What makes a zero carbon home zero carbon?

n 2006, the UK government committed to ensuring that all new homes be zero carbon by 2016. But the definition of ‘zero carbon’ was hotly contested, and in 2015, the policy was abolished. This chapter conducts a narrative policy analysis of the zero carbon homes (ZCH) policy over its lifetime. Our analysis pays particular attention to the ways in which different actors have sought to translate ZCH policy narratives into material form. The dominant storyline is ecological modernisation, and this has been the case over the life course of ZCH policy initiation, implementation and closure. However, ZCH is a contested story—there have always been, and remain today, multiple narratives in use.