Policies and Organizational Fields of Building Energy Retrofit

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA URBANA E RURALE
Author/s Giovanni Carrosio
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/106 Language Italian
Pages 24 P. 21-44 File size 315 KB
DOI 10.3280/SUR2015-106002
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The article discusses the general aspects of the energy retrofit of existing buildings, highlighting how the incentive policies and technology paths have produced a vicious circle, which hinders the spread of energy retrofits. The first part focuses on the international literature and identifies some useful dimensions to be applied to the illustration of the state of the art in Italy; the second part analyzes the national policies, the mechanisms that minimize effects and the reasons for the absence of medium to large scale energy retrofit cases in Italian cities; the third part deals with the issue from the point of view of technology paths, highlighting some of the difficult aspects of consolidation of the energy retrofit organizational field and the ongoing uncertainty around the efficiency and savings devices. In the conclusions some indications for policy are provided, highlighting how urban policies invest more on energy efficiency than energy saving, debunking incentive systems adopted on a national scale.

Keywords: Energy Retrofit, Urban Policies, Carbon Lock-In, Organizational Field, Technological Path, Uncertainty.

  1. Ance (2011). Osservatorio congiunturale sull’industria delle costruzioni. Roma: Ance.
  2. Baek C., Park S.H. (2012). Changes in renovation policies in the era of sustainability. Energy and Buildings, 47, 485-496. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.12.02
  3. Berardi U. (2013). Stakeholders’ influence on the adoption of energy-saving technologies in Italian homes. Energy Policy, 60, 520-530. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.04.074
  4. Beretta I. (2014). La fuel poverty: quale contributo della disciplina sociologica allo studio del problema. Quaderni di Sociologia, 66, in corso di pubblicazione. Biggart N.W., Lutzenhiser L. (2007). Economic sociology and the social problem of energy inefficiency. American Behavioral Scientist. 50, 1070-1087. DOI: 10.1177/0002764207299355
  5. Carrosio G. (2014). Strategie urbane di riqualificazione energetica: teleriscaldamento contro retrofit energetico delle abitazioni? Culture della sostenibilità, 13, 130-142.
  6. Carrosio G. (2014). Energia e scienze sociali. Stato dell’arte e prospettive di ricerca. Quaderni di Sociologia, 66, in corso di pubblicazione. DOI: 10.7402/CdS.13.04
  7. Crosbie T., Baker K. (2010). Energy-efficiency interventions in housing: learning from the inhabitants. Building Research & Information, 1, 70-79. DOI: 10.1080/09613210903279326
  8. Davies M., OreszczynnT. (2012). The unintended consequences of decarbonising the built environment: A UK case study. Energy and Buildings, 46, 80-85. DOI: 10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.10.043
  9. Del GiudiceV. (2010). Estimo e valutazione economica dei progetti. Napoli: Loffredo.
  10. ENEA (2012). Rapporto Energia Ambiente. Roma: Enea.
  11. ENEA (2012b). Le detrazioni fiscali del 55% per la riqualificazione energetica del patrimonio edilizio esistente. Roma: Enea.
  12. Fileni F. (1989). Analogico e digitale: la cultura e la comunicazione. Trieste: Edizioni Goliardiche.
  13. Foxon T. (2002). Technological and institutional ‘lock-in’ as a barrier to sustainable innovation. ICCEPT Working Paper disponibile al sito http://www.iccept.ic.ac.uk/public.html, 02/01/2015.
  14. Gossop C. (2011). Low carbon cities: An introduction to the special issue. Cities, 28, 495-497. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2011.09.003
  15. Goulder L.H., Parry I.W.H (2008). Instrument Choice in Environmental Policy. Review of Environmental Economic and Policy, 2, 152-174. DOI: 10.1093/reep/ren005
  16. Greening, A.L., Greene D.L., Difiglio C. (2000). Energy efficiency and consumption – the rebound effect - a survey. Energy Policy, 6-7, 389-401. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-4215(00)00021-5
  17. Hargreaves T., Nye M., Burgess J. (2010). Making energy visible: a qualitative field study of how householders interact with feedback from smart energy monitors. Energy Policy, 10, 6111-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2010.05.06
  18. Hatch M.J. (1999). Teoria dell’organizzazione. Bologna: il Mulino.
  19. Hodson M., Marvin S., Robinson B., Swilling M. (2012). Reshaping urban infrastructure. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 16, 789-800. DOI: 10.1111/j.1530-9290.2012.00559.
  20. Iannucci E. (2005). Il risparmio energetico nel settore edile. Roma: Aracne Editrice.
  21. ISTAT (2011). Censimento generale della popolazione e delle abitazioni. Roma: Istat.
  22. Lutzenhiser L. (1992). A cultural model of household energy consumption. Energy, 1, 47-60
  23. MacKenzie D., Wajcman J.N. (1985). The social shaping of technology. Milton Keynes:
  24. Open University Press.
  25. Maller C.J., Horne R.E., Dalton T. (2011). Green Renovations: Intersections of Daily Routines,
  26. Housing Aspirations and Narratives of Environmental Sustainability. Housing.
  27. Theory and Society, 3, 255-275. DOI: 10.1080/14036096.2011.60633
  28. Pelenur M., Cruickshank H.J., (2012). Closing the Energy Efficiency Gap: A study linking
  29. demographics with barriers to adopting energy efficiency measures in the home. Energy,
  30. 1, 348-357. DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2012.09.05
  31. Monstadt J. (2007). Urban governance and the transition of energy systems: Institutional
  32. change and shifting energy and climate policies in Berlin. International Journal of Urban
  33. and Regional Research, 31, 326-343. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2427.2007.00725.xRavetzJ.(2008).Stateofthestock-whatdoweknowaboutexistingbuildingsandthei
  34. future prospects? Energy Policy, 36, 4462-4470. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.02
  35. Rugiero S., Di Nunzio D., Galossi E. (2014). Nuovi modelli di abitare e di produrre. La trasformazione del lavoro, del cantiere e della contrattazione nell’edilizia sostenibile. Roma: Ediesse.
  36. Savins R. (2005). Experience with market-based environmental policy instruments. Mäler K.G., Vincent J.R. Handbook of Environmental Economics. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.
  37. Schneider F. (2007). Effetto rimbalzo. Per una critica dell’ottimismo tecnologico. Bologna: Emi.
  38. Shove E. (2003). Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience. Oxford: Oxford International Publishers.
  39. Shove E. (2004). Sustainability, system innovation and the laundry. In Elzen B., Geels, F., Green K. (eds) System Innovation and the Transition to Sustainability: Theory, Evidence and Policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
  40. Späth P. (2005). District heating and passive houses - Interfering strategies towards sustainable energy systems. ECEE Proceedings, pp. 339-344.
  41. Stephenson J., Barton B., Carrington G., Gnoth D., Lawson R., Thorsnes P. (2010). Energy cultures: a framework for understanding energy behaviours. Energy Policy, 10, 6120-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2010.05.06
  42. Unruh G.C. (2000). Understanding carbon lock in. Energy Policy, 28, 817-830. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-4215(00)00070-
  43. Unruh G.C. (2002). Escaping carbon lock in. Energy Policy, 30, 317-325. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-4215(01)00098-
  44. Vergragt P.J., Halina S.B. (2012). The Challenge of Energy Retrofitting the Residential Housing Stock: Grassroots Innovations and Socio-technical System Change in Worcester. MA. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, pp. 407-420.
  45. Verones S. (2012). Efficienza energetica e fonti rinnovabili nella pianificazione locale: successo o fallimento? Un’analisi del caso italiano. In Verones S., Zanon B., Energia e pianificazione urbanistica. Verso un’integrazione delle politiche urbane. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
  46. Xie Laihui (2009). Carbon Lock-in, Unlocking and Low Carbon Development. Shangai: China Opening Herald.
  47. Walker G., Devine-Wright P., Hunter S., High H., Evans B. (2010). Trust and community: exploring the meanings, contexts and dynamics of community renewable energy. Energy Policy, 10, 2655-2663. DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2009.05.05
  48. Weber L. (1997). Some reflections on barriers to the efficient use of energy. Energy Policy, 10, 833-835. DOI: 10.1016/S0301-4215(97)00084-

  • Eco-Welfare and the Energy Transition Lorenzo De Vidovich, pp.73 (ISBN:978-3-031-55027-0)
  • The ‘patchy’ spread of renewables: A socio-territorial perspective on the energy transition process Giovanni Carrosio, Ivano Scotti, in Energy Policy /2019 pp.684
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.02.057
  • Energy retrofitting of urban buildings: A socio-spatial analysis of three mid-sized Italian cities Natalia Magnani, Giovanni Carrosio, Giorgio Osti, in Energy Policy 111341/2020 pp.111341
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111341
  • District heating and ambivalent energy transition paths in urban and rural contexts Giovanni Carrosio, Natalia Magnani, in Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning /2020 pp.460
    DOI: 10.1080/1523908X.2020.1767548
  • Understanding the Energy Transition Giovanni Carrosio, pp.53 (ISBN:978-3-030-83480-7)

Giovanni Carrosio, Politiche e campi organizzativi della riqualificazione energetica degli edifici in "SOCIOLOGIA URBANA E RURALE" 106/2015, pp 21-44, DOI: 10.3280/SUR2015-106002