Investigating the potential to stimulate low-carbon housing retrofit in Iran through exploring domestic challenges and the potential for transferring lessons from international policy

Yousefjamali, Mahdis 2026. Investigating the potential to stimulate low-carbon housing retrofit in Iran through exploring domestic challenges and the potential for transferring lessons from international policy. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 23 June 2027 due to copyright restrictions. Download (4MB)
	PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (224kB)

Abstract

Low-carbon retrofit of housing stock is widely recognised as essential for achieving climate targets. While developed countries have implemented policy frameworks to support retrofit, these policies are limited or absent in many developing countries. Iran represents a particularly challenging context, characterised by heavily subsidised energy prices, macroeconomic instability, fragmented governance, a lack of retrofit specific regulations, and limited technical capacity. This research investigates the challenges facing low-carbon housing retrofit in Iran and examines how lessons from Feed-in Tariff (FIT) policies in the UK and Germany can inform future retrofit policy development in Iran. The research adopts a qualitative case study design organised into three phases, focused on Iran. In Phase 1, semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholder groups to identify challenges associated with low-carbon housing retrofit. A hybrid inductive-deductive approach was used to analyse the data, combining systematic coding with a multi-dimensional lens encompassing six domains: Awareness, Knowledge, Technology, Economic, Social, and Political. 21 sub challenges were identified across five categories, including economic and financial, legal and regulatory, policy and governance, social and cultural, and technical and knowledge-related challenges. The findings showed that financial challenges, especially energy subsidies and high initial costs, were the main challenges, compounded by fragmented governance, a lack of a dedicated retrofit policy framework, weak regulatory enforcement, low public awareness, and significant gaps in technical workforce capacity. In Phase 2, a comparative analysis of UK and German policy documents was conducted to extract lessons on FIT design, implementation, and outcomes, and relating them to the challenges identified in Phase 1. The comparative analysis showed that both the UK and German FIT schemes depended on enabling conditions largely absent in Iran, including macroeconomic stability, cost-reflective energy pricing, and strong institutional capacity. i Building on these findings, Phase 3 involved the evaluation of each sub-challenge against an eight-criterion framework and assigned transferability ratings using a five level scale derived from policy transfer typologies, ranging from copying, emulation, hybridisation, synthesis, and inspiration. Phase 3 transferability assessment revealed that technical and operational lessons were the most transferable; economic and financial mechanisms required substantial redesign; and governance-related lessons faced the greatest challenges. Energy subsidies emerged as a cross-cutting barrier, reducing transferability across multiple sub-challenges. This Thesis makes empirical, theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions. Empirically, it provides a systematic analysis of low-carbon retrofit challenges in Iran, addressing a geographical gap in a field dominated by studies of developed economies. Theoretically, it extends policy transfer research by showing how structural economic distortions condition the transferability of policies. Methodologically, it offers a replicable five-level transferability framework that moves beyond binary classifications. Practically, the findings demonstrate that successful policy transfer requires adaptation and sequenced implementation rather than direct imitation. Keywords: policy transfer; low-carbon housing retrofit; Feed-in Tariff; Iran; energy subsidies

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	23 June 2026
Last Modified:	01 Jul 2026 08:34
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/187712

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item