Governing energy in organisations: Energy management professionals, marginalised practices, and the limits to change

Abstract

Organisations and institutions of many kinds play important roles in maintaining and transforming energy systems, not least through their direct contributions to energy demand. Major service‐providing institutions such as universities and hospitals have especially large and complex demands. Facing pressures to reduce environmental impacts and costs, many of these organisations are trying to reduce their energy consumption—with varying degrees of success. The responsibility for pursuing this goal in practice often lies with practitioners here referred to as Energy Management Professionals (EMPs). However, there has been little systematic investigation of EMPs' practices and their energy implications. Using qualitative evidence from English universities and hospitals, we argue that three types of work are marginalised in EMPs' practices, namely: (a) change‐focused work, and within that; (b) work engaging with people and what they do, and within that; (c) work engaging with institutional policy‐making. We argue that these marginalisations limit the scale and scope of demand reduction efforts, and also show how they arise from interacting dynamics of national policies and priorities, institutional structures and professional practices, and the influence of neoliberal governance, among other things. Finally, we discuss how rethinking institutional energy governance could help reduce energy demand and reflect on wider lessons for research and policy on organisational sustainability.

Success Factors and Barriers for Facility Management in Keeping Nearly-Zero-Energy Non-Residential Buildings Energy-Efficient over Time

“…A property manager has a greater overall responsibility for the building such as finances and leases. The title energy management professional (EMP), defined as those who in practice have the responsibility of pursuing energy goals, can be found in the literature [17].…”

“…When they wanted to get paid for the system, it fizzled out." (17) Even if the system contributed good conditions to follow up energy usage and saved time, the company did not want to pay for it. There were barriers for investment when it was not within their own business.…”

“…Success factors: Easy access to energy data (16,17) Key indicators and defined requirements for energy usage (18,19)…”

“…Success factors: Easy access to energy data (16,17) Key indicators and defined requirements for energy usage (18,19) (32) Barriers: Other priorities Barriers: Lack of internal and external resources (33) Barriers: Dysfunctional external support (33) Barriers: Other priorities Barriers: Lack of internal and external resources (33) Barriers: Dysfunctional external support (33) Public policy, for example, through policy at EU or national level, is driving change and leads to adoption of in-house policies to be implemented in organizations, which was exemplified in Section 4.1.4. Here, in-house policy was found as a factor that acted as a driving force and shaped the work with energy efficiency in buildings such as municipalities or companies and was further channeled down in the organizations.…”

“…In both public and private non-residential premises, facility management (FM) plays an important role in maintaining the buildings and keeping users and tenants satisfied [1,2]. Together with energy management professionals (EMP), FM also has a significant role for energy efficiency in buildings [3,17], both by maintaining the energy performance of buildings, but also by initiating energy efficiency actions [18]. An FM organization can also be a link among users, the technology, and the prevailing authority as it can regulate the indoor climate and other functions in the building.…”