Dr Louise Reid, Centre for Housing Research, University of St Andrews
Housing Studies Association Conference 2011
1.
The transition from sustainable
development to low carbon
2.
From sustainable housing to low carbon
housing
3.
New research and policy agendas

‘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’
Resource exploitative,
growth-orientated
‘Accommodating’
‘Communalist’
‘Deep Ecology’
Resource
Resource
Extreme
conservationist and
preservationist
preservationist
‘managerial’ position
position
position
Anti-green economy,
Green economy,
Deep green economy,
Very deep green
unfettered free
Green markets guided
regulated by
economy, heavily
by economic
microenvironment regulated to minimize
markets
instruments
standards
‘resource-take’
Rights and interests
‘Caring for others’
Collective take
Acceptance of
of contemporary
intragenerational and
precedence over
bioethics. intrinsic
individual humans;
intergenerational
those of the individual
value of nature
instrumental value in equity, instrumental
nature
value in 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)




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)
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



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
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
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)



‘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

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?

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