Workshop

I Sustainable Housing and Construction in Europe

I.W3 Reflecting Social Changes in Construction

got to Workshop Results

Date: 25/09/2008
Time: 11:00 - 12:30
Location: Tower

Target Audience: Researchers, regulators and practitioners - a triple helix audience

Objectives:

Identification of key challenges related to the social changes, both on the production side and on the demand side of the value chain Drawing up conclusions in terms good practice examples and present deficits pointing at future action seen in a triple helix perspective

Format: Three short presentations, highlighting key findings and challenges, followed by a moderated dialogues session addressing these challenges and further exploring the topic
Language: English

Social changes seemingly need more attention in future policy-making, and not at least in the development of future practices, in the whole life-cycle of the buildings. Some of these changes emerge from demographic changes, others from changes in attitudes, values and consumption preferences, and we also see the rise of new forms of democracy and user-driven innovation. How are new lifestyle patterns tackled by the construction sector.
It is important to look holistically at the complex of social changes in both the end-use phase - when a building is bought / rented and in its daily function - and in the production phase from the idea generation via innovation to the physical production - looking critically at the knowledge and assumptions being used when the buildings being designed and constructed.
It is of course also interesting to address economic restructuring of society and various global trends. But in the workshop we will primarily focus on the social aspects, i.e. the consequences and preconditions of the societal changes on both the production side and on the demand or user side.

The outcome of the workshop will be a combination of 1) conclusions drawn from the presentation and the participant-driven reflections, and 2) a number of recommendations for future action for development of construction practices.

Workshop Moderation

Rasmussen, Bjarne
Region Zealand, Denmark

Presentations

Knowledge about social patterns as a key instrument for designing future oriented buildings
Lechner, Robert
Austrian Institute of Ecology, Austria
download presentation (204 KB)

Attitudes and Behaviour of German Homebuyers towards Sustainable Housing Development - A stated Preferences Approach
Rid, Wolfgang
Munich Technical University, Chair of Housing and Housing Economy, Germany
download presentation (794 KB)

Workshop Results

Speakers input

LECHNER, Robert:

• growth of single households (presently accounts for approx 30% of the households in EU)
• increasing costs of housing and energy (share of the total household expenditures 1990 - 17 %, now - 25%)

Some of the concluding remarks:

• the growing diversity of lifestyles calls for much more complex and flexible answers from the housing industry
• single households have high demand for both space and quality
• there is still a need to develop new solutions to the ageing population
• participation during the design phase is yet to be developed

RID, Wolfgang:                                                                                                                                  

• presently sustainable housing market share 5-10%, trend up to around 20%
• instead of producing and marketing “100 % Eco-building” more flexible “light green” solutions should be offered
• relatively big interest among homebuyers with regard to eco-friendly solutions, especially if they are provided as an integral of a standard house
  

Main issues of Dialogue

DEMOCRACY:                                                                                                                                           There clearly is a need for creating frameworks for better involvement of users, both in the design phase and the utilization phase. There seems to be three fundamentally different contexts: individual home owners, owners of collectively owned buildings, and tenants. New opportunities for Co-creation must be developed, in order to reflect the need of most users.

LIFESTYLES:                                                                                                                                            There is a growing awareness on sustainable lifestyles, comprising e.g. environment and health. Inspiration on how to address emerging lifestyles can be found in the fields of a.o. sociology, experience economy, and youth cultures.

INNOVATION:                                                                                                                                       Gradually it is recognized that users must be integrated in the design processes; a number of methods exist, and are being used in other economic sectors, but presently not so much in the construction sector. The methods can be grouped under these headings: user-centred innovation that can be based on research, user-driven innovation where users are directly involved, lead-user-driven innovation drawing on some very experienced users.

Practical conclusions

Identification and testing of good practices regarding participatory design, to reflect the demand for influence on own living-conditions

• Development of knowledge about existing and emerging lifestyles, as the basis for creating houses that can adapt to sustainable and multiple uses during the whole lifespan of the building
• More focus on user-driven (user-centred, user-driven, lead-user-driven) innovation processes
• To achieve easier market penetration, also “light-green solutions” should be developed