Can sustainable eco houses become mainstream?

Eco-housing or new build houses built in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, which use resources and technologies that capitalise on renewability are a fast-developing industry. With projects ranging from individual homes to whole housing estates, designed to accommodate and create new communities in a more eco freindly sustainable way for all future generations.

Engaging Residents in Regeneration: Lessons from PendletonAbstract

Abstract

The Together Housing Group have commissioned the Sustainable Housing & Urban Studies Unit to carry out a rapid review of handover and tenant engagement with respect to the refurbishment works carried out to date. The study is a review, based on desk research, discussions with relevant Pendleton Together and Keepmoat staff, and interviews with contractors and tenants occupying a range of properties. In total 30 interviews were conducted. 
( Principal Investigators and Co-investigators: Graeme Sherriff, Jo Brown, Philip Brown and Andrew Clark. )

Research to Assess the Barriers and Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises

Abstract

From DECC website:

As an action identified in the 2012 Energy Efficiency Strategy, DECC commissioned a small scale research project to better understand the barriers and drivers to energy efficiency faced by individual firms, particularly SMEs. This report is based on both qualitative and quantitative research and focuses on late stage barriers (where firms already have information on the type, costs and savings of the energy efficiency measures available to them).

The research illustrates the wide range of motivations and barriers cited by businesses but shows there are no simple explanations for businesses behaviour around take up of energy efficiency. While capital costs were cited as a major barrier, actual take up rates of energy efficiency measures remained low even when costs were zero or very low.

While interviews with businesses suggested that measures with low payback period made business sense and would be more likely to be implemented, low take up rates for these show that other factors are involved.

The research also identified differences between sectors, while cost savings and payback period were significant drivers for energy efficiency in manufacturing firms, non-manufacturing businesses cited less tangible factors like ambience and customer service. The evidence will feed into DECC’s work to look at how best to support SMEs. Here

( Sherriff, G & Brown, P & Flanagan, J & Enworks 2015, 'Research to Assess the Barriers and Drivers to Energy Efficiency in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises', Department of Energy and Climate Change##Department of Energy and Climate Change#London#UK, null, pp.null. )