Roelich, KatyKnoeri, ChristofSteinberger, Julia K.Varga, LizBlythe, Phil T.Butler, DavidGupta, RajatHarrison, Gareth P.Martin, ChrisPurnell, Phil2016-03-102016-03-102014-12-09Roelich K, Knoeri C, Steinberger JK, et al., (2015) Towards resource-efficient and service-oriented integrated infrastructure operation. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Volume 92, March 2015, pp. 40-520040-1625http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2014.11.008http://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/9779Infrastructure is a means to an end: it is built, maintained and expanded in order to enable the functioning of society. Present infrastructure operation is characterised by: governance based on unmanaged growing demand, which is both inefficient and ultimately unsustainable; lack of integration of the end-users, in terms of the variety of their wants, needs and behaviours; separate and parallel delivery of different infrastructure streams prohibiting joint solutions. To achieve long-term sustainability, infrastructure needs to be designed and operated to provide essential service delivery at radically decreased levels of resource use. This new approach will need to: (1) incorporate the end-user, in terms of their wants and behaviours; (2) focus on the service provided; (3) use Information and Communication Technologies more effectively; (4) integrate the operation of different infrastructure systems; (5) be governed in a manner that recognises the complexity and interconnectedness of infrastructure systems; and (6) rethink current infrastructure valuation. Possible configurations incorporating these aspects with the explicit goal of contributing to long-term sustainability could be Multi-Utility Service Companies or “MUSCos”. This article presents new insights and ideas generated by considering the challenge of the transition towards a MUSCo infrastructure.enAttribution 3.0 Unportedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/Sustainable infrastructure operationPerformance economyEnergy Service Company (ESCo)Infrastructure integrationValuationMulti-Utility Service Company (MUSCo)Article