LAPSE:2023.17380
Published Article
LAPSE:2023.17380
Seeking the Pressure Points: Catalysing Low Carbon Changes from the Middle-Out in Offices and Schools
Catherine Willan, Kathryn B. Janda, David Kenington
March 6, 2023
Non-domestic buildings are frequently characterised as resistant to top-down low-carbon and energy-efficiency policy. Complex relationships amongst building stakeholders are often blamed. “Middle actors”—professionals situated between policymakers and building users—can use their agency and capacity to facilitate energy and carbon decision-making from the “middle-out”. We use semi-structured interviews with expert middle actors working with schools and commercial offices, firstly, to explore their experience of energy and low-carbon decision-making in buildings and, secondly, to reflect on the evolution of middle actors’ role within it. Our exploratory findings suggest that a situated sensitivity to organisational “pressure points” can enhance middle actors’ agency and capacity to catalyse change. We find shifts in the ecology of the “middle”, as the UK’s Net Zero and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agendas pull in new middle actors (such as the financial community) and issues (such as wellbeing and social value) to non-domestic buildings. These issues may work in reinforcing ways with organisational pressure points. Policy should capitalise on this impetus by looking beyond the physicality of individual buildings and engage with middle actors at a systemic level. This could create greater synergies with organisational concerns and strategies of building stakeholders.
Keywords
Carbon, Energy, energy policy, ESG, middle actors, middle-out perspective, non-domestic buildings
Suggested Citation
Willan C, Janda KB, Kenington D. Seeking the Pressure Points: Catalysing Low Carbon Changes from the Middle-Out in Offices and Schools. (2023). LAPSE:2023.17380
Author Affiliations
Willan C: Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK [ORCID]
Janda KB: Energy Institute, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Kenington D: Energy Institute, University College London, Central House, 14 Upper Woburn Place, London WC1H 0NN, UK
Journal Name
Energies
Volume
14
Issue
23
First Page
8087
Year
2021
Publication Date
2021-12-02
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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Original Submission
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PII: en14238087, Publication Type: Journal Article
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doi:10.3390/en14238087
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Mar 6, 2023
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CC BY 4.0
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