Cashing in on the green machine: are developers in the UK missing out?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the reasons behind the apparent reluctance of UK residential developers to embrace microgeneration technology and adopt it large‐scale across their developments despite consumer demand for post‐construction microgeneration technologies. This paper explores residential developers’ attitudes towards these technologies, their perceptions of drivers and barriers to sustainability, supply and demand issues and perceptions of the potential contribution that microgeneration technologies could make towards sustainable construction across the UK. Design/methodological/approach – This paper reports on the findings from 12 telephone interviews with UK residential developers which were carried out in May 2007. Findings – The main driver towards sustainability was legislation. The most favoured microgeneration technology amongst developers was solar thermal, as it was perceived to be the most established microgeneration technology. Barriers towards adopting this technology were the initial cost to developers, the initial costs to occupiers, long payback periods, and the current market immaturity, reliability and liability of microgeneration products. Research limitations/implications – This represents a snapshot of developers views in 2007 and due to technological improvements, policy and changes to the economy opinions may have changed. Practical implications – The results suggest that unless there are significant improvements in efficiency, reliability, reductions in purchase costs and, guarantees that they will be free from liability when things go wrong, developers will struggle to achieve the requirements of the code for sustainable homes Level Six “zero carbon” rating in 2016. Originality/value – The study addresses microgeneration from the house‐builders’ perspective.