House builder opinions of energy-efficient homes in the UK

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study house builder opinions of energy-efficient homes in the UK. The days of inconsiderate construction methods and disregard for the environment are becoming a thing of the past. If zero carbon (Zc) standards are to be implemented across all new homes within the UK, it is essential that house builders are willing and able to construct such homes to the necessary standards and to the volumes required. Although new generations of low carbon (Lc) and energy-efficient homes are beginning to break into the marketplace, house builders remain reluctant to introduce complex technologies during high effort builds.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings from questionnaire responses provide an indication of the views of house builders relating to the incentives encouraging and barriers preventing them from producing mass market energy-efficient homes.

Findings

This paper has uncovered the views and opinions of house builders relating to energy-efficient homes. The findings provide evidence that the house building industry is not fully engaged with the energy-efficiency concept; that house builders portray an inconsistent level of confidence in their ability to deliver energy-efficient homes; and that Government targets are too ambitious.

Originality/value

The findings within this paper provide an overview of the opinions of house builders relating to energy-efficient homes using statistical analysis.

Citation

Callaghan, N., Sommerville, J. and Craig, N. (2014), "House builder opinions of energy-efficient homes in the UK", International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 417-434. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHMA-06-2013-0036