IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v62y2013icp522-530.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Products, practices and processes: exploring the innovation potential for low-carbon housing refurbishment among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry

Author

Listed:
  • Killip, Gavin

Abstract

Scenario-based studies agree that the technical potential for CO2 emissions reduction from the housing stock is large. This paper explores how a market might be developed for the refurbishment activities assumed in these scenarios, taking the existing market for repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) as its starting point. Interviews with 16 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the construction industry reveal the interdependence of products, practices and processes in housing renovation activities. Conservative practice as well as innovation can be understood as the outcome of multi-lateral influences on firms from other firms, clients, the material buildings and products in their working lives, and from regulations and regulators. Contractors' openness to innovation is contingent on an informal approach to risk assessment, taking account of cost, time efficiency, client demands, and installer confidence in the reliability of the resulting work. The implications of the research are discussed in relation to the need for new practices and processes on refurbishment projects, raising questions for future research on key questions of quality assurance, performance over time, the application of standards, and vocational training.

Suggested Citation

  • Killip, Gavin, 2013. "Products, practices and processes: exploring the innovation potential for low-carbon housing refurbishment among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK construction industry," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 522-530.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:62:y:2013:i:c:p:522-530
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513005090
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.024?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. Burgess, Jacquelin & Clark, Judy & Harrison, Carolyn M., 2000. "Knowledges in action: an actor network analysis of a wetland agri-environment scheme," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 119-132, October.
    2. Roberts, Simon, 2008. "Altering existing buildings in the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4482-4486, December.
    3. Paul W. Chan & Andrew R. J. Dainty, 2007. "Resolving the UK construction skills crisis: a critical perspective on the research and policy agenda," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 375-386.
    4. Johnston, D. & Lowe, R. & Bell, M., 2005. "An exploration of the technical feasibility of achieving CO2 emission reductions in excess of 60% within the UK housing stock by the year 2050," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(13), pages 1643-1659, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Balezentis & Irena Alebaite, 2020. "Climate Change Mitigation in Households between Market Failures and Psychological Barriers," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-21, June.
    2. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Balezentis, 2019. "Innovative Policy Schemes to Promote Renovation of Multi-Flat Residential Buildings and Address the Problems of Energy Poverty of Aging Societies in Former Socialist Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Kerr, N. & Winskel, M., 2020. "Household investment in home energy retrofit: A review of the evidence on effective public policy design for privately owned homes," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. Thao Thi Phuong Bui & Suzanne Wilkinson & Niluka Domingo & Casimir MacGregor, 2021. "Zero Carbon Building Practices in Aotearoa New Zealand," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    5. Alice Owen & Alison Heppenstall, 2020. "Making the case for simulation: Unlocking carbon reduction through simulation of individual ‘middle actor’ behaviour," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(3), pages 457-472, March.
    6. Owen, A. & Mitchell, G. & Gouldson, A., 2014. "Unseen influence—The role of low carbon retrofit advisers and installers in the adoption and use of domestic energy technology," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 169-179.
    7. Dalia Streimikiene & Tomas Balezentis, 2020. "Willingness to Pay for Renovation of Multi-Flat Buildings and to Share the Costs of Renovation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Daly, Daniel & Carr, Chantel & Daly, Matthew & McGuirk, Pauline & Stanes, Elyse & Santala, Inka, 2023. "Extending urban energy transitions to the mid-tier: Insights into energy efficiency from the management of HVAC maintenance in ‘mid-tier’ office buildings," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    9. Galvin, Ray & Sunikka-Blank, Minna, 2014. "The UK homeowner-retrofitter as an innovator in a socio-technical system," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 655-662.
    10. O’Keeffe, Juliette M. & Gilmour, Daniel & Simpson, Edward, 2016. "A network approach to overcoming barriers to market engagement for SMEs in energy efficiency initiatives such as the Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 582-590.
    11. Killip, Gavin & Owen, Alice, 2020. "The construction industry as agents of energy demand configuration in the existing housing stock," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    12. Jingxiao Zhang & Haiyan Xie & Hui Li & Rose Timothy & Si Pu & Quanxue Deng & Weixing Jin, 2018. "Integrated Framework of Growth Management for Identification of Service Innovation Levels and Priorities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-33, September.
    13. Sam Hampton, 2018. "‘It’s the soft stuff that’s hard’: Investigating the role played by low carbon small- and medium-sized enterprise advisors in sustainability transitions," Local Economy, London South Bank University, vol. 33(4), pages 384-404, June.
    14. Catherine Willan & Kathryn B. Janda & David Kenington, 2021. "Seeking the Pressure Points: Catalysing Low Carbon Changes from the Middle-Out in Offices and Schools," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-21, December.
    15. Wade, Faye & Shipworth, Michelle & Hitchings, Russell, 2016. "Influencing the central heating technologies installed in homes: The role of social capital in supply chain networks," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 52-60.

    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. Mander, Sarah. L. & Bows, Alice & Anderson, Kevin. L. & Shackley, Simon & Agnolucci, Paolo & Ekins, Paul, 2008. "The Tyndall decarbonisation scenarios--Part I: Development of a backcasting methodology with stakeholder participation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 3754-3763, October.
    2. Michael-Allan Millar & Bruce Elrick & Greg Jones & Zhibin Yu & Neil M. Burnside, 2020. "Roadblocks to Low Temperature District Heating," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-21, November.
    3. Olonscheck, Mady & Holsten, Anne & Kropp, Jürgen P., 2011. "Heating and cooling energy demand and related emissions of the German residential building stock under climate change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(9), pages 4795-4806, September.
    4. Natarajan, Sukumar & Levermore, Geoffrey J., 2007. "Predicting future UK housing stock and carbon emissions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5719-5727, November.
    5. Jane Mills & Hannah Chiswell & Peter Gaskell & Paul Courtney & Beth Brockett & George Cusworth & Matt Lobley, 2021. "Developing Farm-Level Social Indicators for Agri-Environment Schemes: A Focus on the Agents of Change," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-22, July.
    6. Li, Francis G.N. & Trutnevyte, Evelina & Strachan, Neil, 2015. "A review of socio-technical energy transition (STET) models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 290-305.
    7. Patteeuw, Dieter & Reynders, Glenn & Bruninx, Kenneth & Protopapadaki, Christina & Delarue, Erik & D’haeseleer, William & Saelens, Dirk & Helsen, Lieve, 2015. "CO2-abatement cost of residential heat pumps with active demand response: demand- and supply-side effects," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 490-501.
    8. Abdulazeez Rotimi & Ali Bahadori-Jahromi & Anastasia Mylona & Paulina Godfrey & Darren Cook, 2017. "Estimation and Validation of Energy Consumption in UK Existing Hotel Building Using Dynamic Simulation Software," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Ruparathna, Rajeev & Hewage, Kasun & Sadiq, Rehan, 2016. "Improving the energy efficiency of the existing building stock: A critical review of commercial and institutional buildings," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1032-1045.
    10. Xing Zhao & Xin Zhang, 2022. "Research on the Evaluation and Regional Differences in Carbon Emissions Efficiency of Cultural and Related Manufacturing Industries in China’s Yangtze River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-22, August.
    11. Haonan Zhang, 2023. "Leveraging policy instruments and financial incentives to reduce embodied carbon in energy retrofits," Papers 2304.03403, arXiv.org.
    12. Dowson, Mark & Poole, Adam & Harrison, David & Susman, Gideon, 2012. "Domestic UK retrofit challenge: Barriers, incentives and current performance leading into the Green Deal," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 294-305.
    13. Soderqvist, Tore & Mitsch, William J. & Turner, R. Kerry, 2000. "Valuation of wetlands in a landscape and institutional perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 1-6, October.
    14. Ballarini, Ilaria & Corgnati, Stefano Paolo & Corrado, Vincenzo, 2014. "Use of reference buildings to assess the energy saving potentials of the residential building stock: The experience of TABULA project," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 273-284.
    15. Fanny Salignac & Natalie Galea & Abigail Powell, 2018. "Institutional entrepreneurs driving change: The case of gender equality in the Australian construction industry," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 43(1), pages 152-169, February.
    16. Power, Anne, 2008. "Does demolition or refurbishment of old and inefficient homes help to increase our environmental, social and economic viability?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 4487-4501, December.
    17. Hughes, Nick & Strachan, Neil & Gross, Robert, 2013. "The structure of uncertainty in future low carbon pathways," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 45-54.
    18. Natarajan, Sukumar & Levermore, Geoffrey J., 2007. "Domestic futures--Which way to a low-carbon housing stock?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 5728-5736, November.
    19. Shimada, Koji & Tanaka, Yoshitaka & Gomi, Kei & Matsuoka, Yuzuru, 2007. "Developing a long-term local society design methodology towards a low-carbon economy: An application to Shiga Prefecture in Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 4688-4703, September.
    20. Rashidi, Saman & Esfahani, Javad Abolfazli & Karimi, Nader, 2018. "Porous materials in building energy technologies—A review of the applications, modelling and experiments," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 229-247.

    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:enepol:v:62:y:2013:i:c:p:522-530. 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.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    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.