Transformational role of Lochiel Park Green village

Abstract

Energy use in housing has a significant negative impact on the environment. The South Australian Government responded to concern for anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by creating a model green village of near zero carbon homes in a near zero carbon impact estate. The creation of the Lochiel Park Green Village challenged actors from industry and government to set objectives, performance targets and regulatory guidelines outside existing institutional and professional norms. Evidence collected through a series of interviews has found that industry has responded to their involvement in the development by shifting away from some dominant technologies, practices and beliefs, and embracing new tools, construction practices and technologies, and policy makers have used the experience to consider new standards of building performance. Using a multi-level socio-technical framework this paper demonstrates how structural change at the regime level has come from the experience of actors at the niche level. The creation of the Lochiel Park Green Village has allowed many organisations to gain a more detailed and practical understanding of sustainable housing, and has given organisations the confidence to change industry practices, government policies, and regulatory standards. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.