Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use
This study analyses the role of the Facilities Manager [FM] as a key actor in organisational energy management. This builds on the idea that ‘middle’ agents in networks can be an important lever for socio-technical change. The study demonstrates the considerable impact the FM can have on workplace e...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2015
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51111/ |
| _version_ | 1848798419138641920 |
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| author | Goulden, Murray Spence, Alexa |
| author_facet | Goulden, Murray Spence, Alexa |
| author_sort | Goulden, Murray |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | This study analyses the role of the Facilities Manager [FM] as a key actor in organisational energy management. This builds on the idea that ‘middle’ agents in networks can be an important lever for socio-technical change. The study demonstrates the considerable impact the FM can have on workplace energy consumption, whilst identifying a number of factors that constrain their agency and capacity to act. These include demands to meet workforce expectations of comfort; a lack of support from senior management; and a shortage of resources. Underlying these challenges, the study identifies three different energy rationales – that is to say conceptual frameworks – which are deployed by different groups of organisational actors. The challenges of reconciling these at-times-contradictory rationales results in a picture of energy management which to the outsider can appear highly irrational. The paper concludes with a consideration of how policy makers can apply these insights to support energy reduction in workplaces. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:19:28Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-51111 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:19:28Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-511112020-05-04T20:06:56Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51111/ Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use Goulden, Murray Spence, Alexa This study analyses the role of the Facilities Manager [FM] as a key actor in organisational energy management. This builds on the idea that ‘middle’ agents in networks can be an important lever for socio-technical change. The study demonstrates the considerable impact the FM can have on workplace energy consumption, whilst identifying a number of factors that constrain their agency and capacity to act. These include demands to meet workforce expectations of comfort; a lack of support from senior management; and a shortage of resources. Underlying these challenges, the study identifies three different energy rationales – that is to say conceptual frameworks – which are deployed by different groups of organisational actors. The challenges of reconciling these at-times-contradictory rationales results in a picture of energy management which to the outsider can appear highly irrational. The paper concludes with a consideration of how policy makers can apply these insights to support energy reduction in workplaces. Elsevier 2015-10 Article PeerReviewed Goulden, Murray and Spence, Alexa (2015) Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use. Energy Policy, 85 . pp. 280-287. ISSN 0301-4215 Energy; Organisations; Facilities Manager; Middle-out; Non-domestic https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421515002323 doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.06.014 doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2015.06.014 |
| spellingShingle | Energy; Organisations; Facilities Manager; Middle-out; Non-domestic Goulden, Murray Spence, Alexa Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title | Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title_full | Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title_fullStr | Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title_full_unstemmed | Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title_short | Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| title_sort | caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use |
| topic | Energy; Organisations; Facilities Manager; Middle-out; Non-domestic |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51111/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51111/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/51111/ |