IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v179y2022ics0040162522001627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A politics of calculation: Negotiating pathways to zero-energy buildings in Sweden

Author

Listed:
  • Niskanen, Johan
  • Rohracher, Harald

Abstract

New building codes and stricter regulation of energy consumption and CO2 emissions have become key strategies to support the low-carbon transition of the housing sector. Such regulations rest heavily on setting performance targets for buildings and developing standardized calculation procedures for determining the compliance of new buildings with the building code. While developing such targets, standards and calculation tools are largely presented as a technocratic and expert-driven process; our argument is that these calculations are actually heavily imbued with politics. Empirically, the article analyses the implementation of the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which makes nearly zero-energy buildings mandatory, into Swedish law. Studying the negotiations and controversies taking place in adapting the Swedish building code reveals how the power play of resourceful actors, the negotiation of interests and the different visions and valuations of what is regarded important for the future of the housing sector shape calculation procedures and how these are included in the new building code. Unpacking the political decisions and valuations underlying the calculative practices and technical details of the building code can be seen as an important step towards a more transparent public debate about the future of sustainable buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Niskanen, Johan & Rohracher, Harald, 2022. "A politics of calculation: Negotiating pathways to zero-energy buildings in Sweden," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:179:y:2022:i:c:s0040162522001627
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121630
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162522001627
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121630?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ine Van Hoyweghen, 2014. "On the Politics of Calculative Devices," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(3), pages 334-352, August.
    2. McLeod, Robert S. & Hopfe, Christina J. & Rezgui, Yacine, 2012. "An investigation into recent proposals for a revised definition of zero carbon homes in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 25-35.
    3. Levesque, Antoine & Pietzcker, Robert C. & Luderer, Gunnar, 2019. "Halving energy demand from buildings: The impact of low consumption practices," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 253-266.
    4. Quitzau, Maj-Britt & Hoffmann, Birgitte & Elle, Morten, 2012. "Local niche planning and its strategic implications for implementation of energy-efficient technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 79(6), pages 1049-1058.
    5. Fabian Muniesa & Yuval Millo & Michel Callon, 2007. "An introduction to market devices," Post-Print halshs-00177928, HAL.
    6. Edmondson, Duncan L. & Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S., 2019. "The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    7. Elizabeth Shove, 2021. "Time to rethink energy research," Nature Energy, Nature, vol. 6(2), pages 118-120, February.
    8. Kristin Asdal, 2014. "From Climate Issue to Oil Issue: Offices of Public Administration, Versions of Economics, and the Ordinary Technologies of Politics," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(9), pages 2110-2124, September.
    9. Annunziata, Eleonora & Frey, Marco & Rizzi, Francesco, 2013. "Towards nearly zero-energy buildings: The state-of-art of national regulations in Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 125-133.
    10. Michel Callon & Fabian Muniesa, 2005. "Economic markets as calculative collective devices," Post-Print halshs-00087477, HAL.
    11. Groesser, Stefan N., 2014. "Co-evolution of legal and voluntary standards: Development of energy efficiency in Swiss residential building codes," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 1-16.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McFall, Liz, 2015. "Is digital disruption the end of health insurance? Some thoughts on the devising of risk," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 17(1), pages 32-44.
    2. Walter, Christian, 2016. "The financial Logos: The framing of financial decision-making by mathematical modelling," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 597-604.
    3. Martha Poon, 2009. "From New Deal institutions to capital markets: commercial consumer risk scores and the making of subprime mortgage finance," Post-Print halshs-00359712, HAL.
    4. Rezende, Daniel Carvalho de, 2014. "Politics in Food Markets: alternative modes of qualification and engaging," Brazilian Journal of Rural Economy and Sociology (Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural-RESR), Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural, vol. 52(2), pages 1-14, June.
    5. Gerhard Rainer, 2021. "Geographies of qualification in the global fine wine market," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(1), pages 95-112, February.
    6. Faulconbridge, James R. & Muzio, Daniel, 2021. "Valuation devices and the dynamic legitimacy-performativity nexus: The case of PEP in the English legal profession," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Murto, P. & Jalas, M. & Juntunen, J. & Hyysalo, S., 2019. "Devices and strategies: An analysis of managing complexity in energy retrofit projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 1-1.
    8. McFall, Liz, 2014. "Devising Consumption: cultural economies of insurance, credit and spending," OSF Preprints at2nv, Center for Open Science.
    9. Patrick O’Keeffe, 2018. "Creating a governable reality: analysing the use of quantification in shaping Australian wheat marketing policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 553-567, September.
    10. Williams, James W., 2013. "Regulatory technologies, risky subjects, and financial boundaries: Governing ‘fraud’ in the financial markets," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 544-558.
    11. Martha Poon, 2009. "From New Deal institutions to capital markets: commercial consumer risk scores and the making of subprime mortgage finance," Working Papers halshs-00359712, HAL.
    12. Tina Haisch & Max-Peter Menzel, 2019. "Temporary Markets in a Global Economy: An Example of Three Basel Art Fairs," PEGIS geo-disc-2019_14, Institute for Economic Geography and GIScience, Department of Socioeconomics, Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    13. Vollmer, Hendrik & Mennicken, Andrea & Preda, Alex, 2009. "Tracking the numbers: Across accounting and finance, organizations and markets," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 619-637, July.
    14. Laurent Tanguy, 2011. "De la théorie des couts de transaction a une économie des couts de traduction -une voie de passage conceptuelle pour suivre l'émergence des dispositifs de contrôle inter-organisationnel-," Post-Print hal-00650584, HAL.
    15. Eve Fouilleux & Allison Loconto, 2017. "Voluntary standards, certification, and accreditation in the global organic agriculture field: a tripartite model of techno-politics," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 34(1), pages 1-14, March.
    16. Kristin Asdal & Noortje Marres, 2014. "Performing Environmental Change: The Politics of Social Science Methods," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(9), pages 2055-2064, September.
    17. Thiemann, Matthias & Friedrich, Jan, 2016. "Drawing the line: The political economy of offbalance sheet financing," economic sociology. perspectives and conversations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, vol. 17(2), pages 7-16.
    18. Robson, Keith & Bottausci, Chiara, 2018. "The sociology of translation and accounting inscriptions: Reflections on Latour and Accounting Research," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 60-75.
    19. Lugosi, Peter, 2016. "Socio-technological authentication," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 100-113.
    20. Catherine Grandclément & Alain Nadaï, 2018. "Devising the consumer of the competitive electricity market: the mundane meter, the unbundling doctrine, and the re-bundling of choice," Post-Print halshs-03329331, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:179:y:2022:i:c:s0040162522001627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.