UWA researcher is investigating the reasons why energy intensive houses are still being built even though the public is aware and concerned about climate change issues.
Masters student Dirima Cuthbert will look into the major reasons why the public choose the houses they build despite being aware of the need to change.
The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency estimates Australia’s eight million houses account for 13 per cent of its energy use and 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Ms Cuthbert says one of the major reasons for people choosing to build more traditional, energy intensive housing is the idea of moving houses and the supposed resale value of it.
“A lot of the stuff coming back [from research] is certainly the resale value,” she says.
“We used to have the idea of a home that we would build and live in for a [long] period of time but now we have the idea of housing being more of a commodity, it is something that we live in but only for a period of time where the major idea is to maximise profit on point of sale.”
Even if people want to build a more energy efficient house they face another hurdle in current council regulations and housing estate rules about what can be built.
“There are cases where people are saying ‘yes I want to build something smaller’ but certain housing estates and local governments have limitations on how small you can go and also the type of materials you can go for,” she says.
“So where someone might want to have a lighter frame building it might specify that they are required to do double brick.”
The research is showing that while building companies have made houses more affordable it also limits the choices consumers can have when specifying what materials are used and how houses are built.
Ms Cuthbert says while mass-produced green housing will happen eventually, she is concerned about how quickly it will happen.
She thinks we may be forced to change the type of house that we build as the climate change worsens.
“I think a lot will probably come as necessity just as it has in the past, we have come through so many situations where common sense has had to prevail over and above luxury.”
The research is part of Ms Cuthbert’s Masters in Environmental Design and is estimated to be completed by mid 2014.
