The paper draws from the general literature on energy efficiency and historic buildings to explain the importance and potential of user-driven energy efficiency in historic buildings. It is the first review that places the user as a central object of study in the research field of historic buildings and energy Highlights:• State of the art review on user-driven energy efficiency in historic buildings.• Non-intrusive energy efficiency measures have significant impact and potential.• Integrated bottom-up refurbishment processes will provide for better management.

This paper addresses possible effects of the growing focus on global warming on households' domestication of energy and the dynamics of energy consumption by comparing data pertaining to the domestication of energy within Norwegian households from two time periods: first, 1991-1995, when climate change was given little public attention, and, second, 2006-2009, after climate change became a major public concern. In the first period, the domestication of energy resulted in an energy culture emphasizing comfort and convenience with respect to everyday life and the abundant supply of clean hydropower. In the second period, this culture seemed to have changed, making many households concerned about their energy consumption. Consumption of energy was linked to climate change, and many interviewees claimed to save energy. However, the dominant expectation was still to be able to manage everyday life in a convenient and comfortable way. Thus, climate change concerns produced important but not comprehensive changes in the domestication of energy. A main effect was feelings of guilt, tempered by arguments regarding why change is difficult and complaints about political inaction. Thus, public engagement with climate change issues may facilitate energy efficiency policy but to succeed, wider climate policy measures seem to be needed.

Purpose A meta-study covering the past decade maps the development of Norwegian municipal planning, climate adaptation and institutional vulnerability towards climate change. This paper aims to explore the implementation of climate adaptive changes in Norwegian legal planning and building framework into municipal practice and policy instruments from 2007 to 2016. The study is planned to answer the question: what drivers ensure increased municipal efforts in their climate adaptive planning and building practice? Design/methodology/approach The paper presents empirical findings from two qualitative research projects, each with nine interviews of municipal key personnel within three municipalities’ planning and building services and an ongoing qualitative, expert interview-based study (eight individual/group interviews). Findings Risk reduction and climate resilience are still unsatisfactorily attended in many Norwegian municipalities. There is a gap between political and administrative levels in communicating bilateral expectations and needs for incorporation of climate adaptive measures. Policy instruments maintaining climate adaptation are in demand by different building process actors. Yet, extreme weather events seem to be the main drivers for actual implementation of climate change aspects into municipal policy instruments. Networking, both within and between municipalities, is an important strategy for learning climate adaptation. Research limitations/implications Both globally and in Norway, the focus on climate change impacts is steadily increasing. Municipal risk and vulnerability analyses are statutory, as is the incorporation of the results into local plans at appropriate levels. Originality/value The originality of this paper is the meta-perspective over the past decade, the qualitative approach and the use of environmental psychology theories.

This paper studies how economists engaged in energy policymaking and household consumers frame the electricity market, based on interviews with prominent energy economists and focus group interviews with household consumers. Drawing on economic sociology, above all the contribution of Michel Callon, we analyse framing processes involved in the sense-making around the electricity market, including electricity consumption and the understanding of how households act with respect to the market. We found that the interviewed economists predominantly drew on a framing of the electricity market according to their theoretical understanding of markets, considering consumers as calculative agents in a strict sense. In contrast, the interviewed consumers argued a more inclusive and complex framing of the electricity market by also emphasising moral, social and political issues. Thus, they appeared to be qualculative rather than just calculative agents. This different framing did not emerge from consumers' misunderstanding or being misinformed about market mechanisms. Rather, we observed a mismatch between the energy economists and the household consumers regarding the underlying rationality of their framings, how they perceived consumption of electricity, and what they included and excluded in the framing of the market.