Application of the InTIME Methodology for the Transition of Office Buildings to Low Carbon—A Case Study

Isabel Andrade (), Johann Land, Patricio Gallardo and Susan Krumdieck
Additional contact information
Isabel Andrade: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
Johann Land: Global Association for Transition Engineering, Chelmsford CM1 1HT, UK
Patricio Gallardo: Electric Power Engineering Centre, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8041, New Zealand
Susan Krumdieck: School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: The COP21 Paris Agreement requires urgent abatement of 80% of the current fossil-based energy consumption to keep global warming below dangerous levels. Heating loads in commercial buildings can be reduced by retrofitting the building envelope, upgrading the efficiency of heating equipment, implementing energy management strategies, substituting renewable energy sources, and influencing energy-saving behavior. However, achieving the downshift of gas or coal heat is a wicked problem. The Interdisciplinary Transition Innovation Management and Engineering (InTIME) methodology was applied to address the wicked problem of district heating of campus buildings of the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand. The carbon downshift scenario requires a reduction in coal purchase by 80% from the first year through the engineering of adaptive measures for facility operators and occupants. Accordingly, a successful downshift of fossil-fuel energy would depend on the effective adaptation of the office workers. Adaptation plans to facilitate demand participation and sustained worker productivity could be designed once the actual heating behaviour is known. The contribution of this work is a novel fossil fuel abatement concept: the Targeted Heating Energy—Assessment and Intervention Design (THE-AID), which focuses on the assessment of the heating behavioural patterns of office workers. Building services engineers can use the THE-AID concept to develop adaptation plans through intervention design and resource facilitation focused on building occupants. THE-AID projects could achieve significant emissions reduction in the near term at a low cost and increase resilience to heat supply disruptions.

Keywords: energy transition; commercial buildings; demand participation; adaptive demand; adaptive behavior; low carbon; office occupant behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12053/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/19/12053/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:19:p:12053-:d:923498

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().