User involvement in technological innovations: the case of balanced ventilation systems

Panel: Panel 2: Dynamics of Consumption

Author:
Harald Rohracher, Inter-University Research Centre for Technology (IFF/IFZ)

Abstract

Balanced ventilation systems are technologies increasingly made use of in very low energy buildings. An analysis of the supply and demand side of this technology shows that the proper functioning and dissemination of ventilation systems not only depends on their 'technological hardware', but to a major part on the way they are integrated into the building system, on the co-operation and know-how of various actors such as planners, builders, or installers, and on the cultural embedding of the product in meaning and discourses ÿ to put it short on shaping an appropriate socio-technical system.

We are not faced with a new technology but with transferring a product to a new cultural and technical context. The eventual improvement and social embedding of low energy house technologies can be analysed as a mutual learning process of component producers and users. An analysis of qualitative interviews and Austrian survey data suggests that the way these technologies are appropriated by users - i.e. integrated into everyday life in a meaningful way - affects the perceived functionality of these products. Acknowledging the active role of users/consumers in technology development could be a starting point for developing strategies to better integrate their perspectives and experiences into innovation processes.