Mainstreaming passive houses: more gradual reconfiguration than transition

• Buildings are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. A transition to low-carbon housing requires the introduction of very energy-efficient buildings on a global scale and effective policy measures to support such a transformation. In this article, we study one such radical solution for energy-efficient buildings - the passive house - through a national case study in Sweden. We identify three societal domains where passive houses increasingly become embedded in the building sector: Firstly, the framing of passive houses in the public debate shifted from being presented as a radical alternative for a future low-carbon housing sector to being perceived as a specific low-energy building market segment. Secondly, passive houses have become part of a broader regional institutional and political context rather than a niche. Finally, passive houses have become a driving force for stricter building regulations but in a way that rather led to the assimilation of selected passive house features into existing sectoral structures. We conclude that the dynamics of change we find is rather a mainstreaming process of gradual adaptation of construction sector structures and passive houses than a radical transformation of the built environment or the diffusion of new building technology.

Ämnesord

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

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

Nyckelord

Housing policy

transition

mainstreaming

passive house

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)