Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment
A three-year research project explored the evolving level of “building expertise” for low-carbon housing refurbishment in the UK and France. With a focus on “middle actors” and the evolution of professional practice, this paper reports on “middle-out” responses from the housing retrofit supply chain...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2014-11-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/4/4/911 |
| _version_ | 1818560969674063872 |
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| author | Kathryn B. Janda Gavin Killip Tina Fawcett |
| author_facet | Kathryn B. Janda Gavin Killip Tina Fawcett |
| author_sort | Kathryn B. Janda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A three-year research project explored the evolving level of “building expertise” for low-carbon housing refurbishment in the UK and France. With a focus on “middle actors” and the evolution of professional practice, this paper reports on “middle-out” responses from the housing retrofit supply chain to top-down policies promoting low-energy retrofits of existing homes. The two countries have comparable long-term policy goals for CO2 emissions reduction, but there are important differences between their more immediate initiatives to achieve a step-change in activity in the housing retrofit market. Industry responses to these various policy signals were explored in a series of semi-structured interviews with builders involved in innovative, low-energy refurbishment projects. Drawing mainly on four case studies of innovative business models, the paper highlights innovative practices and processes being proposed and trialled by “middle actors” in the building industry. We describe middle-out implications of these innovative practices: upstream to policy makers, downstream to clients, and sideways across refurbishment providers and the retrofit supply chain. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:45:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fec3fd81355848279d878a6aa5250cb4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-14T00:45:04Z |
| publishDate | 2014-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-fec3fd81355848279d878a6aa5250cb42022-12-21T23:24:11ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092014-11-014491193610.3390/buildings4040911buildings4040911Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic RefurbishmentKathryn B. Janda0Gavin Killip1Tina Fawcett2Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UKEnvironmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UKEnvironmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UKA three-year research project explored the evolving level of “building expertise” for low-carbon housing refurbishment in the UK and France. With a focus on “middle actors” and the evolution of professional practice, this paper reports on “middle-out” responses from the housing retrofit supply chain to top-down policies promoting low-energy retrofits of existing homes. The two countries have comparable long-term policy goals for CO2 emissions reduction, but there are important differences between their more immediate initiatives to achieve a step-change in activity in the housing retrofit market. Industry responses to these various policy signals were explored in a series of semi-structured interviews with builders involved in innovative, low-energy refurbishment projects. Drawing mainly on four case studies of innovative business models, the paper highlights innovative practices and processes being proposed and trialled by “middle actors” in the building industry. We describe middle-out implications of these innovative practices: upstream to policy makers, downstream to clients, and sideways across refurbishment providers and the retrofit supply chain.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/4/4/911building retrofittingbuilding tradesocio-technicalresidential buildingssmall and medium-sized enterprisesinnovationprofessional practicesmiddle actorsmiddle-out change |
| spellingShingle | Kathryn B. Janda Gavin Killip Tina Fawcett Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment Buildings building retrofitting building trade socio-technical residential buildings small and medium-sized enterprises innovation professional practices middle actors middle-out change |
| title | Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment |
| title_full | Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment |
| title_fullStr | Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment |
| title_short | Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment |
| title_sort | reducing carbon from the middle out the role of builders in domestic refurbishment |
| topic | building retrofitting building trade socio-technical residential buildings small and medium-sized enterprises innovation professional practices middle actors middle-out change |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/4/4/911 |
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