Sergi Moles Grueso Dissertation

A dissertation submitted to the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy of Central European University in part fulfilment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Re-cognising the role of commercial buildings in the production of a meaning and practice of energy saving: A radical interpretation of EU policies and four exemplars in Barcelona Sergi MOLES-GRUESO March, 2019 Budapest Notes on copyright and the ownership of intellectual property rights: (1) Copyright in text of this dissertation rests with the Author. Copies (by any process) either in full, or of extracts, may be made only in accordance with instructions given by the Author and lodged in the Central European University Library. Details may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. Further copies (by any process) of copies made in accordance with such instructions may not be made without the permission (in writing) of the Author. (2) The ownership of any intellectual property rights which may be described in this dissertation is vested in the Central European University, subject to any prior agreement to the contrary, and may not be made available for use by third parties without the written permission of the University, which will prescribe the terms and conditions of any such agreement. (3) For bibliographic and reference purposes this dissertation should be referred to as: MOLES-GRUESO, S. 2019. Re-cognising the role of commercial buildings in the production of a meaning and practice of energy saving: A radical interpretation of EU policies and four exemplars in Barcelona. Doctoral dissertation, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University, Budapest. Further information on the conditions under which disclosures and exploitation may take place is available from the Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Central European University. i Author’s declaration No portion of the work referred to in this dissertation has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. Furthermore, this dissertation contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, except where appropriate acknowledgment is made in the form of bibliographical reference, etc. Sergi MOLES-GRUESO ii THE CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY ABSTRACT OF DISSERTATION submitted by: Sergi MOLES-GRUESO for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and entitled Re-cognising the role of commercial buildings in the production of a meaning and practice of energy saving: A radical interpretation of EU policies and four exemplars in Barcelona. Month and Year of submission: March 2019. This dissertation addresses the under-researched role of commercial buildings in co- producing the everyday meaning and practice of energy saving. Manifold governments and corporations represent their commercial buildings as concrete evidence of their engagement with socially accepted values of energy saving, which buildings are thus assumed to contribute to fostering public awareness and the replication of related practices. This would contribute to bridging the gap between the actual adoption of practices and the potential for this, the latter claims based on techno-economic grounds and the widespread acceptance of energy saving values. However, there is limited scholarly and policy reflection about these assumptions. Such appears to be the case with the EU “exemplary” requirements for commercial buildings. My purpose is to contribute to “re-cognising” commercial buildings as co- producing the meaning and practice of energy saving, thereby contributing to bridging the epistemological gap between policies and everyday life. Tackling this requires a radical critique of the knowledge and interests underlying the marginal recognition of buildings as mediating the (re)production of practice. In acknowledging critical reviews of energy saving conceptualisations and practices as decontextualising instruments which have a legitimating function and a de- politicising effect, this study was inspired by Lefebvre’s theory about the production of space. For Lefebvre, commercial buildings rely on positivist epistemologies to represent a practice and contribute to the illusion that an appropriate practice is being produced, ultimately legitimating the status quo. This illusion can be countered through an appraisal of the contradictions between the conceptual, material and social dimensions of practice through a radical critique of everyday (1991). Empirically supporting such a critique requires the use of interpretive methodologies that are able to assess practices as an act of reframing. These are rare in applied policy-making and research. The research design involved four buildings in Barcelona that were selected for empirical analysis based on their energy saving credentials, as publicized by their respective commissioning organisations. Interpretation relied on a review of official narratives; observation; pre-arranged interviews with experts and officials (n= 62), and on- the-spot interviews with users and passers-by (n= 67). My findings reveal a divide between official and everyday framings. The study of official representations shows the prevalence of a framing of innovation and singular iii exemplars, whereby organisations are veiled from public scrutiny. Everyday meaning- making refers, instead, to the context of the organisation (its values, practices, and social relations) and of public replication. An appraisal of the contradictions in this context of practice counters the credibility of official claims and practices, providing a novel explanation for gaps in applied policy and research. The policy, political, epistemological and methodological contributions of this research are intertwined as they empirically support the claim that producing a practice of energy saving requires acknowledging: a) the difference between “practice” and “reductionist representations”; b) the legitimating function of commercial buildings; c) the limits of positivist knowledge and post-structuralist critique; and, d) the potential for interpretive methodologies and orientations. Re-cognising buildings appears to be an operable mechanism for re-politicising official practice and for reframing the energy saving problem. I have reflected these contributions in a series of policy recommendations for EU policies that should foster the exploration of the potential of commercial buildings to re- contextualise energy saving practice. Keywords: Commercial buildings, energy saving policy, EU Directives, interpretive policy assessment, Lefebvre’s radical critique of everyday, practice theory iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dissertation committee members for having enthusiastically engaged with this project. I am indebted to Prof. Michael LaBelle for his friendly and effective supervision, and to my Internal Committee Member Prof. Alexios Antypas for his humane support and pragmatic inspiration. Full appreciation also goes to Prof. Lee Pugalis from UTS who joined the Committee at a later stage but immediately empathised with my philosophical preoccupations prior to flooding me with scholarly guidance and constructive advice. It has been a pleasure collaborating with you all, and I hope to maintain our friendship and scholarly collaboration in the future. Special recognition goes to the many participants of this research who selflessly responded to my questions, enlightening me in my path through this research and other areas of life. You all gave me permission to use your names and words. However, the meaning we make of buildings turned to have more implications than I – and probably many of you – expected. Although I was careful to interpret your words in the context you phrased them – and this interpretation is my sole responsibility –, I would not want you to be found liable for the critiques that I have put forth in this dissertation. Hence, I decided to preserve your anonymity. I look forward to further discussion with you all. My appreciation is extended to the faculty members of the Environmental and Science and Policy Department at CEU for entrusting me with a Doctoral Scholarship; especially to Prof. Diana Ürge-Vorsatz for her initial supervision, as well as to Prof. Guntra Aistara, Prof. Tamara Steger and Prof. Alan Watt for guidance. I am also grateful to Györgyi Puruczki and Krisztina Szabados for their unfailing assistance throughout these years. Thank you also to the Central European University for nurturing critical scholarship that goes beyond partisanship, because without critique we cease to exist. We hope to see you back in Hungary soon, along with democracy and scholarly freedom. I express my special gratitude to Prof. Kasper Kok, Eng. Carlos Aquino, Eng. Efraín Tecú, and Benigna Boza-Kiss for awakening my preoccupation in putting people first – an innovation that has the greatest potential for positive change but which remains hard to grasp for us engineers and policy analysts. Also, during this PhD I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Prof. Ralph Horne and Dr. Megan Nethercote of RMIT, who believed in me as a yet-to-graduate researcher. I look forward to continuing our fruitful relationships. During these years I have had the opportunity and pleasure to discuss life and research with a few generations of fresh and budding graduates. Thanks to Dr. Sergio Tirado-Herrero and to Dr. Souran Chatterjee for those laugh-thru lunches;

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