The UK non-domestic sector accounts for 16% of energy use and major cuts are needed to meet a ' net zero' CO 2 emissions target by 2050. Policy and research to date have focused on technical potential and there are gaps in understanding social contexts, which are key to energy efficiency improvement. Furthermore, SMEs have been overlooked, despite the need for concerted action here to meet targets. In this study, mixed-method case study research is undertaken with three independent retailers (a butcher, fishmonger and cycle-shop) to explore energy management and energy efficiency adoption. Building on the 4Cs " Concern, Conditions and Capacity within a Community" (4Cs) framework developed by Janda, this study has identified the interrelationships between Cs and explored the underlying factors that appear the be more important in determining responses to energy efficiency opportunities. Reflecting on the 4Cs, improving energy efficiency within this sector is complex, so it is perhaps not surprising that energy efficiency adoption has been low to date. This study highlights the importance of the ' social' within a socio-technical context. Whilst technical conditions are invariably the most important factor in engineering calculations of energy efficiency potential, they appear to be of considerably less importance than social contexts in practice. The findings suggest that a greater focus on social context within a socio-technical frame could help make future policy interventions more effective. Whilst some of these findings may be sector-specific, several are likely to be transferable to other SMEs, retail and hospitality organisations.

Non-domestic buildings are frequently characterised as resistant to top-down low-carbon and energy-efficiency policy. Complex relationships amongst building stakeholders are often blamed. “Middle actors”—professionals situated between policymakers and building users—can use their agency and capacity to facilitate energy and carbon decision-making from the “middle-out”. We use semi-structured interviews with expert middle actors working with schools and commercial offices, firstly, to explore their experience of energy and low-carbon decision-making in buildings and, secondly, to reflect on the evolution of middle actors’ role within it. Our exploratory findings suggest that a situated sensitivity to organisational “pressure points” can enhance middle actors’ agency and capacity to catalyse change. We find shifts in the ecology of the “middle”, as the UK’s Net Zero and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agendas pull in new middle actors (such as the financial community) and issues (such as wellbeing and social value) to non-domestic buildings. These issues may work in reinforcing ways with organisational pressure points. Policy should capitalise on this impetus by looking beyond the physicality of individual buildings and engage with middle actors at a systemic level. This could create greater synergies with organisational concerns and strategies of building stakeholders.

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