Abstract
The internet and social media have become important platforms for information and advice sharing in the area of environmental sustainability. This chapter discusses empirical research from two separate Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living projects that addressed the transition to low carbon living in the context of popular home renovations in Australia. Contrasting a well-established, independent community online discussion forum Whirlpool and a new industry-led interactive website Build4Life, we underscore the significance of trust and transparency in online communities as key to supporting people—in practical ways—to make informed and meaningful choices with regard to consumer products, expertise and labour when transforming existing homes into sustainable homes.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank our Swinburne collaborators from the media and home renovation project: Kath Hulse, Esther Milne, Gavin Melles and Ph.D. candidates Shae Hunter, Aggeliki Aggeli and Sarah Fiess, as well as our industry partners. Thanks also to colleagues from a related CRC project on residential energy efficiency, particularly Magnus Moglia. Special thanks to the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, collaborators and co-funders of the Build4Life project, especially Rachel Hayley and Emily Yip and to the Kristen Brookfield from the Housing Industry Association.
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Podkalicka, A., Winfree, T., Wright, A., McGregor, J. (2019). Sharing Advice Online to Foster Sustainable Homes. In: Newton, P., Prasad, D., Sproul, A., White, S. (eds) Decarbonising the Built Environment. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7940-6_25
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7940-6_25
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