Erik Bichard

Are homeowners willing to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change

The need to adapt to climate change impacts, whilst simultaneously limiting greenhouse gas emissions, requires that the government’s efforts are joined by public action. In England and Wales, housing contributes significantly to the emissions and many properties are at risk of flooding. This paper investigates the preparedness of homeowners in England and Wales to make changes to their homes in response to the predicted effects of climate change. A telephone survey of 961 homeowners investigated their interest in purchasing mitigation and adaptation improvements against their concern about climate change, awareness of flood risk and attribution of responsibility for action. Whilst the majority of homes had some energy-saving improvements, few were found to have property-level flood protection. The high levels of awareness about climate change and flooding were coupled with the perception of risks as low. Whilst some respondents accepted personal responsibility for action, most believed that the authorities were responsible for flood protection, and would not pay the costs required to make their home more energy-efficient and better prepared for the eventuality of floods. The results suggest that there is scope for further improvement of energy-saving measures, and that the levels of adoption of flood-protection measures are very low. Multi-faceted strategies, including more effective communication of risks and responsibilities, incentives, and material support for the poorest, will need to be developed to overcome the current reluctance by homeowners to invest in flood-protection measures and further energy conservation solutions in the future.

Investigating homeowners' interest in property‐level flood protection

Purpose – The inevitability of climate change and its consequences brings on the need to find new ways of adapting to extreme events, such as floods. One immediate measure would be to make physical improvements to houses to either prevent their inundation or minimise the damage when flood waters enter premises. Currently, the level of implementation of these measures is low. This paper aims to assess the willingness of house owners living in flood risk zones to carry out works that make their homes better protected against flooding.Design/methodology/approach – Householders (101) in low‐ and medium‐income areas of Salford, north west of England were interviewed on their perceptions of climate change consequences, willingness to make physical improvements to their properties and preparedness to pay for them.Findings – The homeowners are concerned about the climate change effects on their homes, feel responsible for protection of their properties against flooding and express interest in several flood protec...

The Current Approach of Urban Design, its Implications for Sustainable Urban Development☆

Abstract Urban Design derived as a separate profession after the determinations of the 1956 international conference about the future of cities that took place in Harvards Graduate School. City beautification was the fundamental purpose of urban design at the time it was introduced as a separate profession. Over time, the scope and objectives of the urban design have changed. Today Urban design plays a key role in the creation of sustainable communities in terms of the “triple bottom line,” that is the three dimensions of life–economic, e.g. well-paid jobs, social e.g. good schools and sports facilities and environmental e.g. clear air, clean rivers, beautiful places to live, work and play. So today urban design seeks to enhance the life of the city and its inhabitants in socio-economic & environmental terms. However the current approach to urban design is mainly top down, i.e., generally the architects or the planners design the urban environment and at the implementation stage the community may have some involvement. There are serious criticisms of this approach as it may not touch the “ground” community level and therefore there is a serious risk these projects will fail to create sustainable environments. The criticism is that the experts in development simply comply with requirements of funding agencies in the development and this top down process may alienate local community members and fail to capture locally significant factors. Through a re-examination of the literature on this topic this paper argues that a proper bottom up approach will help to achieve better performance against the sustainability indicators. It also explores the strengths and weaknesses in the classic top down approach to urban development which provides early high level planning solutions, whereas although a bottom-up approach can make more sense because the professionals have a strong base of understanding of the place with the help of effective participation from the concerned stakeholders it takes more time and commitment from all parties involved. Therefore this paper explores the gap between the current top down approach and a bottom up approach in urban design towards the creation sustainable urban environments.

Trialling behaviour change strategies to motivate interest in property level flood protection

Purpose – The UK Government is spending an increasingly large sum on flood protection to protect communities and businesses. Flood events are predicted to become more frequent and severe as a result of global warming, and the government is seeking to find ways to ensure that individual householders are prepared for this. Attitudinal studies have shown that there is an interest by homeowners to respond to motivational behaviour change strategies and accept incentives such as non-cash rewards in return for investing in flood protection measures for their houses. This paper builds on a study trialling the measures suggested in the earlier attitudinal studies in a flood-threatened community in North West England. Design/methodology/approach – The hypothesis of the research has been formulated from the findings from the earlier phase of the project and was further supported with a comprehensive literature review. The data collection was carried out using survey strategies. During the data analysis, the researc...

The Coming of Age of the Green Community : My neighbourhood, my planet

People organising to protect their environment is not a new phenomenon, but the groups that have been pushing for environmental change since the 1970s have not convinced sufficient numbers make sustainable decisions or to lead sustainable lives. Governments have serially failed to do the job at the international level. Now, climate change, resource depletion and widening social aspirations threaten to destabilise human society unless sustainable change can be influenced from another direction. The Coming of Age of the Green Community explores the activities of a new generation of community-led initiatives that may herald the beginnings of the next wave of activism. Erik Bichard combines the testimonies of dozens of group activists with historic evidence and the views of a range of commentators from a variety of disciplines to put forward reasons why some green community groups succeed while others fail. He concludes with a valuable prescription for both existing and emerging groups on how to be sustainable, both over time and in their actions. This book address one of the key questions of the twenty-first century: has the local perspective on this universal concern finally come of age?

The application of sustainable behaviour change strategies in three built environment companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the effect of methods derived from the study of social psychology to motive better sustainable behaviour in the workforces of built environment companies.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the multi‐methodological approach used to obtain the conclusions about the use of social psychological techniques. It also describes why case studies were the most appropriate framework for the study, based on the complex nature of both the companies that participated in the research, and the complex nature of sustainable development.Findings – The study shows that the application of motivational methods based on social psychology are effective in raising awareness of sustainability issues and, in one case, had a marked effect on the future path of the company. Leaders of built environment companies that are interested in improving sustainable performance should study these techniques and, in particular, consider their leadership style and method of messag...

Traditional vs Technological Based Surveillance on Construction Site: A Review

The negative impacts of construction activities can be controlled and reduced through identification of environmental aspects and impacts of construction activities, implementation of the mitigation measures and site monitoring on a regular basis e.g through surveillance in the framework of the Environmental Management System (EMS). Continuous improvement efforts towards traditional methods and increased needs for factual information and productivity in the environmental monitoring field have been met with latest innovations in mobile information and sensory technology options. This paper through literature aims to review the characteristic of both traditional and technology based surveillance while highlighting the on how those methods complement each other.

Supporting Environmental Surveillance on Construction Sites using Mobile Environmental Information System

Data and data retrieval remain central to the challenge of environmental protection initiatives. Approaches such as walk-through inspections and environmental monitoring rely on environmental information that is concise, accurate, material timely and usable. However, current methods of collecting environmental data from the field are, on occasion, problematic in that they are labour-intensive and can take a considerable time to process between the point of collection and the period of analysis. These drawbacks create an obstacle for construction managers and can result in unnecessary environmental impacts, prosecutions and delays. Technological based surveillance has become an alternative in an attempt to overcome some of these disadvantages. But, in some circumstances it can be difficult to demonstrate a connection between the pollution detected and a specific source solely using these methods. Therefore, while physical environmental surveillance (observation/walk-through inspection) still remains important some improvements can be made through the application of Internet of Things technologies in order to accommodate the needs of both physical and technological based environmental surveillance in one system. This paper proposes a prototype of the Mobile Environmental Information System. This system is designed to assist construction environmental management teams to efficiently perform surveillance activities and make informed decisions in the light of a better awareness of the current status of environmental constraints and legislation. The user requirements, the conceptual model and the functional specifications as well as the system architecture for the prototype system presented in this paper will form the basis for the development of the prototype system.

Behaviour change strategies for energy efficiency in owner‐occupied housing

Purpose – Government policies in many countries are trying to accelerate conservation of energy as part of wider carbon management or energy security strategies. This paper aims to describe a trial that tested a behaviour change strategy that combined three different influencing components designed to motivate home owners to invest in energy‐saving measures in the UK.Design/methodology/approach – The research design was based on the findings from an earlier phase of the project and was further supported with a comprehensive literature review. Data collection was carried out using survey strategies, interviews and capturing the actions of the participating households. Data analysis was undertaken using descriptive statistical methods and the most appropriate software.Findings – The project results reflected that a combination of information delivered at key moments in the decision‐making process, incentives, and norm‐based influences have the potential to help motivate owners of domestic property to invest...

Valuing sustainable change in the built environment : using SuROI to appraise built environment projects

The paper aims to assess the strengths and weaknesses of sustainable return on investment (SuROI) to determine it suitability as a means through which social value can be predicted in line with public procurement directives and the Social Value Act, whilst at the same time as fitting the developer’s business model and CSR commitments.,Using a multi-case design, findings from a comprehensive evaluation of three major housing-led mixed-use regeneration developments are presented. The three case study locations were selected on the basis of the developer’s strong commitment to place-making and social sustainability. Together with a strong strategic desire to reposition their organisation away from the traditional business as usual profit-led model.,Whilst the social return on investment methodology is applicable to the charity sector, its use in the built environment is highly questionable. When applying the model to the mixed-use housing projects, the authors identified a number of technical limitations to the model, inter alia a lack of suitable proxies and especially proxies relating to the built environment for the valuation of identified outcomes; the use of monetisation as a evaluating measure which did not support some of the more abstract or softer benefits identified; problems collecting, identifying and evaluating data to inform the model given the complexity and scale of the project; and significant time and expense associated with the valuation and finally the inability to benchmark the report on completion. These findings have implications for the social housing providers and local authorities looking to use SuROI to evaluate potential built environment projects.,The paper offers unique insights into the viability of using existing social value measurement methodologies. The paper identifies the significant limitations associated with the SuROI methodology.