Ministers are planning a raft of reforms to Britain’s building regulations. Houses contribute nearly 30 per cent of Britain’s total carbon emissions, pumping 41.7 million tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year [...]. Treasury officials estimate that eight million tons of carbon emissions a year could be saved by 2050 if all new homes are zero-carbon rated by 2016.
Russell, The Independent, 07/12/2006 Discursive elements
The Zero carbon housing storyline justifies low carbon housing as an essential element of climate change mitigation policy, with new-build, zero carbon houses proposed as the primary solution. The UK housing sector is highlighted as a significant contributor to national carbon emissions, although little information is provided regarding the source
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of these emissions, e.g., heating, lighting or appliances. However, although an urgent need to reduce emissions is repeatedly emphasised, explicit mention of climate change as an issue decreases over time. Increasing energy bills are thus highlighted as another issue which zero carbon homes can solve:
Our homes, said the Chancellor, account for one-quarter of Britain’s carbon dioxide emissions, and he provided a series of measures designed to encourage the development of low-carbon houses - ‘benefiting the climate through lower emissions, and benefiting consumers through lower bills’.
McCarthy, The Independent, 22/03/2007
The definition of a zero carbon home within the storyline is initially undefined, with no official definition presented, and only casual explanations offered:
Zero-carbon homes use a variety of technologies to enable them to be lived in without resorting to the use of conventional gas and electricity. In the future, they will have photovoltaic cells built into south-facing roofs and/or nearby wind turbines - both generating electricity which can be stored for later use.
Brignall, The Guardian, 07/12/2006
Interestingly, the inclusion of onsite energy generation is initially considered a key feature of a zero carbon house. However, this prominence rapidly disappears, with attention shifting to issues of energy efficiency and building standards.
Given this lack of conceptual clarity, it is mainly through descriptions and examples of zero carbon houses that a representation of their material and social characteristics is provided. A key frame within this storyline is that of zero carbon housing as a cutting edge technology. Focusing on technological and design features, this frame depicts these houses as technologically advanced; a vision of the future and the solution to reducing
emissions from housing:
Other more exotic features, from rooftop wind turbines and solar panels to grey-water recycling systems, were more glaringly obvi- ous at the two state-of-the art houses built to generate virtually no greenhouse gas emissions in their running, and unveiled at an exhibition of new construction methods.
McCarthy, The Independent, 12/06/2007
This frame is initially contested by the idea that zero carbon homes are in reality experimental and untested. However, this is rapidly undermined by the emergence of a competing frame depicting these houses as exciting, pioneering technology:
Although it is easy to look for faults in such innovative devel- opments, it is through their pioneering work that we can learn what succeeds and what fails [...] ‘The more complicated you make these systems for saving energy and cutting emissions, the more likely they are to break down [...]. Ideally, low carbon buildings should have passive systems that manage themselves.’ David Strong, formerly of BRE
Leake, The Times, 28/09/2008
Within this storyline, little connection is made between low carbon houses and society more broadly. Only the Ecotowns policy, designed by the Labour Government to site ten new eco-housing developments within the British countryside, touches on social aspects of zero carbon housing. Following a modified line of reasoning, the storyline is expanded to include the need to address the UK’s housing crisis and provide affordable housing for all. However, links are rarely made between these houses and the lifestyles they support, and emphasis is seldom placed on conveying comfort, homeliness or quality of life within these homes. Focus is instead placed on the affordability and normality of these houses, with little suggestion that any level of behaviour change would be required
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in order to decarbonise UK housing. Discursive practices
Originating within the then Labour Government’s policy announcements, Zero carbon housing appears within the media discourse following the announcement of the Code for Sustainable Homes (DCLG , 2006) in December 2006. Reproducing the Government discourse of low carbon housing as a solution to climate change at this time (discussed in Chapter 4) within news and policy based feature articles, this storyline rapidly gains discursive dominance.
Considering media reproductions of press releases, official quotes, and a small number of opinion pieces from prominent Government officials, evidence of the purposeful framing of low carbon housing as a solution to climate change can be seen within the media data. Emotional and value-laden language is initially combined with the idea that individual homes contribute substantially to climate change, to promote housing policy and appropriate environmental credibility:
Far from trying to scupper government plans to tackle climate change [...] my department is at the forefront of efforts to cut carbon emissions. Heating and running our homes accounts for 27% of the country’s emissions - the third biggest cause of carbon emissions after business and transport [...] I am determined to do what is needed to make a real and lasting difference to the environment. This government not only supports sustainable communities but is the author of that concept.
Kelly, The Guardian, 16/03/2007
However, over time, the Labour Government begins to downplay the culturally polar- ising issue of climate change, shifting instead to a cost savings based frame.
Media representations of low carbon housing reinforce this storyline. With responsibility to act placed firmly with policy makers, the role of professional actors such as developers or construction firms is given little prominence. Issues surrounding behaviour change and the responsibility of individuals/households to reduce their emissions are also largely excluded. Although a range of alternative positions are presented by the media through the use of quotes from a broader range of experts and professionals, these focus on criticisms of Government policy, further emphasising the responsibility of policy makers. Little divergence was seen within NGO positions, which did little more than reiterate Government accountability, without suggesting more radical policies for decarbonisation. This serves to reinforce the key elements of the storyline, criticising specific policy options whilst continuing to frame zero carbon housing as a technical solution to climate change.
A discourse coalition can thus be seen to support this storyline, including the Labour Government, NGOs and the UKGBC. In comparison to other actors, the UKGBC is accredited a high level of expertise, with its definition of zero carbon housing repeatedly legitimised by all newspapers. Interestingly, representing as they do, a number of prominent industry organisations and businesses, the formation of (and later reports from) the UKGBC is also used to imply agreement between all actors, providing a commentary that is largely unquestioned by the media.
Following the election of the Coalition Government in 2010, the Zero carbon housing storyline becomes increasingly contested, echoing the policy debate surrounding the definition of the Zero Carbon Homes target. Through a subtle modification of the storyline, the UKGBC played a key role in (re)defining ‘zero carbon’ housing, moving focus away from the mitigation of climate change, to the practicalities of achieving change within the housing industry. The focus on practical and economic aspects of decarbonisation present within the already shifting climate change and energy discourse adopted by the Coalition Government (as discussed in Chapter 4), is also reflected within the media discourse. From this point, no discourse coalition is discernible
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and contention over the definition and achievability of zero carbon housing begins to strengthen, increasingly used strategically within the media to criticise policy and destabilise the storyline:
‘Let’s stop calling these houses zero carbon when they clearly will not be zero carbon. Zero-carbon housing has been a long standing political pledge and an acid test of the ability of the construction industry to deliver.’ Friends of the Earth
Wright, The Independent, 25/02/2011
Following these changes in the political landscape, media legitimisation of official Gov- ernment positions decreases. This is reflected in the decreasing dominance of the Zero carbon housing storyline. Possible ideological divides between newspapers be- come more apparent, with each paper clearly favouring different aspects of the debate. The Guardian and The Independent are more commonly associated with a stronger emphasis on climate change and debates surrounding the definition of zero carbon housing, supporting actors such as Friends of the Earth. In contrast, The Telegraph and The Times favour debates surrounding the Ecotowns policy, instead legitimising other actors, including the Campaign to Protect Rural England. However, these contentions remain largely rhetorical, with such struggles failing to significantly alter the fundamental structure of the storyline.