Low carbon h ousing: a ‘green’ wolf in sheep’s clothing

1. Dr Louise Reid, Centre for Housing Research, University of St Andrews Housing Studies Association Conference 2011 Low carbon housing: a ‘green’ wolf in sheep’s clothing

2. Introduction • The transition from sustainable development to low carbon • From sustainable housing to low carbon housing • New research and policy agendas

3. 1. From SD to LC: a focus on SD • ‘Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’ (WCED 1986) • Entitlement of present and future generations to a fully functioning ‘common good’ • Divisive term but: ‘power of the concept of sustainability lies in the discourses surrounding it, rather than in any shared substantive, or heuristic value it may have’ (Redclift2006 p. 71). • Various conceptualisations exist

4. After Turner et al., 1994, p.31

5. LC =Minimal output of greenhouse gases (CO2)

6. From SD to LC: a focus on LC • UK published its first LC Transition Plan (2009) (HM Government 2009) • LC economy = ‘green’ economic growth • ‘Market-friendly, growth-perpetuating natural capitalism’ (Luke 2008 p. 1811) • LC another neoliberal opportunity? (Boykoffet al., 2009)

7. SD to LC main differences • Distinctive ontological differences between SD and LC (Cohen et al., 1998, Redclift 2006) • Adaptation vs. mitigation • LC ‘bypasses the complex, locally specific problems of sustainable development, reducing them to the single imperative of controlling global greenhouse gas emissions’ (Cohen et al., 1998 p. 348) • Focus on CO2 emissions reduces the problem to one of CO2, rather than on the unsustainable ways we live

8. 2. Housing transitions • Housing complicit in SD to LC transition (Lovell 2004) • Long concern about sustainable housing ‘solutions’ (Brown and Bhatti 2003, Pickvance 2009) • Code for Sustainable Homes • Zero Carbon Homes 2016 • UK Energy Bill 2011 and the Green Deal

9. A tale of two coalitions (Lovell 2004) http://www.simondale.net/house/build.htm Seyfang (2010) Straw Bale Homes

10. Limitations • Prominence of LC discourse coalition • ‘Smart’ house will do the thinking, not the occupants • Occupants bypass efficiency measures (Gill et al., 2010) • Theoretical levels of performance rarely validated (McManus et al., 2010) • Consumption continues to grow unchecked – e.g. average SAP rating risen over the past 30 years but no reduction in overall energy use (McManus et al., 2010)

11. 3. Conclusions and an agenda • ‘Barriers’ to sustainability are not simply technological or practical but a product of the wider social, economic and political phenomena (Crabtree and Hes 2009, Shove 2010) • Increasing emissions are a product of how society operates, rather than a failure to find technological solutions • As an integrative system, the housing sector has particular potential to reveal the crucial, bottom-up and holistic issues missing in the low carbon debate • Bipartite agenda…with examples

12. Agenda • Greater acknowledgement of the ‘inextricably social nature of technological change’ (Shove 2010) • How are technological innovations related to wider social processes of buying, selling and negotiating practices? • What role do capital projects (e.g. community green utilities) have in normalising domestic energy consumption? • Does the procurement system predetermine building methods and therefore sustainability?

13. Agenda • Reengagement of housing researchers with SD literature and SD researchers in housing literature to: • Question dominance of economic growth inherent in green housing policies (i.e. Green Deal) • Open up debates on community resilience and soci0-technological transitions where housing perspectives are missing • Consider how housing developments can capitalise on SD discursive approaches

14. Thank you lar9@st-andrews.ac.uk

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