A socio-technical approach to domestic energy demand

Speaker: Dr Rihab Khalid (University of Cambridge)

Current housing and energy policies are based largely on techno-economic models of efficiency. As such, they fail to address the ways of living and patterns of demand that emerge from the specific socio-material and cultural context, and determine how the need for energy arises and evolves. Taking the case of middle-class housing in Lahore, Pakistan, this talk will look at how a socio-technical approach to domestic energy demand can help to:

1) explain growing household electricity-use as a consequence of the co-evolution of household practices and material arrangements (how we got to this point)
2) explore potential low-energy interventions in design and use (where do we go from here?)

About the speaker: Dr Rihab Khalid is an interdisciplinary researcher in sustainable energy consumption and demand management, focusing on socio-technical approaches to societal transitions. In particular, she is interested in the intersections of gender, energy infrastructure and space use in Pakistan and more broadly in the Global South. Her work takes a multidisciplinary approach to understanding energy demand, amalgamating socio-cultural theories with more technically grounded understandings of consumption in the context of architectural and urban spaces. Dr Khalid is committed to problem-driven research to tackle societal challenges, and to improve energy efficiency and sufficiency to meet climate change targets. Currently, she is in her first year as a JRF at Lucy, and also a Co-I on an ARU QR-GCRF project: Gender equity and energy access in the Global South.

Please register to receive Zoom joining instructions for this event development@lucy.cam.ac.uk. This event is free and open to all.