Forman, T (2015) Practice, policy and professional roles: unintended consequences and performance gaps in UK domestic solid wall insulation retrofit projects. PhD thesis, Cardiff University, UK.
Abstract
Space heating in domestic buildings accounts for roughly one-fifth of UK greenhouse gas emissions. There are roughly 11 million homes in the UK potentially suitable for solid wall insulation (including hard-to-treat cavity constructions). Remarkably, approximately 97 per cent of homes built with solid walls have no wall insulation. Retrofitting these homes with insulation offers the potential to significantly reduce national greenhouse gas emissions while reducing expenditure on fuel, improving thermal comfort and realising numerous important associated benefits. This research began at the onset of an upsurge in national rates of solid wall insulation retrofit in 2011-2012. At that time, anecdotal reports pointed toward a legacy of poor practices and continued problems in the retrofit industry. A literature review outlines knowledge about the risks of performance gaps and unintended consequences. Participant and non-participant observation, site inspection and qualitative study are employed in area-based retrofit projects and across a variety of related settings. Analysis interprets observations against a range of existing theory and develops new theoretical insights. Findings convey an understanding of a subset of the landscape in which retrofitting occurs and identify a number of challenges to improving practice. The perspectives of installers, managers, trainers and a range of professionals are reported. The research suggests that unintended consequences are likely to result from many observed practices and cautions that if these practices are typical of wider realities and remain unchanged, then serious problems may be propagated across many projects if growth in retrofitting continues as expected. Findings identify factors of quality in retrofits ranging from construction management, training, certification, technology, identity and motivation, and government policy instruments. Emerging from the research is a definition of ‘quality’ against which retrofits can be evaluated. This forms the basis for evaluation of a number of proposed interventions and routes to improved practice.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | homes; retrofit; participant observation; UK; thermal comfort |
| Index terms: | retrofit industry, insulation, government policy, thermal comfort, identity, installer, qualitative study, inspection, retrofitting, greenhouse gas emission, performance gap, space heating, solid-wall insulation, literature review, motivation, domestic building, observation, manager, certification, unintended consequence |
| Subjects: | practitioner, materials science, construction type, public policy, psychology, quality assurance, research design and methodology, mechanical systems, data collection methods, risk assessment, data analysis and analytics, building materials, performance management, renovation and retrofit, environmental health, environmental engineering, industry analysis, administrative processes, sociology |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Risk Management, Engineering Principles, Quality Management, Construction Technology, Governance, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Contract Administration, Human Resources, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here