Performing accountability: Making environmental credentials visible in housing design

Shaw, I. and Ozaki, R. 2015. Performing accountability: Making environmental credentials visible in housing design. Energy Policy. 87, pp. 136-139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.09.001

TitlePerforming accountability: Making environmental credentials visible in housing design
AuthorsShaw, I. and Ozaki, R.
Abstract

Making housing developments ‘environmentally sustainable’ requires housing developers to be accountable for their ‘green’ credentials. Accountability is promoted by both the UK government's environmental policy for housing design – the Code for Sustainable Homes – and local councils in their planning criteria. These accountability practices are key to how relationships between housing professionals and local planning authorities influence practices and outcomes of environmental sustainability. In this article, we examine how accountability is performed in housing design and development. We argue that accountability practices involve the management of making environmental sustainability visible through demonstrating the utilization of sustainable technologies. We contend that these ‘visibility’ practices are carried out to the detriment of an appreciation of how energy is both provided and consumed. We contend that using the installation phase of sustainable technologies as a point of adequate assessment of the environmental effectiveness of a building is short-sighted. Policy needs to look beyond this, and consult with professionals who develop and sell houses to understand better their working priorities and contexts that shape the provision of renewable energy in the planning phase and post-build.

KeywordsAccountability
Energy provision and consumption
Housing Development
Sustainable technologies
Visibility
JournalEnergy Policy
Journal citation87, pp. 136-139
ISSN0301-4215
Year2015
PublisherElsevier
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.09.001
Publication dates
Published in printDec 2015
Published online12 Sep 2015
Published12 Sep 2015

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