Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use
Pérez-Sánchez, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Velasco-Fernández, Raúl (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Giampietro, Mario (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	Residential end-uses represent a significant share of final energy consumption and material stocks. However, approaching sustainability of the residential sector merely as an environmental technical problem is insufficient. Home is the center of daily life providing essential functions to people. Household metabolism is not a matter of the sum of individual behaviors, typologies of buildings, or energy uses stripped out of context, but the system that emerges from the historical combination of these elements and the functions it performs. The residential sector comprises both families (units of organized individuals) and dwellings (within municipalities/urban forms). To analyze these dynamics, we draw upon practice theory and Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal and Ecosystem Metabolism (MuSIASEM) illustrating with data from Sweden and Spain in 2015. The objective is to establish an interdisciplinary framework for analyzing the sustainability of the residential sector. We also present a list of possible measures and their trade-offs in diverse dimensions: energy carrier consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, materials, floor area, human activity, social organization and institutions, finance and desirability. Even though the inclusion of all variables in a single model is not feasible, the holistic understanding of household metabolism can help build coherent anticipation scenarios by selecting plausible hypotheses. Ultimately, this allows making profound transformations to sustainability.
Grants:	Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2019FI_B01317 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-230 Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CEX2019-000940-MEU
Note:	Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UAB
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Household metabolism ; Nexus ; Social innovation ; Sufficiency ; Energy efficiency ; Construction sector
Published in:	Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 161 (June 2022) , art. 112388, ISSN 1879-0690

Adreça alternativa: https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1364032122002982
DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2022.112388

22 p, 6.7 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles