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Major maintenance projects are often regarded as maintenance activities regardless of the projects' complexity and scale. Consequently, very scarce research attention has hitherto been paid to the critical skills required when undertaking these projects. More specifically, the body of relevant knowledge is deprived of a study focusing on maintenance projects within the energy sector. In view of this shortcoming, this research aims to examine the critical project management (PM) skills required to deliver major maintenance projects within the energy sector.

Based on a quantitative research strategy, this study addressed the knowledge gap through a cross-sectional survey of professionals involved in the delivery of major maintenance projects in the United Kingdom's (UK) energy sector. Data obtained were analyzed via descriptive (e.g. frequencies, mean and standard deviation [SD]) and inferential statistical analyses (One sample t-test and exploratory factor analysis (EFA)).

Out of the 45 PM skills identified in the literature and examined by the respondents, the results obtained from the One sample t-test (based on p (1-tailed) = 0.05) showed that 37 were considered to be at least “important,” accounting for 80.4% of all the skills identified. EFA revealed a clustering of the PM skills items into seven components: “skills related to work scheduling and coordination”; “communication, risk, safety and stakeholder management skills”; “quality assurance skills”; “people management skills”; “skills related to forecasting scope and duration of outage”; “implementation of processes and time management skills” and “technical/engineering skills and experience pertaining to the outage and local site knowledge.”

This study has identified and contributed to the limited state-of-the-art skills project managers must possess to manage major maintenance projects in the energy sector successfully. The findings would be useful to organizations within the energy sector in ensuring that the organizations have suitable personnel in place to deliver major maintenance projects on the organizations' assets.

Purpose – The UK energy market is in a period of significant transition, with a target of cutting carbon emissions by at least 80% by 2050. There is widespread agreement that the current policy landscape needs to change if this ambitious target is to be achieved. However, the current business structure also requires a radical overhaul. This chapter explores the new business models that are being introduced to serve commercial and domestic customers.

Methodology/approach – This chapter presents a case study of the UK energy sector that draws on the first author's active engagement in the UK's energy market and thus participant observation. The discussion is framed around relevant material from the entrepreneurship and innovation literatures, with a particular focus on entrepreneurial opportunities created by policy.

Findings – In a rapidly changing policy environment, new ideas, technologies and business models are emerging. A range of new business models evident in the market are explored. These include new forms of service delivery, market-making models and finance models.

Social implications – The chapter highlights the importance of entrepreneurship and innovation in the delivery of a low-carbon economy. It also explores the role of policymakers in promoting more environmentally sustainable approaches in this industry sector.

Originality/value of chapter – The chapter presents a novel, industry-specific case study. It contributes to extant knowledge on sustainable business through its focus on the complex interaction of policy and entrepreneurship as well as some of the business models required for the transition to a low-carbon future.

The purpose of this paper was to examine UK shale gas viability. The recent commitment to shale gas exploration in the UK through fracking has given rise to well-publicised economic benefits and environmental concerns. There is potential for shale gas exploration in different parts of the UK over the next couple of decades. As argued in this study, if it does, it would transform the energy market and provide long-term energy security at affordable cost.

Interviews with senior practitioners and local communities were recorded, transcribed and entered into qualitative research software Nvivo. Validity and reliability were achieved by first assessing the plausibility in terms of already existing knowledge on some of the economic and environmental issues raised by participants.

Findings from this study suggest that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities. Participants further suggested that the integration of shale gas technology will protect consumers against rising energy prices and ensure that government does not get exposed to long-term geopolitical risks.

The present study corroborates the position that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities.

The present study confirms that the government is committed to ensuring that the nation maximises the opportunity that cost-effective shale gas technology presents, not just investment, cheap energy bills and jobs but providing an energy mix that will underpin the UK long-term economic prosperity.

The present study corroborates the position that environmental, health and safety risks can be managed effectively provided operational best practices are implemented and monitored by the Health and Safety Executive; Department of Energy, Climate Change; and the Mineral Planning Authorities. As shown in this study, the UK has a very strong regulatory regime compared to USA; therefore, environmental, health and safety risks will be very well managed and unlikely to escalate into the crisis being envisioned.

This paper aims to investigate the manner in which technological innovation in the European electrical-grid sector has developed by focusing, in particular, on the effect of public policy on innovation. To achieve this aim, this paper highlights how technological innovation and development progressed from the 1960s to the 1980s, and contrasts this period with the deregulated/privatization environment.

The paper is based on a series of in-depth multiple company case studies of grid companies, some of their suppliers and other actors in their broader business network. Empirical data were collected through 55 interviews.

The authors find that a phase of mutual collaboration was encouraged in the first period, which led to strong technological innovation with a focus on product quality and the development of functionality. Buyers played a pivotal role in the development of products and posed technical requirements. In contrast, the current role of the buyer has transformed principally into one of evaluating competing bids for specific projects. Today, buyers face increasing pressure to substantially lower CO₂ emissions and transform the energy grid system. These goals are difficult to achieve without a new way of thinking about innovation.

Models to achieve innovation must not only focus on individual research projects; instead, the innovation should be factored into normal business dealings in the supply chain.

We propose that policymakers and regulators need to: accommodate for innovation and address the collaborative elements of innovation when developing policies and regulations. Furthermore, regulators have the option of either developing a strategic vision for the electrical-grid network or incorporating sustainability into the evaluation of electrical grids and, thus, consumers’ willingness to pay.

This paper makes a distinctive contribution in the area of innovation for electrical grids. Our paper shows how innovation and the development of new technology for electrical grids changed over time. Furthermore, this paper describes the energy sector in terms of a business network comprising the different actors involved in innovation and development and, thus, their role in the energy supply chain.

The English House Condition Survey for 1991 demonstrated that levels of energy efficiency in private rented property are significantly below other sectors, even though energy improvements have tangible benefits for landlords. The low level of energy efficiency provision in the private rented sector indicates that landlords are unaware or unconvinced of these benefits and market barriers may have restricted uptake. Information regarding energy efficiency advice to the private rented HMO sector has focussed on offering good practice design guidance, and information about the level of fitness and overall characteristics of the sector. This research project evaluated the PRESS scheme, which encouraged landlords to introduce energy efficiency measures. A total of 78 private sector rented properties in Sheffield were analysed with retrofit measures to improve levels of energy efficiency. The results demonstrate that whilst market barriers exist, the PRESS scheme went some way to overcoming some barriers to energy efficiency.

This article seeks to investigate the interconnections between the expectations of the impact of energy certificates issued within the UK domestic building sector through the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) and the actual number and financial implications of the energy saving measures (ESMs) achieved.

The methodology uses two previously published surveys and compares these with a third independent survey by the authors focusing upon the discrepancies between planned action and implemented action, introducing the term human factor element (hfe).

The article concludes that annual carbon savings arising from implementation of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) may be as low as 73.4 ktC over the five year term of the Kyoto Protocol even though 44 per cent of energy saving measure costs of £200 million are recouped within the same time period and savings will continue for up to 40 years. Achieving annual savings of only 14.7 ktC by 2010, such a figure represents a mere 0.3 per cent of the annual domestic 4.8 MtC savings announced by the government in its 2006 Climate Change Programme.

Since the principal determinant in the uptake of ESMs is initial cost, it is considered that the EPBD is likely to remain an under‐performing instrument in the promotion of energy sufficiency until such time as other complementary provisions are introduced.

Sheds light upon the likely financial impact upon energy efficiency in domestic buildings by energy certificates.

The paper aims to present the findings of a “situation review” of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), focusing on energy performance certificates (EPCs) to highlight areas of specific importance for the UK property investment community. The paper is based on research commissioned by the Investment Property Forum (IPF) and funded through the IPF Research Programme (2006‐2009).

Interviews were undertaken with experts from the fields of property investment and building engineering. The interviews were undertaken with to identify: the current knowledge of EPCs in the property investment sector; key issues with practical implementation of the legislation; and perceptions of the potential impacts of legislation, particularly in relation to value stakeholder and behaviour.

The paper finds that, although the regulations have been published, there is still a need for clarification in the marketplace with regard to some of the detail of regulations and the certification process. The following areas are of most concern to property investors: costs of surveys; potential difficulties with the process; and a shortage of assessors. With respect to these impacts it is becoming clear that investors who have not yet started considering the EPBD and its requirements within their strategy are likely to face difficulties in the short term. The most significant value‐related impacts of EPBD are expected to be value differentiation of properties and “price chipping” against the rental or capital value of the property, where an occupier or potential purchaser will use the recommendations contained within an EPC to force a reduction in value. The latter is expected to emerge in the short term, whereas the former is expected to be realised over the medium to long term. Both these impacts have potentially significant implications for property investment holdings and also future investment behaviour.

The paper provides useful information the importance of EPCs.

Buildings contribute significantly to CO₂ production. They are also subject to considerable taxation based on value. Analysis shows that while similar attributes contribute to both value and CO₂ production, there is only a loose relationship between the two. If we wish to use taxation to affect policy change (drive energy efficiency behaviour), we are unlikely to achieve this using only the current tax base (value), or by increasing the tax take off this current tax base (unlike extra taxation of cigarettes to discourage smoking, for example). Taxation of buildings on the basis of energy efficiency is hampered by the lack of current evidence of performance. This paper aims to model the now-obligatory (at sale or letting) energy performance certificate (EPC) data to derive an acceptable appraisal model (marked to market, being the EPC scores) and deploys this to the entire population of properties. This provides an alternative tax base with which to model the effects of a tax base switch to energy efficiency and to understand the tax incidence effects of such a policy.

The research uses a multiplicative hedonic approach to model energy efficiency utilising EPC holding properties in a UK jurisdiction [Northern Ireland (NI)] as the sample. This model is then used to estimate discrete energy assessments for each property in the wider population, using attributes held in the domestic rating (property tax) database for NI (700,000+ properties). This produces a robust estimate of the EPC for every property in its current condition and its cost-effective improved condition. This energy assessment based tax base is further used to estimate a new millage rate and property tax bill (green property tax) which is compared against the existing property tax based on value to allow tax incidence changes to be analysed.

The findings show that such a policy would significantly redistribute the tax burden and would have a variety of expected and some unexpected effects. The results indicate that while assessing the energy performance of houses can be a complex process involving many parameters, much of the explanatory power can be achieved via a relatively small number of input variables, often already held by property tax jurisdictions. This offers the opportunity for useful housing stock modelling – such as the savings possible from power switching. The research also identifies that whilst urban areas display the expected “heat island” effect in terms of energy consumption, urban properties are on average more efficient than suburban/rural properties. This facilitates spatial targeting of policy messages and initiatives.

Analogous with other studies, data deficiencies introduce the risk of omitted variable bias. Modelling of the energy efficiency in the sample is limited to property attributes that are available for the wider population of properties. While this limits the modelling exercise, it is a perennial issue facing mass appraisal worldwide (where knowledge of the transacted sample attributes generally exceeds knowledge of the unsold properties). That said, the research demonstrates the benefits of sharing data and improving knowledge of the housing stock, as taxation databases would be stronger, augmented with EPC-derived property attributes for example.

The EPC lead in time for wide residential coverage is likely to be considerable. The paper contributes to emerging literature and policy debate surrounding the effect, performance measurement and implementation of energy efficiency certification, through a greater understanding of the sectorial and geographical dispersion of energy efficiency. It provides high level research to help guide policy and decision-making, identifying key locales where there is more of a physical problem and locations where there is more to gain in terms of targeting energy improvement and/or encouraging behavioural change. The paper also allows a glimpse of the implications of a change towards a taxation regime based on energy efficiency, which contributes to the debate surrounding the “greening” of property based taxes.

In October 2011 the Government brought in measures to reduce the revenue provided by the Feed in Tariff (FIT) system. This change came under a lot of opposition due to the potential affects that it would have upon the industry. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of the FIT and the impact that the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review had upon the industry and its uptake by the householders.

For the study and to calculate the benefits of the FIT, a predictive modelling tool was built that could calculate the potential income and savings for a household. A photovoltaic (PV) installation was then monitored for over a year and the results of the predictive modelling tool were compared to actual results produced from the system to show how accurate the modelling tool was. The impacts of the Governments comprehensive spending review and the potential impacts in the industry were then calculated and discussed.

The FIT is still a good incentive for people investing in PV. However, the reduction in the FIT may impact the “Rent a Roof” system and this in turn will impact most heavily on lower income families. The research also concluded that the changes in the political agenda have had a major impact on the FIT for both the industry and the community. Thus, the solar FITs will continue to be an attractive incentive in place to pay for heating through renewable means and thus ensuring reducing the own carbon footprint. Concomitantly, well-developed ownership schemes need to be put in place.

The reduction in the FIT was the right move by the Government as it should prevent the increase in energy bill prices which will affect the people without PV at this point in time. It also has been set so that it is still generous enough to encourage the industry and stimulate installation as there is still profit but not in a way that should put people off. The UK may just have to take time to realise that the FITs are still a good deal after the very generous tariff that preceded them.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between energy performance and property sale price in the Belfast housing market. How energy efficiency is contributes to sale price and thus appraisal value is of growing concern. The obligatory measurement of energy efficiency in private dwellings seeks to encourage improvements in energy performance. This may be capitalised into property value and may stimulate demand for energy-efficient buildings. However, the relationship between energy performance and property value remains nebulous, complex and under-researched – in part due to data limitations.

Using a hedonic pricing specification, this paper measures the effect of energy performance certificates (EPCs) on residential property value. It examines the relationship between 3,797 residential sales transactions across the Belfast housing market, showing the percentage effect on property value with respect to energy performance.

The results indicate a small but positive relationship between better energy performance and higher selling prices. Nonetheless, the findings point towards strong preference, demand tastes and a complex intra-relationship between EPCs and their capitalisation into property value. Pertinently, the findings point towards any energy-efficient-related price effect affect to be marginal alongside more “quality”-based market behaviours.

Analogous with other studies, data deficiencies and a lack of incorporating price determining variables (missing determinants) such as heating type and glazing type introduces omitted variable bias and endogeneity problems within the model structure.

This paper contributes to emerging literature and policy debate surrounding the measurement and implementation of energy-efficiency certification through a greater understanding of energy performance characteristics in determining property value.