ABSTRACT

In the United Kingdom, the domestic sector is a major contributor of national carbon emissions. Improving the energy efficiency of the existing stock, particularly the oldest and least efficient homes, is therefore of utmost importance if ambitious carbon reduction targets are to be met. Analyzing the rich, narrative data of households living in old, hard-to-treat homes, this paper produces novel insights into the ways in which domestic thermal comfort practices are shaped by meaningful relationships, intimately bound to identificatory positions, that are deeply connected to these valued domestic environments. Findings concern how households renegotiate widely accepted understandings of thermal comfort to better fit with the materiality of their old homes by constructing for themselves meaningful ‘moral’ identities that focus on living sufficiently well. This relational understanding of domestic energy consumption highlights how materiality, practices and moral narratives are produced and reproduced dynamically over time.

摘要

在英国，家庭部门是国家碳排放的主要贡献者。因此，如果要实现雄心勃勃的碳减排目标，那么提高现有房屋（尤其是最老旧和效率最低的房屋）的能源效率至关重要。通过分析生活在旧的，难以处理的房屋中的家庭的丰富的叙事数据，本文提出了新颖的见解，了解了如何通过有意义的关系（紧密地与特定的位置绑定）来形成家庭热舒适实践的方式，这些关系紧密地与身份定位联系在一起。这些珍贵的家庭环境。研究发现关注的是，家庭如何通过自己构建有意义的“道德”身份，专注于生活得足够好来重新协商广泛接受的对热舒适性的理解，以更好地适应老房子的物质性。对家庭能源消耗的这种关系理解突显了如何随着时间的流逝动态地产生和再现实质性，实践和道德叙事。