Grinnell R, A S D A R J (2013) Design strategies for a future climate: A qualitative comparative analysis. In: Smith, S D and Ahiaga-Dagbui, D D (eds.) Proceedings of 29th Annual ARCOM Conference, 2-4 September 2013, Reading, UK.
Abstract
Following on from international efforts to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate climate change, there is growing recognition that some change is inevitable and a degree of adaptation will be required. Beginning in 2009 the Technology Strategy Board provided funding for 50 live projects to undertake climate adaptation studies of their designs; 24 of the studies are now complete and provide insightful case studies of current practice in adaptive design. This study problematizes the applicability of existing construction management analysis tools to such a problem, proposing qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) as a rigorous and replicable alternative. Through describing the actual practice of the method by application to the problem of adaptive design in non-domestic buildings the paper explores both the benefits of a systematic, repeatable method when working with large data sets and ill-defined concepts, and reveals the 'hidden' data reduction that such an analysis requires.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | adaptation; climate change; design; non-domestic building |
| Index terms: | qualitative comparative analysis, adaptation, non-domestic building, technology strategy, case study, carbon emission, design strategy, climate change, funding, climate adaptation |
| Subjects: | economic analysis, design methods, climate science, user focus, business, construction type, data collection methods, research methods |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Construction Technology, Sustainability, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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