Short answer
When proposing radical design innovations, anticipate and actively manage the necessary shifts in calculations, professional collaborations, and underlying values.
- Field
- Innovation & Design
- Source
- Energy Research & Social Science (2023)
- Method
- Case study analysis
- Evidence
- Moderate effect
Radical ideas from urban innovators can destabilize established norms and practices, paving the way for new socio-technical systems like energy-generating buildings. This innovation & design research insight is drawn from a 2023 study published in Energy Research & Social Science. Using Case study analysis, researchers explored how this design variable affects real-world outcomes. The key design takeaway: When proposing radical design innovations, anticipate and actively manage the necessary shifts in calculations, professional collaborations, and underlying values.
Vanguard Visions for Energy-Generating Buildings
Radical ideas from urban innovators can destabilize established norms and practices, paving the way for new socio-technical systems like energy-generating buildings.
Energy Research & Social Science · 2023
Key Findings
- 01Innovative visions for energy-generating buildings challenge dominant understandings of both buildings and wind turbines.
- 02Enacting these visions involves realigning multiple human and non-human actors within the building assemblage.
- 03Key practices include producing calculations, reworking socio-professional relations, and reconnecting values around buildings.
Application
Design takeaway
When proposing radical design innovations, anticipate and actively manage the necessary shifts in calculations, professional collaborations, and underlying values.
How to apply
When developing a new building technology that integrates energy generation, map out the key stakeholders, the necessary calculations, and the potential shifts in values that need to be addressed.
Project actions
- 01Consider the 'vision' behind your design project and how it challenges existing norms.
- 02Identify the different 'actors' (people, tools, systems) involved in your design's implementation and how they might need to change.
Method & Evidence
Variables
Strengths & Limitations
Strengths
- +Provides a nuanced understanding of innovation beyond purely technical aspects.
- +Employs a case study approach to offer concrete examples of enactment practices.
Limitations
The specific context of urban wind energy might not directly apply to all design fields, and the 'vanguard vision' concept can be subjective.
Reliability & validity
The qualitative nature of the case study may limit generalizability, but the detailed analysis of enactment practices provides rich insights into the process of socio-technical change.
Think critically
To what extent can a single 'vanguard vision' truly destabilize deeply entrenched socio-technical systems, or are incremental changes more effective in practice?
Design Principles
"The successful integration of novel design concepts relies on the active management of socio-technical assemblages."
Understanding how 'vanguard visions' are enacted is crucial for designers and engineers aiming to introduce disruptive technologies. It highlights that successful implementation requires more than just technical solutions; it involves actively reshaping relationships, calculations, and values within complex urban systems.
What This Means for Your Design
New ideas for buildings, like making them generate their own energy, need more than just good technology. People need to agree on how to measure success, work together differently, and decide what's important about buildings.
How to use in your project
- 1.Use this research to justify the importance of considering stakeholder engagement and value alignment in your design process, beyond just technical feasibility.
Add to My Project
Quick Cite
Paragraph starter
This study highlights that the successful implementation of innovative design concepts, such as integrating energy generation into buildings, requires more than technical advancement. It involves actively reshaping socio-technical assemblages by redefining calculation methods, fostering new professional collaborations, and realigning underlying values, demonstrating the critical need for designers to consider these broader implications in their projects.
Source
Energy Research & Social Science
Wind energy meets buildings? Generating socio-technical change in the urban built environment through vanguard visions
journal · 2023
View sourceQuestions About This Research
- What does the research say about vanguard visions for energy-generating buildings?
- When proposing radical design innovations, anticipate and actively manage the necessary shifts in calculations, professional collaborations, and underlying values. Evidence: Energy Research & Social Science (2023).
- Why does "Vanguard Visions for Energy-Generating Buildings" matter for design?
- Understanding how 'vanguard visions' are enacted is crucial for designers and engineers aiming to introduce disruptive technologies. It highlights that successful implementation requires more than just technical solutions; it involves actively reshaping relationships, calculations, and values within complex urban systems.
- How can designers apply this research?
- When proposing radical design innovations, anticipate and actively manage the necessary shifts in calculations, professional collaborations, and underlying values.
- What were the main findings?
- Innovative visions for energy-generating buildings challenge dominant understandings of both buildings and wind turbines.. Enacting these visions involves realigning multiple human and non-human actors within the building assemblage.. Key practices include producing calculations, reworking socio-professional relations, and reconnecting values around buildings.
- What research method was used?
- Case study analysis.
- How strong is the evidence?
- Evidence strength is rated Moderate effect, based on a 2023 journal from Energy Research & Social Science.
- What should I do differently in my next project?
- When developing a new building technology that integrates energy generation, map out the key stakeholders, the necessary calculations, and the potential shifts in values that need to be addressed.
- What are the limitations?
- The study focuses on a single case, and the findings may not be universally generalizable to all urban innovation contexts.