Windows of Opportunity: Exploring How Home Practices Reframe Knowledge About High-Performance Retrofits

Abstract

In hot, dry climates with older, uninsulated homes, high-performance windows can double or triple the effective insulation of the building enclosure and substantially reduce cooling loads from solar gain. Yet many households who choose to replace windows select lower-performing options, locking in higher energy use, reduced comfort, and greater carbon emissions. Previous work has sought to address this issue by developing a tool that quantifies personalized energy and non-energy benefits of high-performance window retrofits for consumers, based on the assumption that more information will shift consumer decisions. This study explores how different frameworks for understanding household window-replacement decisions can generate insights to inform the development of interventions that might effectively support higher-performance choices. Using interpretive analysis of fourteen semi-structured interviews with households in Tucson, Arizona considering window replacement, the study situates window replacement within the habitual, patterned performances of home improvement practices. A circuit-of-practice approach identifies three ways households integrate homes as material objects into daily life — domestication, configuration, and stewardship — and shows how each reconfigures the organizing principles through which consumers build knowledge about home projects. Analysis using concepts from Legitimation Code Theory reveals a code clash between these knowledge-building practices and the way the calculator frames its claims. The findings suggest pathways for resolving this clash and broadening the adoption of higher-performance window retrofits. The study contributes theoretical insight into how shifting social practices reshape knowledge practices and provides practical direction for developing interventions that more effectively support high-performance window retrofits and related home energy upgrades.