What is stopping us building more eco-houses?
Are eco-houses cheaper to build and less expensive to run? What is holding Britain back from building more energy efficient homes? How can we make eco-houses more affordable?
There are many simple ways to make eco-housing more affordable, including:
- Reducing the size
- Simple design and avoiding the use of unnecessary technology
- Designing affordability in at the start
- Designing in modular units so that a building can be extended at a later stage Internal open plan design to enable maximum flexibility
- Using the space between buildings
- Building collectively
- Sharing common facilities and infrastructure
- Sharing the cost of the land
- Avoiding the use of experts
- Participating in the debate about new planning regulations to ensure that eco-building is permissible
- Careful choice of materials
- Less durable houses
- Using pre-fabricated elements or existing structures
- Avoiding a purist approach
- Ensuring design is aesthetically pleasing
- Using hybrid combinations of materials
~ Planning favours buildings which conform to existing styles and norms and building regulations need to be negotiated.
~ Eco-building is gendered in that is it perceived to be a male domain where men are presumed to be better builders, more men than women actually build and women find their ideas and contributions to eco-building are often belittled. Socially constructed notions of gender have determined that strength is the most important attribute required for building, which is not true.
~ The replication of eco-build techniques worldwide has less to do with whether the build actually worked or its cost, but is influenced by the less quantifiable factors of foreign importation of ideas, the appeal of the aesthetics, open discussion of failure, a critical mass of support, assertive pioneers, and people understanding how their existing houses work.
~ Further research work is needed on how people understand their houses, how eco-build approaches are replicated, post-occupancy evaluations and the cultural dimensions of eco-building.