Energieffektivisering och kulturhistoriska värden : Styrmedels långsiktiga påverkan på bebyggelsen

Sweden has used policies to increase energy efficiency in existing buildings for over four decades. How did this change towards more energy-efficient structures begin, and how did it affect the historical values and energy use of these buildings? Since the first oil crisis in 1973, the State has encouraged energy-saving renovation measures. Examples include adding insulation to facades, replacing boilers, and swapping older single- and double-glazed windows for modern, energy-efficient types. These methods usually increase a building’s energy ones, yet they also reduce our ability to discern and understand the historical development of the built environment. The dichotomy between conservation and increased energy efficiency arose in the 1970s. Since then its nature has shifted over time, and the situation whereby increasing numbers of buildings are ascribed historical values has compounded the issue. However, the goals of energy efficiency have evolved even more. In the 1970s, the aim was almost exclusively to eradicate the country’s need for imported oil, replacing it with domestic nuclear and hydroelectric power. Since the late 1990s, the main aim has been to reduce the built environment’s impact on the global climate. Sweden’s energy-efficiency policies have adapted to meet EU goals. A national perspective has shifted to being European and sometimes global too. The article describes a project conducted within the Spara och bevara research programme.* This project analysed Swedish policies to improve energy efficiency in existing buildings, in order to better understand how the politics behind energy-efficient renovation informed official policy, and ultimately influenced the buildings themselves. The emphasis was to understand the dynamic between conservation goals and energy efficiency. On a macro level the project studied national politics and man- agement; on a micro level it analysed policy effects on built environments. The present article is based on various groups of sources: the archives of county housing boards; municipal building permit archives; to some extent museum archives; personal onsite observations; and dialogues with municipal conservation officers, building-conservation officers and municipal architects in the places included in the study. The effects of energy-efficiency measures have been analysed in four areas: Brynäs in Gävle, Visby Villastad, Visby town centre, and Årsta in Stockholm. The major energy-efficiency measures implemented with State support in the 1970s and 1980s appear to have contributed to reduced municipal influence in these areas. In a given area, major change over a relatively short period of time weakened the argument for continued conservation, given that the original historical values had been compromised. The Årsta substudy also found that when external insulation was fitted to a facade to reduce energy use, it also generally diminished the values of the buildings.An evaluation of previous policies on energy efficiency in buildings and their effects on energy use and historical value