Home for the Common Future (HCF): The use of home-meanings to promote domestic energy retrofit

The promotion of energy retrofit to homeowners is an important policy strategy to reduce operational energy use in dwellings and mitigate climate change. Energy research and policy typically focus on the cognitive (logical) aspects to motivate retrofit decisions, such as savings on energy bills and health considerations. However, this focus appears to have neglected the emotional aspects of how homeowners themselves make sense of the potential benefits of low-carbon dwellings.

To encompass both the emotional and cognitive aspects of energy retrofit decisions, the authors developed a home-meanings framework around the concept of perezhivanie (emotional and cognitive experience). We backgrounded our theoretical construction by drawing upon current literature of home-meanings and empirical insights from: (i) eighteen case studies, in ten of which homeowners achieved significant carbon emission reductions through retrofit activities, while in eight they did not; (ii) a stakeholder workshop (n = 36), representing various actors interested to advance domestic energy retrofit activities in the UK, e.g. industry, government, academia, intermediaries.

We analysed the data to identify positive experiences associated with low-carbon dwellings. These experiences are organised in five themes: (i) control over one's environment; (ii) Health and well-being & Happiness in everyday life, (iii) Climate concerns & Caring identity, (iv) Financial considerations & Future-resilience; (v) a full integration between and individual and their environment. The authors developed a Home for the Common Future (HCF) heuristic, which captures three out of five identified themes (ii–iv). We suggest that the heuristic can be used for promoting the benefits of low-carbon dwellings.