Home-owners decision-making process when building a new house – a matter of practical, symbolic, and material conditions

• While reports from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that a 50-80 percent reduction of green house gasses needs to be accomplished by 2050 and stresses the need to act swiftly, different kind of actors need to take action. The housing sector accounts for approximately 40 percent of total energy demand in Western European countries, including Sweden, which make energy efficiency a vital issue for the whole sector. This paper focuses on home-owners that within the last three years have built a new house and in this building process faced several energy related issues. Energy use in households is a result of different constructions of the material and the cultural spheres and energy use is interwoven into everyday life. In this study we will discuss not only how households perceive and understand their energy use, but also how they approach energy-related technology and the possibilities they had to enable energy efficient behaviour when deciding on how to design and construct their new house. We will also discuss how municipal policy making and the building constructor’s building standard have been integrated (or not integrated) into the home-owners decision-making process and everyday energy use. The paper is based on in-depth interviews with 17 home-owners, municipal politicians and officials in two Swedish municipalities and the building constructors involved. The paper will discuss how practical, symbolic and material conditions are involved in the home-owners decision-making process when building a house and lessons to be learned about how to approach households.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Tvärvetenskapliga studier inom samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

energy

home-owner

building constructor

building norms

decision making

energy efficiency

INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREAS

TVÄRVETENSKAPLIGA FORSKNINGSOMRÅDEN

Technology and social change

Teknik och social förändring

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)