Understanding the Mechanisms behind Fragmentation in the Housing Construction and Retrofit

Housing and energy-efficiency policies often cause unintended consequences in the built-environment and beyond it, and encounter resistance by the potential users. Systems thinking and an integrated approach are suggested both for research and decision-making in order to avoid such unintended consequences and policy resistance. However, previous studies revealed that such an integrated decision making takes place neither at the policy nor at the industry level, and the resulting fragmented processes lead to performance gaps in the housing sector. This study investigates the mechanisms behind fragmentation based on a large set of stakeholder interviews conducted for the housing sector in the UK. For this purpose, the information obtained from these interviews is transformed into a system dynamics model. The model focuses on the improvement of housing performance by immediate actions such as resource allocation or by longer-term actions such as competence development both at the policy and industry level. Future research will focus on extending the model to the user level and elaborating it in participatory sessions.