we may be a low-carbon society, but I doubt we will be a low-energy one.

Le numéro spécial de Building Research & Information intitulé « Changement Climatique: le Parc Bâti National » (2007) a attiré l'attention sur le potentiel de réduction des émissions de CO₂ que possède le parc bâti national. Cependant, ce potentiel peut-il être réalisé? Pour y parvenir, il faut se fier à des modèles énergétiques qui suggèrent que les démolitions, les constructions neuves et une rénovation des logements existants s'accompagnant de mesures d'isolation peuvent assurer des économies d'énergie massives d'ici à 2050. Mais pourquoi y aurait-il à l'avenir un accroissement du rendement énergétique et une réduction de la consommation, alors que cela ne s'est jamais produit par le passé? Il est argumenté que le point faible central des articles de ce numéro spécial réside dans le fait qu'il n'est tenu compte ni de la relation entre consommation d'énergie et rendement énergétique, ni de « l'effet de rebond». Le but premier devrait être, après tout, de réduire les émissions de carbone plutôt que d'utiliser de l'énergie. De sorte que l'accent devrait être mis sur la décarbonisation des systèmes centralisés d'approvisionnement énergétique. Néanmoins, il y aura là un rôle à jouer pour la micro-génération, en tirant parti de l'image favorable que possède le rendement énergétique auprès du public. En 2050, nous serons peut-être une société à faible émission de carbone, mais je doute que nous devenions une société à faible consommation d'énergie.

Mots clés: parc bâti, changement climatique, démolitions, consommation d'énergie, rendement énergétique, faible émission de carbone, mesures politiques, effet de rebond     

Unequal spatial distribution of retrofits in Bucharest’s apartment buildings

This paper argues that the current spatial patterns of energy retrofits in post-socialist apartment buildings are unequally distributed across municipalities in Bucharest, Romania. In addition to the dominant techno-economic and social framing of this type of retrofit action, an institutional and political perspective can provide useful insights into why this occurs. By drawing on secondary analysis of statistical data, grey literature and 20 semi-structured interviews in Bucharest, three important findings emerge. First, the institutional complexity of energy retrofit of apartment buildings in Romania is underestimated and the interaction between various institutions is poor, explained by lack of trust and collective action. Second, the spatial distribution of the retrofit of apartment buildings is unequally distributed across Bucharest’s six municipalities. Third, current action for retrofit does not reach municipalities with the greatest need and potential. A more bottom-up and decentralized institutional landscape exists than is currently acknowledged in public policy and the research literature. Findings show an unequal and unfair spread of retrofit action within and between cities – raising wider implications for the potential shortcomings of European Union retrofit programmes in Central and Eastern Europe.     

Green building standards as socio-technical actors in municipal environmental policy

Methods for the environmental assessment and certification of ‘green’ buildings are increasingly being adopted by local governments and other entities as a means of meeting environmental, and often energy-related, goals. Literature on building environmental assessment has examined how these tools are interpreted by stakeholders in design and construction, but less attention has been paid to their interpretation and usage as objects of policy – despite this being a channel through which they have a potentially huge impact. Based on a case study of the emergence of green building in Israel, and drawing on socio-technical literatures, this paper explores the meanings attributed to building environmental assessment in the policy context. It finds that these meanings include a platform for divergent environmental goals and a proxy measure for greenhouse gas abatement. The analysis suggests that for policy-makers, the significance of green building lies not in its constituting a set of environmental benchmarks but as a standard that gains currency as a black-boxed policy object. An open discussion is needed on the various logics driving the use of green building tools in public policy, and what they hope to achieve.     

Harnessing social class,taste and gender for more effective policies

ABSTRACT

This paper explores why domestic energy policies, thermal retrofitting and the operation of domestic energy-efficient technologies are often met with social inertia in practice. Two sets of interview data – UK homeowners who have retrofitted their property and social housing tenants living in energy-efficient housing – reveal a very different mix of habits, skills and attitudes regarding domestic heating, rooted in socio-economic background and further determined by tenure. Middle-class homeowners’ retrofit design were part of their social and economic capital and self-expression of taste. These aspirational retrofits were characterized by comfort, conspicuous consumption and do-it-yourself (DIY) activities. Policy should strengthen these ‘paths of least resistance’ by providing resources to harness the taste-motivated retrofit stream. In contrast, the less-privileged tenant group struggled with the basic interaction with new technologies imposed on them and need more tailor-made paths: simpler heating controls; a simpler manual for some; and practical measures such as burglar-proof natural ventilation. The paper explores how social stratification and status-led consumption can be brought into understandings of energy retrofitting practices. Reflecting on gender in such contexts could also help to overcome exclusion practices and stereotyping, and there are market opportunities for retrofit packages to engage women and harness their emerging interest in DIY.     

Participatory system dynamics modelling for housing,energy and wellbeing interactions

The built environment is a key target of decarbonization policies. However, such policies often have a narrow objective and narrow focus, resulting in ‘policy-resistance’ and unintended consequences. The literature attributes these unintended consequences to a narrow financial focus, adverse incentives, and inadequate handling of knowledge, skills, communication and feedback gaps, but it provides little advice on how these complex interactions can be captured. This paper illustrates the development and application of an integrated approach to address these complex interactions with regard to housing performance, energy, communal spaces and wellbeing. In particular, it explores the dynamics created by these relationships with simulation modelling in participatory settings, and with a diverse group of stakeholders. The simulation results suggest that monitoring is key to improve the performance of the housing stock besides energy efficiency; and investments in communal spaces positively affect the adoption of energy-efficiency measures and the wellbeing of residents. The evaluation results for participatory workshops show this approach was found useful by the stakeholders for supporting more integrated decision-making about housing. In future research, this approach can be implemented for policy problems in specific contexts.     

Cold comfort in a high carbon society?

It is now obvious that technology and society co-evolve. This should lead to increasing collaboration between social scientists and engineers in fields such as buildings. Yet engineering insights still have hegemony over building practices and the setting of standards. This paper considers how the insights from the recent Building Research & Information 2008 special issue titled ‘Comfort in a Lower Carbon Society’ might be applied in the building sector and in associated policy-making processes. It concludes that economics, the dominant discipline in the policy world, tells us that there is a huge prize to be gained in terms of reducing carbon emissions in the built environment, but that it does not provide many clues about the practical steps needed to secure the prize. Social science insights could be critical here. Specifically, it is argued that social science can increase one's understanding of the ways in which needs and demand for comfort are created. It can help design regulatory processes that build in visions of a lower carbon society from the start. It also provides the insight that high-level policy-makers must send coherent signals to regulators and practitioners to avoid the low carbon building agenda coming into conflict with other policy goals.

Il est évident, aujourd'hui, que la technologie et la société évoluent ensemble. Cela devrait conduire à une collaboration plus étroite entre chercheurs sociaux et ingénieurs dans des domaines tels que la construction. Or, l'information technique prend toujours le pas sur les pratiques du bâtiment et sur l'élaboration de normes. Cet article étudie comment les idées contenues dans le numéro spécial de Building Research & Information 2008 consacré au confort dans une société sobre en carbone pourraient être appliquées au secteur du bâtiment et aux procédures décisionnelles associées. L'auteur conclut que l'économie, la discipline dominante du monde politique, nous indique qu'il y aurait beaucoup à gagner en termes de réduction des émissions de carbone dans le milieu bâti mais il ne donne aucune piste sur les mesures pratiques nécessaires pour sécuriser cet avantage. Les idées qui circulent dans les sciences sociales pourraient être critiques à cet égard. De manière spécifique, on fait valoir que les sciences sociales pourraient améliorer la compréhension des solutions dans lesquelles sont créés les besoins et la demande de confort. Elles pourraient aider à définir des procédures régulatrices envisageant dès le départ la perspective d'une société sobre en carbone. Elles indiquent également que les décideurs politiques de haut niveau doivent envoyer des signaux cohérents aux organes de réglementation et aux praticiens pour éviter que les programmes de construction à faible teneur en carbone contredisent d'autres objectifs politiques.

Mots clés: comportement adaptatif, milieu bâti, changement climatique, confort, consommation, gestion de la demande, gouvernance, société sobre en carbone, élaboration des politiques, politique publique     

Evaluation of Networks of Plans and Vulnerability to Hazards and Climate Change: A Resilience Scorecard

Problem, research strategy, and findings: Land use planning is key to mitigating natural hazards and the effects of climate change. Communities adopt multiple plans that directly and indirectly address hazard mitigation; the integration of local plans can significantly affect future community vulnerability to hazards. We develop a resilience scorecard to assess the degree to which the network of local plans targets areas most prone to hazards and then evaluate the coordination of local plans and test it in Washington (NC), a community vulnerable to coastal floods and projected sea-level rise. We find that local plans are not fully consistent and do not always address the areas in a community most vulnerable to floods or sea level risks; moreover, some plans actually increase physical and social vulnerability to hazards. While these results indicate the validity of a resiliency scorecard, we were forced to use a narrow range of vulnerability indicators; better data would improve the process.

Takeaway for practice: Planners can assume a crucial role in improving planning for hazards by using the scorecard to identify conflicts among local plans, assessing whether local plans target areas most vulnerable to specific hazards. Planners can inform the public and decision makers about missed opportunities to improve local hazard mitigation planning. To support such important efforts, the U.S. Federal -Emergency Management Agency and other federal agencies should consider developing additional databases that are widely applicable and available.     

Thermal upgrades of existing homes in Germany: The building code, subsidies, and economic efficiency

One of the cheapest ways to reduce CO₂ emissions is thermal renovation of existing homes. Germany is a world leader in this project, with a strict building code, generous state subsidies, and an advanced renovation infrastructure. The effects of its policies are here explored in the light of progressive tightening of the building code, and the strict criteria for subsidies. Data on costs and outcomes of residential building renovations are presented from published reports on renovation projects, and cross-checked with projects investigated directly. Comparisons are made in terms of euros invested for every kilowatt hour of heating energy saved over the lifetime of the renovations, for standards ranging from 150 kWh (the lowest standard) to 15 kWh (the highest) of primary energy use per square metre of floor area per year. It is found that the lowest standard is an order of magnitude more cost-effective than the highest, in terms of both energy saved per euro invested, and return on investment over the lifetime of the renovations, regardless of fuel prices. It is argued that this throws into question Germany's policy of progressively regulating for higher renovation standards, and offering subsidies only for projects that go beyond the minimum standard.     

我国夏热冬暖地区和夏热冬冷地区建筑节能的差异性分析

本文阐述我国夏热冬暖地区和夏热冬冷地区的气候和居住建筑能耗特点,分析建筑围护结构外墙和外窗热工性能对建筑能耗和节能的不同影响,为建筑节能标准的规定值确定提供相应的依据。     

From the Cold War to the warmed globe: planning,design-policy entrepreneurism,and the crises of nuclear weapons and climate change

Faced with two existential threats – nuclear war and climate change – planners have responded by proposing sweeping reforms for city-regions, often deploying the newfound rationales to re-package earlier ideas about ‘the good city’. This paper analyses how mid-twentieth-century planning discourses regarding Cold War urban dispersal in the USA might help us understand contemporary conversations about urban climate change adaptation. We apply Kingdon's Multiple Streams Analysis and his concept of policy entrepreneurs to show how planners frame problems and shape policy agendas. We propose a subtype of ‘design-policy entrepreneurs’ who use the spatial and visual tools of planning and design to advocate for preferred policies. By analysing the rhetoric and visual representations made by planners and designers from 1945 to 1965, we examine how they repurposed long-standing ideas about urban deconcentration into ‘dispersal for defence’ proposals. Such proposals for dispersing urban settlements into separated and ‘self-contained’ units received a dysfunctional partial acceptance: housing and transportation legislation embraced the dispersal part but resisted the complementary elements aimed at limiting damages from nuclear attack by concentrating development into distinct nodes. We conclude by asking how the perils of such partial policy-making success might play out on the terrain of climate change adaptation.     

营造可持续建筑蓄能围护结构的新思路及新方法

随着能源供求失衡日益加剧,建筑蓄能节能的重要性不断凸显。营造具有高效蓄能及可调节能力的可持续蓄能围护结构,对于建筑节能具有重要意义。本文从居住者的热舒适需求出发,通过反问题思路,提出了被动式及主动式建筑中可持续室内环境营造的一些新思路和新方法。研究发现,被动式建筑围护结构理想热质体热性能具有相变材料的特征,即热容随温度的分布接近δ函数形式。并进一步开展了建筑用相变材料的研发及应用研究,研制了建筑用定形相变材料和微胶囊化相变材料,克服了传统相变材料易泄露和导热系数偏低等缺点。最后,提出了主被动式建筑围护结构和相变材料一体化的系统应用方案,并通过实验及模拟验证了其节能舒适效果,为相变材料和建筑蓄能围护结构一体化的设计及应用提供指导。