Estetikk eller miljøhensyn? Arkitekters syn på energiøkonomisering

AESTHETICS OR ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN? ARCHITECT'S VIEW ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY It is a well-defined goal of the Norwegian energy policy to promote energy efficiency, but less clear how this goal can be accomplished. A basic assumption of this article is the importance of studying the professions that should contribute to the promotion of energy efficient solutions in building design. In particular, architects have an important role in this process. The article analyses the relationship between architects and energy efficiency by investigating how the most important Norwegian journals of architecture handle these issues. It looks at how energy efficiency and environmentally sustainable building designs are presented in two Norwegian architect journals from 1970 to 1999, drawing upon theories from technology studies. The analysis shows that very few contributions in the journals focus on energy efficiency and sustainability in building design. Thus, the article demonstrates the importance of taking into account meso-level features such as professional traditions and paradigms to understand problems of implementing energy efficient technology. Macropolitical means for implementation of measures may prove to be very ineffective if the meso-level is overlooked. The article suggests that this is likely to be the case with the Norwegian energy efficiency policy.