Low-energy buildings on mainstream market terms
A study of a municipal translation process
Maj-Britt Quitzau
Assistant Professor
DTU Management Engineering
Bygningstorvet, Building 115
Kgs. Lyngby
Denmark
Birgitte Hoffmann
Associate Professor
DTU Management Engineering
Morten Elle
Associate Professor
DTU Management Engineering
Jens Stissing Jensen
PhD Student
DTU Management Engineering
Keywords: COST 23, low-energy housing, building regulation
1
Abstract
This paper looks into the challenge of actually implementing energy efficient technologies
and concepts in mainstream new build. The aim of the paper is to point out some of the
provisos of promoting low-energy buildings on mainstream market terms, emphasising the
need to understand forces working against implementation of low-energy buildings. The
study is based on actor-network theory, emphasising the relations and struggles that form the
basis for pushing for low-energy buildings. The paper is based on a case study of the
proactive attempt of a Danish municipality to force through an actual implementation of strict
energy performance requirements in mainstream building. The paper describes how the
municipality of Egedal experienced a collapse in regulation for low-energy buildings and
what struggles it had to take on in order to convince the mainstream building industry and
their customers to implement energy efficient technologies and concepts in the municipal
urban development project. In conclusion, the paper underlines that even incremental steps
towards more energy efficient buildings require setting up of the appropriate frames,
establishing the necessary network, mediating actors to enrol and support innovative thinking.
1.
Introduction
Improving the energy performance of buildings represents a cornerstone for assuring
substantial carbon reductions, since the European building sector accounts for 40% of the
total primary energy consumption. Both the potential and need for carbon reductions in the
building sector is great, and for this reason, it is disturbing to see that energy efficient
technologies and concepts have had such a little impact on main stream building.
So far, new energy efficient technologies and concepts in the building sector have mainly
been promoted through specific demonstration projects. These projects have the function of
testing, displaying and documenting new technologies and concepts, and hence, mature these
for wider distribution. However, experiences from such demonstration projects show that
these do not influence mainstream building profoundly. One reason is that that these projects
do not involve a strategy for transferring new technologies and concepts to the market, and
hence, remain demonstration projects [1]. This suggests that implementation of new energy
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efficient technologies and concepts require more than simply testing, displaying and
documenting.
In this paper, we study an alternative Danish attempt to actually implement new energy
efficient technologies and concepts in mainstream building, where a high degree of inertia
exists to take leaps that go beyond the energy performance requirements set in the Danish
Building Code [2]. This attempt is based upon the efforts of the municipality of Egedal to
promote low-energy buildings through local regulation means. This municipal project aims at
inducing incremental changes in the building process (like tightening building envelopes and
integrating energy efficient and renewable energy technologies) to assure improvements in
the energy performance of buildings, rather than promoting ground-breaking technologies.
The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we present our approach more thoroughly,
describing the inspiration from actor-network theory, the case study and methodology. Then,
we present our main findings, describing the collapse and subsequent municipal struggle for a
new stability of the actor-network in order to push for implementation of energy efficient
technologies and concepts in mainstream building. Finally, we present our conclusions,
underlining the need to acknowledge that changes in practices in mainstream building projects
require certain battles.
2.
Approach
This paper studies the prevailing resistance and lock-in in mainstream building, which needs
to be overcome, if low-energy buildings are to be more broadly distributed. One way to
conceptualise the challenge of changing such persisting practices is to consider how actornetworks develop. In this paper, a proactive attempt to change practices is studied by looking
into the development of the greatest settlement of low-energy residential buildings in
Denmark with a total of 750 dwellings developed on mainstream market terms.
2.1
Actor-networks
The theoretical approach in this paper is inspired by the actor-network theory, conceptualising
social contexts as heterogeneous network of human and non-human constituents [3], [4].
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Compared to other sociotechnical perspectives, this theory equals human and non-human
constituents of the network. This theoretical perspective is especially strong in bringing out
the ‘infrastructure’ which supports accounts of scientific and technological achievements. The
point is to show that technological revolutions are not solely the results of genius scientists,
but the outcome of a much more complex process, involving a number of changes in the
heterogeneous network.
Looking into actor-networks provides a good starting point for getting a deeper understanding
of how existing practices are pulled together and develop. This provides an analytical
awareness regarding the relations and struggles between human and non-human actors in the
network, recognising that even social agents are never located in bodies and bodies alone, but
take part in a heterogeneous network [5]. In the paper, we are especially interested in the
relations that form part of ordering the prevailing energy standards of new build, and we
identify building requirements as an important empirical centre of ordering in this regard,
since these requirements have organisational powers with respect to the prevailing inertia in
the building sector.
In our study we look into the translation that occurs as the municipality of Egedal takes steps
to alter the existing actor-network, as the municipality begins to set up local building
requirements that challenge the order of the existing actor-network. This process of
translation implies that the municipality acts out as a spokesman of the entities of the
heterogeneous network, similar to the EDF in the case of the electric vehicle [6]. The
municipality becomes an active player in re-ordering the actor-network in order to provide a
breeding ground to change building practices.
2.2
An empirical case study approach
The paper is based on an empirical case study of the efforts of the municipality of Egedal to
adjust the actor-network according to their own visions. The case concerns Stenløse South, an
urban extension south of the city of Stenløse, which is a north-western suburb to Copenhagen.
In this urban development project, the municipality has purposively challenged existing
practices in new build by setting up local energy performance requirements that are stricter
than those formulated in the Building Code. This initiative is especially innovative, since the
municipality has insisted on forcing their low-energy objectives on to the mainstream
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building industry and their customers, whereas commonly municipalities settle for
formulation of political objectives, seldom implemented in practice. As such, this initiative
represents a revolt against the current lack of implementing low-energy objectives in practice
in Denmark.
The empirical case is studied through a qualitative study of the course of this urban
development project, emphasising the struggles that the municipality of Egedal have had in
order to act out their low-energy objectives in practice. More specifically, we have followed
the actors involved in this struggle, inspired by [4]. Our starting point has been the building
project of the family Andersen, who is building a typical and contemporary Danish standard
house with brick walls and tiled roof by one of the major standard house firms in Denmark,
called Lind and Risør. By following the project of this family, we have mapped relations in
the heterogeneous network and identified important struggles.
The qualitative study is based on both qualitative interviews and observations of key
documents. A broad range of interviewees have been involved, including officials and
politicians in the Municipality of Egedal, standard house firms building in the area and some
of their suppliers, the buyers of building lots and experts involved in the project. The main
documents involved in the building process have been analyses, including sketches of the
building project, municipal information materials and technical information brochures.
In continuance of the actor-network perspective, our empirical exposition is based on a
description of the translation process, showing how the municipality experiences a collapse of
the existing actor-network and fights to re-establish a new order that supports their visions.
Through the empirical description of these struggles, we aim at pointing out some of the
provisos of promoting low-energy buildings on mainstream market terms.
3.
Re-ordering low-energy building requirements
Implementing new energy efficient technologies and concepts on the main stream building
market imply changing existing practices. In the case of Stenløse South such changes were
not straightforward, since the existing actor-network proved to be inefficient for promoting
low-energy buildings. This necessitated a process of re-ordering the actor-network in order to
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ensure changes in prevailing practices. In the following, we describe the collapse of the
original strategy of the municipality and the subsequent process of reconstructing order in the
actor-network.
3.1
Collapse of the original strategy
Danish municipalities have the authority to regulate local building projects through the
Planning Act [7]. The municipality of Egedal has become one of the most proactive
municipalities, showing agency for promoting low-energy buildings in urban development
projects. The municipality succeeded in building up a strong political will to develop lowenergy buildings, based on their Local Agenda 21 work and an internal political process of
translation, which represents an achievement in itself.
The intention of the municipality is to promote low-energy buildings on mainstream market
terms. This represents a tremendous challenge, since current experiences from practice
indicates that the political objectives formulated by municipalities tend to come to nothing in
practice. A critical point is to get commitment from the mainstream building industry and its
customers, since the activities of these actors are mainly derived from the traditional topdown regulation [2]. This suggests that the prevailing energy performance targets set in the
Danish Building Code represent a centre of gravity of the practices within the building sector,
withholding stability and order in the existing actor-network. In this actor-network,
municipalities merely represent an intermediary actor that underpins existing building
practices, having the task to control compliance to current regulation.
The municipality of Egedal had believed that local energy performance requirements set up in
the local plans for the area was a strategy to ensure legally binding requirements for the
building industry and their customers to compel to. Such local plans are viewed as the
foundation of the Danish spatial planning system, as they provide the more specific guidelines
for design of a district and its buildings [7]. However, these local plans proved to be
inefficient in this regard, according to the National Department of Planning [8]. This
inefficiency is due to the fact that the Danish Planning Act provides very few means for
municipalities to set up sustainable requirements locally that are legally binding [9]. This
threatened to remove an important pillar of the strategy, and hence, to collapse the entire
initiative.
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Rather than giving in, which most municipalities would probably have done, the municipality
of Egedal searched for alternative strategies to support their objective. This illustrates the
stubbornness and determination of the municipality, which imbue the entire process. As a
result of this collapse of the initial strategy, the municipality took on the role as spokesperson
in a translation of the existing actor-network. Through this initiative, the municipality
changed from being a simple intermediary to take an active role as a mediator, who forms
actively part of re-ordering the prevailing actor-network.
3.2
Re-ordering the actor-network
The municipality of Egedal wished to assure that the building industry and their customers
were committed to the political objectives set up in Stenløse South. For this reason, the
municipality initiated a struggle to set up an applicable strategy to promote low-energy
buildings in the urban development area. This initiative represents a process of translation
with the purpose of enrolling the necessary actor in the project. In the following, we describe
some of the struggles to re-order the actor-network and to assure stability for a local set of
low-energy requirements.
3.2.1 Easements: a new regulation model
The municipality insisted on implementing legally binding energy performance requirements
in the area. In order to do this, the municipality had to take somewhat of a detour, compared
to common planning practices, formulating the requirements as easements. Such easements
are defined by private law, and hence legally binding, and become effective when imposed in
connection of sale of building lots [10]. However, the use of easements required the
municipality to acquire the land in the area of the urban development, which represents some
investments risks for the municipality. Luckily, this strategy was possible, since the prices on
lots and properties were rising at the time. Recording of easements made it possible to
prosecute those that did not build according to the requirements.
Easements were enrolled in the translation process and stabilised by acquiring land and
formulating specific easements in the information material regarding sale of the building lots.
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The easements in Stenloese South consist of specific phrases formulated on a legal document
associated to and recorded during the sale of the individual building lots. The easements state
specifically that the housings in Stenløse South must comply with an energy performance of
35 kWh/m2 per year, among others [11].
These easements were not welcomed by the building industry, which were reluctant to engage
in the building project in Stenløse South due to these legally binding requirements. For
example, Lind and Risør were sceptical about the idea, as the sales managers expresses they
thought it to be an ‘own goal’. Lind and Risør could not imagine that anybody would be
interested in buying the lots under such conditions, and their experiences were that their
customers did not demand low-energy solutions and would be reluctant to pay for the added
cost of these solutions [12]. Although the easements were enrolled, there was still the risk that
the building industry and their customers would deselect to build in the area.
3.2.2 Formulating viable requirements
The municipality was aware of the risk that the area would be deselected. For this reason it
worked actively on finding a balance between coercion and attraction of the building industry
and their customers. This involved a breakdown with the myth that sustainable buildings are
for the few, who were willing to freeze in the dark, and showing that such buildings are price
competitive in a longer time perspective1. For this reason, the technical administration worked
purposively at documenting and pointing out that incremental changes towards low-energy
housing are plausible for the building industry and of benefit for their customers.
The strategy applied by the municipality was to set up strict, but viable energy performance
requirements and at the same time acting out as a ‘missing link’ between the building industry
and its customers [13]. This implies that the municipality has on one hand worked on
convincing the building industry that it would be possible to comply with the energy
requirements on the basis of existing and well-known technologies. On the other hand, the
municipality worked on convincing customers that low-energy housings represented a
reasonable investment. This strategy is a reasonable way to cope with the deadlock of supply
1
In Denmark, several grassroots projects have been carried out with rather radical changes in building design,
including use of shells on the roofs and bales of straw in the walls
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and demand, which is generally acknowledged in relation to promotion of sustainable
buildings [14].
Defining viable energy performance requirements represented somewhat of a challenge for
the municipality. A level of requirement had to be defined that satisfied the objectives of the
municipality, the building industry and their customers. This required skills that the
municipality did not have in-house, and this necessitated the enrolment of a private
engineering advisory firm, Cenergy, which was able to help estimating viable level of
requirements in low-energy housing. Definitions of requirements became based on
calculations of the total economy of different levels of low-housing building projects, where
well-known technologies like heating pumps and increased insulation were used. A main
factor in these estimations have been payback times, indicating whether the low-energy
houses were cost-effective in a longer time run.
The estimations of different levels of requirements proved that it was possible to obtain short
payback times, while using well-known technologies. In the first phase of the project, the
municipality set the energy requirement to 50 kWh/m2 per year with the possibility to use
natural gas as heating, but in the later phases the requirements were tightened to 35 kWh/m2
per year and based on use of a heat pump. These levels of requirement were stabilised by the
municipality by incorporating the estimations and levels in the information material in the
tender documents. The information materials show that a low-energy house has the same
costs as an ordinary house, seen in a longer time perspective (including energy savings).
3.2.3 Designing a low-energy house
The most struggling part of the entire translation process regards the design phase, since this
required the enrolment of the building industry and its customers. This phase has been
troubling, since the building industry and their customers found it difficult to work out viable
solutions.
The energy performance requirements were formulated as final targets, reflecting the function
of the energy performance demands within the Building Code. Here, a final target for the
energy performance is set up, whereas choice of methodology is free. This implies that
different methods may be used in order to meet the final target (e.g. increased insulation,
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more compact building form, low thermal bridging and air-tightness, heat recovery, etc.).
However, it proved that choice of methodology was not entirely free in practice, since the
municipality ended up opposing against certain solutions.
The combination of technical solutions became a major struggle in the project. A point of
conflict was that several customers of the houses demanded floor heating, which was not
initially incorporated in the composition of the low-energy solution formulated by the
municipality and Cenergia. For some customers, like the family Andersen, floor heating
represented an ultimate requirement, since they would withdraw from the contact without this
element in their house [15]. As a result of this inclination towards floor heating, Lind and
Risør (and other firms involved) had thought of a design that made use of a standard house
construction with connection of a unit of solar cells and geothermal energy. This solution
complied with the requirements since renewable energy sources account for a factor of 2.5 in
the calculation, according to the Danish energy performance calculation model.
The municipality initiated negotiations with Lind and Risør in order to discuss other designs
of the house. The municipality incited for solutions promoting low-energy constructions that
combined e.g. a tightened building envelope with an air-to-air heat pump and was not happy
to see that the building firms would construct ordinary houses and simply connect these to
renewable energy sources. The municipality succeeded in convincing Lind and Risør to
perform certain adjustments in the construction of their houses through different arguments.
This resulted in more insulation primarily in the floor and roof (not in walls due to the
increase of thickness) and implementation of low-energy windows. In this adjusted solution
floor heating was made possible through development of a sophisticated model of the typical
heat pump used in their houses.
A critical element for Lind and Risør during the negotiations with the municipality has been
to avoid too many changes in the basic construction of the house. Building according to lowenergy building standards represents a severe intervention in the building, according to the
building firm, since changes in the construction of the building itself is often necessary. As
the technical manager of Lind and Risør explains, the firm can easily change traditional sewer
pipes to non-PVC pipes. It is more challenging to comply with the low-energy requirements,
since this involves changes in the actual sketching of the house. The firm was very reluctant
to make such changes, because their business concept is based on projects taken out from the
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drawer, where a thoroughly prepared sketch provide the basis for internal processes involving
pricing, procedures for commissioning and pay tradespersons, ordering of materials, etc. So in
that sense, changes in the sketches represent a breakdown in the internal actor-networks of the
firm. The firm was only keen on taking the risks and using resources on building projects in
Stenløse South, because they believed that this would represent future conditions. For Lind
and Risør it has clearly represented a big step to involve themselves in Stenløse South.
The negotiations taken on in the design phase by the municipality have entailed an unusual
role for the municipality, since the officials have been indirectly involved in professional
discussions about the design of the individual buildings. Without this engagement into the
design phase, several of the building firms would probably have given up, since they have
needed the professional assistance in their building projects. The design of the low-energy
houses have been negotiated and stabilised in connection to the preparation and approval of
the production of material for the building project. During this approval procedure certain
questions have been raised and discussed, but the approval of the building project has lockedin the chosen solutions and proves that the translation process has been a success.
4.
Concluding remarks
This paper has described how the municipality of Egedal was forced to engage in a process of
re-ordering the prevailing actor-network in order to act out their visions. In order to formulate
the requirements, the municipality had to show resolution for change and be willing to take
risks. The struggles that the municipality have engaged in have provided an opening for
implementing low-energy buildings on the mainstream market.
The successful re-ordering of the actor-network has contributed in providing organizational
power to the local energy performance requirements set up by the municipality. Through this
translation process, several key actors became enrolled, supporting promotion of low-energy
buildings. This enrollment involves a variety of actors, including sketches, commodities in the
house, agreements with tradespersons, price setting mechanisms, supply chains and the like.
The municipality has played a key role in this process, as a translator, indicating that planners
may represent a potential mediator for promotion of low-energy buildings, since they are able
to mediate between regulation, building industry and customers. A main challenge for the
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municipality has been to negotiate with and support the building industry through
professional engagement in specific building projects.
The struggles in Stenløse South may not have lead to directly ground-breaking results in what
concerns sustainability, since merely incremental changes are involved. However, the
initiative represents an important step towards a general lift in energy performance standards,
providing a push towards low-energy buildings and initiating movements in an otherwise
equilibrated sociotechnical system. Such a push necessitates a spokesperson (like a
municipality) that take the lead by setting up the appropriate frames, establishing the
necessary network, mediating actors to enrol and support innovative thinking.
5.
References
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