A Transition to Sustainable Housing

As a global society, we find ourselves at a critical juncture: after decades of fragmented and limited action, we are experiencing a climate emergency. In the face of this crisis, our global and individual responses will shape the future, not only for the current generation but also for generations to come. The built environment, which includes the housing sector, is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and wider environmental impact.

Globally, the housing sector contributes around 17% of total greenhouse gas emissions and consumes around 19% of total energy demand. Additionally, the housing sector consumes 30–50% of raw and recycled materials for building new housing and retrofitting existing housing. The impact from materials occurs through the use of materials and the generation of waste during construction, through life (maintenance), and at the end of life.

Any transition to a low-carbon future must include the housing sector and prioritize the provision of sustainable housing. The transition should also acknowledge the disparate outcomes at play for housing with some jurisdictions overconsuming energy, water, and materials and other jurisdictions struggling even to provide enough basic housing. Furthermore, sustainable housing is about more than reducing environmental impacts; it has a range of benefits including improving occupant health and well-being reducing living costs at the individual dwelling scale, and reducing the need for energy infrastructure at an urban scale. Given there are increasing numbers of sustainable houses and communities around the world, we know that we have the technology and knowledge to make sustainable housing possible.

In this book, we use the term housing to mean any type of building or unit that provides shelter or lodging for one or more people. Housing provides people with a place to sleep, eat, relax, be safe, and conduct their daily lives. Throughout the book, we discuss different types of housing, such as detached, semi-detached, and apartments, as sustainable housing is relevant for all housing types. We define sustainable housing as housing with a zero carbon impact that, where possible, contributes to regeneration initiatives that support wider sustainability.

Sustainable housing is housing that significantly reduces its life cycle impacts and engages with concepts of the circular economy (e.g., design for disassembly). Our focus on zero and low carbon performance outcomes aligns with the wider international research that argues for significant greenhouse gas emission reductions of 80% or more from key sectors. We use the term low carbon throughout the book to reflect significant performance improvements of sustainable housing compared to a business-as-usual approach.

However, it is more than just physical elements or specific technical outcomes; sustainable housing improves health and well-being, reduces living costs, and connects to other sectors such as transport, food, and energy networks. Sustainable housing draws on a variety of design, material, technology, and construction innovations to build housing that will perform well now and into the future. This is not just performance from a technical perspective but also in terms of resiliency against a changing climate (e.g., resilience to extreme weather events).

This book examines the role sustainable housing must play in the transition to a low-carbon future. We begin by identifying where we are currently situated in the sustainable housing transition and then explore the opportunities for moving forward, both as individuals and as a global housing society. There is a significant amount of research on sustainable housing, but much of it is focused on small parts of the wider picture (i.e., single developments or sector-specific data). In this book, we aim to bring together a more holistic picture of sustainable housing and encourage readers to think beyond traditional considerations of housing.