Critically interrogating eco-homes

Eco-homes have only been researched in fragmented and partial ways, which fail to adequately examine their complexities and possibilities. Numerous myths about eco-homes persist in the public imagination and policy support has been mixed with, in practice, little change to the construction of contemporary homes. The ecological and social potential of eco-homes are being undermined by a technocratic focus, the capacity and behaviour of occupants, and a weakening of design as developments are scaled-up. This intervention identifies five ways in which eco-homes need to be more robustly interrogated to strengthen their potential, through their breadth and diversity, dynamic nature, socio-material interdependencies, place, and understanding of their political economies. Crucially these interrogations need to be researched simultaneously to ensure that the full diversity of eco-homes is understood through their multiple interdependencies, multi-scalar practices and materialities.