Towards Zero Carbon Homes in England? From Inception to Partial Implementation

In 2007, the UK Government announced an ambitious zero-carbon target for all new housing in England. This paper shows how the definition and its associated policies emerged from discourses of environmental policy innovation; how the problem subsequently became framed as one of mainstreaming, consequent upon the apparent success of experimental schemes and defined in more detail through the interaction between pressure group politics and the technical analyses that accompanied the government's consultation exercises. Finally, it shows how regional and local variations in housing and property markets are likely to influence the ease of zero carbon development. The analysis uses concepts drawn from both the science and technology literature and the literature on policy implementation.

[1]  B. Boardman.  Examining the carbon agenda via the 40% House scenario , 2007 .

[2]  M. Gabriel,et al.  The Post-Social Turn: Challenges for Housing Research , 2008 .

[3]  F. Geels.  From sectoral systems of innovation to socio-technical systems: Insights about dynamics and change from sociology and institutional theory , 2004 .

[4]  Heather Lovell,et al.  Framing sustainable housing as a solution to climate change , 2004 .

[5]  J. Schot,et al.  Regime shifts to sustainability through processes of niche formation : the approach of strategic niche management , 1998 .

[6]  E. Shove.  Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience , 2003 .

[7]  Martin Jänicke,et al.  Ecological modernisation: new perspectives , 2008 .

[8]  Paul A. Sabatier,et al.  Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to Implementation Research: a Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis , 1986, Journal of Public Policy.

[9]  Adrian A. Smith.  Governance Lessons from Green Niches: The Case of Eco-Housing , 2012 .

[10]  Tadj Oreszczyn,et al.  Regulatory standards and barriers to improved performance for housing , 2008 .

[11]  Andrew Blowers,et al.  Environmental Policy: Ecological Modernisation or the Risk Society? , 1997 .

[12]  Adrian Smith,et al.  Translating Sustainabilities between Green Niches and Socio-Technical Regimes , 2007, Technol. Anal. Strateg. Manag..

[14]  Michael Hill.  Implementation Theory: yesterday's issue? , 1997 .

[15]  Barry Goodchild,et al.  Impact fees and the financial structure of development , 1996 .

[16]  Bruno Latour,et al.  Nous n'avons jamais été modernes , 2006 .

[17]  Maarten A. Hajer,et al.  The Politics of Environmental Discourse , 1997 .

[18]  Richard E. Matland.  Synthesizing the Implementation Literature: The Ambiguity-Conflict Model of Policy Implementation , 1995 .

[19]  Urooj Amjad,et al.  Environmentally Sustainable Construction: Knowledge and Learning in London Planning Departments , 2007 .

[20]  F. Buttel.  The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process.By Maarten A. Hajer. Oxford University Press, 1995 , 1997 .

[21]  H. Lovell.  Supply and Demand for Low Energy Housing in the UK: Insights from a Science and Technology Studies Approach , 2005 .

[22]  K. Jacobs,et al.  Discourse and policy change: The significance of language for housing research , 1996 .

[23]  Heather Lovell,et al.  The Role of Individuals in Policy Change: The Case of UK Low-Energy Housing , 2009 .

[24]  S. Owens,et al.  How to change attitudes and behaviours in the context of energy , 2008 .

[25]  Michael Ball,et al.  Chasing a Snail: Innovation and Housebuilding Firms' Strategies , 1999 .

[26]  Peter Hupe,et al.  The multi-layer problem in implementation research , 2003 .

[27]  Lennart J. Lundqvist,et al.  Implementation from Above: The Ecology of Power in Sweden's Environmental Governance , 2001 .

[28]  Arthur P.J. Mol,et al.  Ecological modernization: industrial transformations and environmental reform , 1997 .

[29]  B. Hours,et al.  Bruno Latour, Nous n'avons jamais été modernes. Essai d'anthropologie symétrique, Paris, La Découverte, 1991 , 1993 .

[30]  Antonio Aguilo-Rullan,et al.  Micro-wind Turbines in Urban Environments: An Assessment , 2010 .

[31]  B. Latour.  On actor-network theory : A few clarifications , 1996 .

[32]  A. Meyer.  Economics Of Climate Change , 1995, Nature.

[33]  A. Gouldson,et al.  Environmental Policy and Industrial Innovation: Integrating Environment and Economy Through Ecological Modernisation , 2000, The Ecological Modernisation Reader.

[34]  C. Pickvance.  The construction of UK sustainable housing policy and the role of pressure groups , 2009 .

[35]  Mohamed Osmani,et al.  Feasibility of zero carbon homes in England by 2016: a house builder's perspective , 2009 .

[36]  Gert Spaargaren,et al.  Lifestyles, consumption and the environment: The ecological modernization of domestic consumption , 2000 .

[37]  M. Callon.  Some Elements of a Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay , 1984 .

[38]  Peter Grabosky,et al.  Smart Regulation: Designing Environmental Policy , 1999 .

[39]  F. Geels,et al.  Typology of sociotechnical transition pathways , 2007 .

[40]  Maarten Wolsink,et al.  Wind energy policies in the Netherlands: Institutional capacity-building for ecological modernisation , 2007 .

[41]  Barry Goodchild.  Homes, Cities and Neighbourhoods: Planning and the Residential Landscapes of Modern Britain , 2008 .