Low carbon housing: a ‘green’

wolf in sheep’s clothing

Dr Louise Reid, Centre for Housing Research, University of St AndrewsHousing Studies Association Conference 2011

Introduction

1. The transition from sustainable development to low carbon

2. From sustainable housing to low carbon housing

3. New research and policy agendas

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’ (Redclift 2006 p. 71).

Various conceptualisations exist

Technocentric  Ecocentric‘Cornucopian’ ‘Accommodating’ ‘Communalist’ ‘Deep Ecology’

Resource exploitative,

growth-orientated

Resource conservationist

and ‘managerial’ position

Resource preservationist

position

Extreme preservationist

position

Anti-green economy,

unfettered free markets

Green economy, Green markets

guided by economic

instruments

Deep green economy,

regulated by microenvironment

standards

Very deep green economy, heavily

regulated to minimize

‘resource-take’ Rights and interests of

contemporary individual humans;

instrumental value in nature

‘Caring for others’ intragenerational

and intergenerational

equity, instrumental

value in nature

Collective take precedence over

those of the individual

Acceptance of bioethics. intrinsic value of nature

Very Weak Sustainability

Weak Sustainability

Strong Sustainability

Very Strong Sustainability

After Turner et al., 1994, p.31

LC =Minimal output of greenhouse gases (CO2)

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? (Boykoff et al., 2009)

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

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

A tale of two coalitions (Lovell 2004)

Sustainable Housing Advocacy Coalition

Low Carbon Discourse Coalition

Shared values about ‘deep green’ SD beliefs

Concerned with discourse of climate change solutions

Self-build efforts within the context of particular lifestyle

choices

Mainstreaming material aspects of sustainable housing

(‘solutions’)Focus on human agency Focus on technology

http://www.simondale.net/house/build.htm Seyfang (2010) Straw Bale Homes

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)

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

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?

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

Thank you

lar9@st-andrews.ac.uk

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