Smart Users for Energy and Societal Transition

Benoît Robyns is deputy scientific director at Junia, Graduate School of Engineering, vice-president of energy and societal transition at the Université catholique de Lille and researcher at L2EP, France. Claude Lenglet is an engineer. He is involved in work on climate-related transitions. Hervé Barry is a sociologist at the FGES of the Université catholique de Lille, France. Malik Bozzo-Rey is research director in ethics at the ETHICS laboratory of the Université catholique de Lille, France.

Foreword by Pierre Giorgini ix

Foreword by Xavier Bertrand xiii

Introduction xvii

Chapter 1 The Necessary Transition of the 21st Century 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Connection of energy and social issues 2

1.2.1 Living energy 2

1.2.2 Fossil fuel, deforestation, cattle rearing and climate 2

1.2.3 Renewable energies, or almost renewable energies 5

1.2.4 Energy and economy 8

1.2.5 Energy and meaning 12

1.3 Opinions surrounding climate change 15

1.3.1 Denial and inaction 15

1.3.2 Faith in technosciences 16

1.3.3 Saving through economy 17

1.3.4 The reason for sustainable development 18

1.4 Scenarios and possible solutions 20

1.4.1 Scenarios, so many stories of a desirable future? 20

1.4.2 Renewable energies and sobriety 21

1.4.3 From 100% renewable energies to a mix of solutions 25

1.4.4 The Third Industrial Revolution 27

1.4.5 Smart due to digital technology 28

1.4.6 From global to local 29

1.4.7 All actors 30

1.4.8 Small steps to start 32

1.4.9 The need for demonstrators and transdisciplinary approaches 33

Chapter 2 The Transition: Concept or Reality? 37

2.1 Introduction 37

2.2 The limits of a development model 37

2.2.1 An outdated observation 37

2.2.2 Having the courage to face reality 40

2.2.3 The intrinsic fragility of our systems 42

2.3 Attempts to “repair” the model in the 20th century 45

2.3.1 Too strong a temptation 45

2.3.2 The other temptation: the technological answer 47

2.3.3 The great forgotten issue 49

2.4 Cities and territories in transition 50

2.4.1 Two inspiring studies 51

2.4.2 European cities and territories 55

2.4.3 Rev3, the Hauts-de-France project 60

2.4.4 Some lessons learned 65

2.5 Create a systemic approach 67

2.5.1 Building blocks 68

2.5.2 The unavoidable transversalities 69

2.5.3 Buildings, one of the hearts of the transition 71

Chapter 3 University: The Ideal Place for Research and Implementation 75

3.1 Introduction 75

3.2 Universities and transition: from university to univer’city 76

3.3 Five universities moving toward carbon neutrality 77

3.3.1. A reference framework for greenhouse gases emission sources 77

3.3.2 University of Manchester 79

3.3.3 Stockholm University 81

3.3.4 Boston University 83

3.3.5 University of Reading 86

3.3.6 The University of British Colombia 89

3.3.7 Summary 91

3.4 The Live TREE program from the Université Catholique de Lille 92

3.4.1 The specificities of the university 92

3.4.2 The meaning of a program 94

3.4.3 Carbon neutrality: a difficult equation to solve 95

3.4.4 Demonstrators 101

3.4.5 Campus and zen district 122

3.4.6 Involving the students 126

3.4.7 Research 128

3.5 Acknowledgments 131

Chapter 4 Smart Building Nodes in Smart Energy Networks: Components of a Smart City 133

4.1 Introduction 133

4.2 Smart buildings as nodes of smart grids 134

4.2.1 Smart grids 134

4.2.2 The digital dimension 135

4.2.3 Intersection between buildings and energy networks 136

4.2.4 Transformation of buildings 137

4.3 Interdisciplinary R&D to move toward a smart city 139

4.3.1 The smart city 139

4.3.2 Interdisciplinary R&D 140

Chapter 5 An Energy-Efficient Smart Building with or without the Cooperation of Its Occupants? 145

5.1 Introduction 145

5.2 Construction methods for energy performance 148

5.2.1 The time to satisfy basic needs 148

5.2.2 Construction methods to improve energy and environmental performance 150

5.2.3 Controlling the intensity of energy consumption 152

5.3 Determinants of energy use in the world of work 158

5.3.1 Determinants linked to business activity 159

5.3.2 Sociological determinants of energy practices 160

5.3.3 Modeling the belief-behavior relationship 167

5.4 High-performance buildings abused by uses 170

5.4.1 The philosophy and equipment of the building 170

5.4.2 Feedback from uses in smart buildings 175

5.5 Lessons to be learnt from the two pieces of feedback 188

5.5.1 Do not confuse intelligence, performance and quality of use 188

5.5.2 Having an accurate understanding of occupations and uses 190

5.5.3 Informing users about the importance of their role 191

5.5.4 Developing organizational regulations 191

5.6 Conclusion 193

5.7 Acknowledgments 194

Chapter 6 Ethics of Energy and Societal Transition 195

6.1 Introduction: ethical challenges associated with the energy and societal transition 195

6.2 Some arguments in favor of the energy and societal transition 197

6.2.1 Assign a value to the environment 198

6.2.2 Responsibility toward future generations 199

6.2.3 Individual or institutional responsibility? 201

6.3 From theory to action: the question of influence 204

6.3.1 Individual and societal values, which will act in favor of the energy transition? 204

6.3.2 Developing the use of nudges in public policies 206

6.4 Nudges: ethical issues raised by the use of behavioral sciences to influence behavior 209

6.4.1 Conceptual framework and definition 209

6.4.2 Elements of a critique of nudges 213

6.4.3 What place is there for nudges in the energy and societal transition? 215

6.5 Conclusion: the necessary political dimension of ethics 217

Postface 219

References 225

Index 235