Abstract
This research comprises a longitudinal study of a cohort of residents moving into a low-carbon development and their pre- and post-occupancy household practices that consume energy and water. They are the early adopters of living in low-carbon households and provide valuable insight into the influence of design and technology on household practices. Household energy and water consumption levels are measured and normalised to the metropolitan average to discuss the influence of design and technology on use. Heating, cooling and showering practices consume the largest proportion of household energy and water use and so the changes to thermal comfort and personal hygiene practices are examined along with a consideration of the influence of lifestyle and family composition on cooling practices. Household water and energy use decreases due to technology and design influences post-occupancy. However, the personal practice history of residents influences water and energy consumption. Changes to the meaning element of personal hygiene practices show how these are interlocked and unlikely to change in their duration when there are other demanding practices to be undertaken.
Highlights
Improvements in the household efficiency of energy and water use are an appropriate response to the environmental and climate emergency [1] and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [2]
This section explores the changes in energy use per household pre- and post-occupancy as shown in Table 2, which normalises the change in energy use to one against the metropolitan average
The households that were above the average had either a high number of occupants, young adults who were reported as being less conscious of their energy use or had a number of old and inefficient appliances and the residents would often be awake during the night, using electricity instead of during the day
Summary
Improvements in the household efficiency of energy and water use are an appropriate response to the environmental and climate emergency [1] and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals [2]. There are dynamic social influences on innovative design and technology practices that can be unforeseen and disrupt these objectives, in households [5,6]. Low-carbon, energy- and water-efficient houses are considered an effective way to reduce household energy and water consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Resident’s resource use is heavily influenced by their social, home and work routines and these must be considered when designing a low-carbon development and influencing resource use in the home to ensure an efficient home is built [14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]
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