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Designing for an imagined user: Provision for thermal comfort in energy-efficient extra-care housing

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  • Lewis, Alan

Abstract

Regarded as one solution to the problem of how to enable older people to retain their independence, extra-care housing, where each resident has their own self-contained dwelling and access to communal facilities and to care, has received extensive funding in recent years. Implicit in the concept of specialist housing is the notion of ‘special’ occupants, imagined older people. Adopting a socio-technical approach, this paper considers how ideas about ageing inform those aspects of extra-care-housing-design that relate to thermal comfort. The paper draws on semi-structured interviews with 13 people involved in the design, development and management of UK-based extra-care housing. Participants characterised imagined occupants as vulnerable to cold, at risk from fuel poverty and liable to be burned by hot surfaces or fall from high windows. These user representations were reportedly inscribed into the design of extra-care housing schemes through the inclusion of building features such as communal heating, under-floor heating, restricted window opening and heated corridors. The utilisation of stereotypical user representations of older people raises questions, given that older people's thermal comfort needs can be highly diverse. The paper explores the implications for energy demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Lewis, Alan, 2015. "Designing for an imagined user: Provision for thermal comfort in energy-efficient extra-care housing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 204-212.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:84:y:2015:i:c:p:204-212
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2015.04.003
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    1. Peacock, A.D. & Jenkins, D.P. & Kane, D., 2010. "Investigating the potential of overheating in UK dwellings as a consequence of extant climate change," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(7), pages 3277-3288, July.
    2. Liddell, Christine & Morris, Chris & McKenzie, S.J.P. & Rae, Gordon, 2012. "Measuring and monitoring fuel poverty in the UK: National and regional perspectives," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 27-32.
    3. Walker, Gordon & Day, Rosie, 2012. "Fuel poverty as injustice: Integrating distribution, recognition and procedure in the struggle for affordable warmth," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 69-75.
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    Cited by:

    1. Day, Rosie, 2015. "Low carbon thermal technologies in an ageing society – What are the issues?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 250-256.
    2. Victoria Aragon & Patrick James & Stephanie Gauthier, 2022. "Revisiting Home Heat Control Theories through a UK Care Home Field Trial," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Wallis, Hannah & Nachreiner, Malte & Matthies, Ellen, 2016. "Adolescents and electricity consumption; Investigating sociodemographic, economic, and behavioural influences on electricity consumption in households," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 224-234.

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