Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment †
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Research Approach
2.1. Why These Countries?
2.2. Theory and Application
2.3. Methodology and Methods
France | UK |
---|---|
Case F1: | Case UK1: |
Cooperative Retrofit Company—Energy Performance Guarantee
| Large Social Landlord—Retrofit Work Force Innovation
|
Case F2: | Case UK2: |
Small business—Integrated Approach to Retrofit Project Management
| Microbusiness—Brokering Scheme for Green Deal
|
3. Innovative Renovation in Professional Practice: France
3.1. Macro Level: French Eco-Renovation Policy Framework
- High-performance roof insulation;
- High-performance wall insulation;
- High-performance windows and doors;
- Installation or replacement of a system for space heating or hot water;
- Installation of thermal renewable energy technologies for space heating;
- Installation of thermal renewable energy technologies for water heating.
3.2. Meso Level: French Building Industry Practices and Innovations
3.3. Micro Level: Case Studies in France
3.3.1. Case F1: Retrofit with Energy Performance Guarantee
3.3.2. Case F2: Integrated Approach to Retrofit Project Management
“Each project is unique. Clients tend to think a renovated building is like a new car, with everything working perfectly and all you have to do is turn the key and off you go. But it’s never like that. For any big or medium-sized project you need at least two years for monitoring, adjusting, optimising. And that’s the thing that no-one does, that no-one has responsibility for. No-one is willing to pay for it.”
4. Innovative Renovation in Professional Practice: UK
4.1. Macro Level: UK Eco-Renovation Policy Framework
4.2. Meso Level: UK Building Industry Practices and Innovations
4.3. Micro Level: Building Expertise Case Studies in UK
4.3.1. Case UK1: Social Landlord Retrofit Work Force Innovation
“It’s like any couple, one person in the couple is more domineering, they like taking charge of doing that. When you work in a team, you know they’re going to go and do that side and you’ll do this, whereas if you get a new team, you’re both wary of each other, what’s he going to want to do, what am I going to want to do” (#28).
4.3.2. Case UK2: Brokering Scheme for Green Deal
- Ability to control budgets;
- Good understanding of design;
- Very wide but shallow knowledge (with recourse to specialist assistance when necessary);
- Good people management skills (“getting people to do stuff that they don’t really want to do necessarily”).
- efficient organisation of resources, for example communicating with other contractors to make best use of scaffolding;
- being a responsible professional, doing things that will help other trades who follow, or communicating with those who go before so that the hand-over from one person to the next is efficient.
“I actually think [the brokering scheme] will do more work outside the Green Deal than inside […] but the Green Deal is the current panic that will get everybody joined up. […] in other words most of the homeowners who [use the brokering scheme] won’t need the Green Deal finance. I think they just want good contractors who understand eco stuff […] they just want a good supply chain. They want an assessment done.”
5. Discussion: British and French Builders as Middle Actors
France | UK |
---|---|
Case F1: | Case UK1: |
Cooperative Retrofit Company—Energy Performance Guarantee
| Large Social Landlord—Retrofit Work Force Innovation
|
Case F2: | Case UK2: |
Small business—Integrated Approach to Retrofit Project Management
| Microbusiness—Brokering Scheme for Green Deal
|
5.1. Upstream Influences: Implications for Policy
5.2. Downstream Influences: Implications for Customers
5.2.1. Low-Carbon Refurbishment as “Up-Selling”
5.2.2. Low Carbon Refurbishment and Behavioural Control
5.3. Sideways Influences: Implications for Builders and Building Professionals
5.3.1. The Organisation of Project-Based Work
5.3.2. Vocational Education and Training
5.3.3. Professional Boundaries: Responsibility and Integration
6. Conclusions and Further Research
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
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Janda, K.B.; Killip, G.; Fawcett, T. Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment. Buildings 2014, 4, 911-936. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings4040911
Janda KB, Killip G, Fawcett T. Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment. Buildings. 2014; 4(4):911-936. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings4040911
Chicago/Turabian StyleJanda, Kathryn B., Gavin Killip, and Tina Fawcett. 2014. "Reducing Carbon from the “Middle-Out”: The Role of Builders in Domestic Refurbishment" Buildings 4, no. 4: 911-936. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings4040911