MICROGENERATION TECHNOLOGIES IN NEW BUILD HOUSING: TECHNOLOGICAL TRAJECTORIES AND USER EXPERIENCES

misbe2011 Tracking Number 25

Keywords: Housing, microgeneration technologies, technological innovation systems, technological trajectories, ABSTRACT The UK has set a target for a reduction in CO2 emissions by 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels (HM Government, 2008). The domestic sector accounts for 25% of UK emissions from the generation of heat and electricity for homes (DEFRA, 2008). For this sector to move to a low-carbon path, it will need to transform the environmental performance of housing. The transformation will require system-wide innovation and change comprising new technologies, new markets and new institutional supporting systems. The supply of new homes to the UK housing stock will have a cumulative impact on the ability of the domestic sector to contribute to the 2050 carbon reduction target. There is an urgent research need to better understand, therefore, steer this system innovation. The ongoing research project reported on here contributes to this need by addressing the impact of the growing raft of environmental regulations on the UK housing development sector through a technological innovation system (TIS) approach. A broad view is taken of environmental regulations being one part of the institutional context that collectively structure socio-technical interactions and economic transactions through reframing and steering firm behaviour and economic activity in the housing development sector. The primary focus is on microgeneration technology (MGT) field within this sector. The research recognises that the challenge of integrating MGTs is not merely a technical one for housing developers; rather, it has significant technical, social and economic implications for housing developers and their supply chains, as well as for home buyers. The research aims to develop a more nuanced, socio-technical system perspective which seeks to understand the interplay of microgeneration solutions with other system components, such as the interests of market actors to produce them, knowledge needed to integrate them into housing designs and, user practices which fit technical functions. The research has two related phases. Initially, through a web-based survey and follow-up semi-structured interviews, the work seeks to identify the scale and scope of the microgeneration technologies (MGTs) currently being used by housing developers and to better understand why particular MGTs are becoming dominant (or not) in the new house build sector. The second phase will explore homeowners’ actual day-to-day experience of and attitudes towards different types of MGTs in their homes. The paper concludes with a detailing of future research directions and supporting fieldwork which will be undertaken in this research project.