Bevan, W and Lu, S (2012) A multidisciplinary literature review of low and zero carbon technologies into new housing. In: Smith, S D (ed.) Proceedings of 28th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2012, Edinburgh, UK.
Abstract
The UK Government is committed to all new homes being zero-carbon from 2016. The use of low and zero carbon (LZC) technologies is recognized by housing developers as being a key part of the solution to deliver against this zero-carbon target. The paper takes as its starting point that the selection of new technologies by firms is not a phenomenon which takes place within a rigid sphere of technical rationality (for example, Rip and Kemp, 1998). Rather, technology forms and diffusion trajectories are driven and shaped by myriad socio-technical structures, interests and logics. A literature review is offered to contribute to a more critical and systemic foundation for understanding the socio-technical features of the selection of LZC technologies in new housing. The problem is investigated through a multidisciplinary lens consisting of two perspectives: technological and institutional. The synthesis of the perspectives crystallizes the need to understand that the selection of LZC technologies by housing developers is not solely dependent on technical or economic efficiency, but on the emergent 'fit' between the intrinsic properties of the technologies, institutional logics and the interests and beliefs of various actors in the housing development process.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | low and zero carbon technology; multidisciplinary literature review; new-build housing; zero-carbon new housing |
| Index terms: | housing developer, housing, socio-technical, rationality, new technology, efficiency, institutional logic, housing development, new-build housing, literature review |
| Subjects: | innovation and technology management, data analysis and analytics, construction type, sociology, research methods, decision-making and reasoning, performance management, theoretical framing, economic development |
| Topics: | Engineering Principles, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Construction Technology, Urban Studies, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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