Knowledge exchange mechanisms for rapid deployment of zero carbon housing in Wales

Abstract

The Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) announced in February 2007 that all new buildings in Wales should be zero carbon by 2011. This is five years ahead of the same target for England and represents a major rise in standards. Unlike many parts of continental Europe, the UK does not have a tradition of low energy building design and construction, and so this rapid change will require the construction industry to assimilate knowledge about how to deliver zero carbon buildings very quickly. This in turn will demand effective mechanisms for injecting and distributing technical knowledge throughout the industry. The extent to which this is currently achieved is not well understood. This short paper reports on a research project funded by WAG which investigated how technical information and knowledge are exchanged in the construction industry in Wales, and particularly how this might affect the delivery of zero carbon buildings to meet the 2011 deadline. The results suggest that the most effective ways of disseminating information rely on connections maintained through face-to-face contact and on traditional print media rather than on internet technologies.