The contested privileging of zero carbon: plausibility, persuasiveness and professionalism

Abstract

The global policy challenge of responding to climate change comprises a 'super-wicked' problem which consistently defies solution. Despite the UK government's commitment to zero carbon by 2050, there is little clarity on how this ambitious target is going to be achieved. Even at the level of individual buildings there is a perennial risk of unintended consequences if top-down targets are pursued in isolation of other considerations. The quest for zero carbon is hence embedded within ongoing processes of narrative contestation, and inextricably intertwined with issues of professional identity. It is contended that design is an inherently social process which continues throughout a building's lifecycle. It is within this context that designers seek to accommodate zero-carbon targets alongside a multiple of other priorities. Hence, any radical shift in the nature of educational provision may well prove to be counter-productive. Yet, much more could undoubtedly be done during education to incubate the quest for low carbon as an essential component of professional identity. There is a need for professionals continuously to hold others to account on the basis of the plausibility of their zero-carbon narratives. Of equal importance is the need to ensure that builtenvironment professionals continue to respond to the changing policy landscape. Policy relevance The global policy challenge of responding to human-induced climate change defies technological solution. While the aspiration of zero-carbon buildings has been applauded by the built-environment professions, it remains unclear how this ambitious target is going to be realised in practice. Designers are routinely required to accommodate zero-carbon targets alongside multiple other priorities. Hence, any focus on the single criterion of zero carbon in isolation of other considerations risks being untenable. Built-environment professionals will hence limit their ability to influence if they allow themselves to become single-issue activists. This remains true irrespective of the severity of the pending climate crisis. But there are positive steps that can be taken. University educators could do much more to encourage students to embrace the quest for zero carbon as an essential part of their professional identity, and to encourage them to project this identity by continuously challenging the status quo.

Visualizing a New Sustainable World: Toward the Next Generation of Virtual Reality in the Built Environment

“…The urgency of climate change and the recent pandemic have raised many questions of what we may want the future of the built environment to look like and the process through which that future can be accomplished. At a minimum, the concept of "sustainability" permeates conversations behind various initiatives to reduce carbon emissions and increase energy performance as a minimum, although it is argued that responding to the climate challenge is far more complex, or a "super-wicked" problem that defies simplistic technological solutions and often prioritizes short-term goals [7,15]. In response to these initiatives, in the built environment disciplines we see a number of strategies developed to improve information management processes through developing a more structured and purposeful digital information with a long shelf life.…”

“…Designers often begin their process with a brief that defines a general scope of project goals and functional needs, but aspects such as the form, flow, user behavior, influence of contextual factors, and performance often cannot be specified a priori but are rather discovered during an iterative process of work and conversation with clients and users [65]. Thus, design is seen as a social activity in which participatory activities, stakeholder engagement, and co-design processes are used to integrate different values and approaches to defining challenges and solving problems [7]. However, because by definition design activities and design reasoning are largely guided by an incomplete and uncertain view of the world, it is also argued that designers work within the constraints of bounded rationality [79].…”

“…As such, traditional linear work processes remain well embedded in current practices, despite the development of information sharing initiatives such as BIM and integrated project delivery. Furthermore, the "silo" mentality remains sustained not only by professional institutions [7] but also by discipline-specific tools and technologies for which the intention to bridge boundaries is often met with a lack of interoperability and differing methods of work. Disciplines with vested interests in developing sustainable built environment approaches, such as environmental planning and design, landscape architecture, architecture, construction and engineering, all use discipline-specific tools to generate, analyze, or simulate project information.…”

“…At the same time, built environment practitioners are increasingly challenged to consider the long-term consequences of any interventions on the many areas of the physical environment, especially in response to uncertainties arising from climate change and pandemics [5]. Moreover, the pursuit of zero-carbon and high-performance buildings has been further complicated by competing goals and priorities [6] and challenged by the view that their performance is realized over time, rather than predetermined [7]. This has consequences for how digital technologies are used, demanding new and different kinds of data and processes, providing new challenges to the construction informatics research community and to practitioners.…”

Project Narratives That Potentially Perform and Change the Future

“…In this article, we distinguish between narratives and stories: Narratives are characterized by coherence, performative intent, and repetition, whereas stories are more personalized, entertaining, and emotional in nature (Dailey & Browning, 2014; Green & Sergeeva, 2019, 2020; Sergeeva & Green, 2019). To date, we still lack an understanding of how narratives are (re)created over the project life cycle.…”