User perspectives in low energy housing

WALSHAW, Aimee, GOODCHILD, Barry and O'FLAHERTY, Fin (2012). User perspectives in low energy housing. In: The ENHR Conference 2012, Lillehammer, June 2012.

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Abstract

During the past few years, an enormous amount of research has been undertaken on the design and use of the home in relation to energy consumption, especially in relation to low energy homes. The aim of this paper is partly to call for more qualitative, in-depth research in this field and, in addition, for a more explicit and conscious consideration of the methodologies of user research in housing and the built environment, including in this context, those approaches that are based on or influenced by phenomenology. In pursuit of these aims three separate studies are discussed to illustrate the main approaches. The first example is a national survey of house condition, an example that served to reveal the significance of the subjective perspective of users in determining investment decisions. The second provides a rare example of a study which is rooted in the tradition of phenomenology and therefore entailed detailed qualitative exploration of the relationship between occupant and dwelling. The third represents a more conventional approach to the study of this relationship, taking a more positivistic approach allied to the tradition of environmental psychology. It is acknowledged that different approaches have different strengths and weaknesses and the demands of methodological pluralism require that these be mixed together. However, a full understanding is only likely to arise if priority is given to qualitative understandings, at the very least as a framing device for subsequent quantitative studies.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information: Abstract published in the conference book of abstracts. Available online from the conference website.
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018: Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research
Depositing User: Fin O'Flaherty
Date Deposited: 26 Sep 2012 10:05
Last Modified: 18 Mar 2021 11:39
URI: https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5670

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