The main empirical work consists of four work packages:

• A warm bathroom? Changing energy use in houses. Here we investigate the relation between energy standards and aestheticization in the house with a focus on how the bathroom has changed to a “high-energy” room. How are the material constituencies and consumer logics involved in this change expressed? This will be done as a part of a study of historical developments in how processes of aestheticization are expressed.
• Educating aesthetic sustainability? Students of product design and architecture. Within this work package, the kinds of values that are presented in educational settings are explored. Are students educated in seeing the aesthetic aspects of sustainability? How do students in industrial design and architecture understand sustainable design in relation to energy use?
• Sustainable pleasures? There is very little prior knowledge about how pleasure and sports industries are developing in terms of how their designers understand sustainability. Rather arbitrarily we will focus on the design of pleasure boats when we ask whether designers see the aesthetic aspects of sustainability, or is the aesthetics of boat design constructed in a complete different mode? Moreover, we ask how to understand changes in consumer habits and comfort demands related to pleasure crafts.
• A second chance? Aesthetics and sustainability in the second home industry. The goal of this work package is to understand the change in vacation habits and comfort demand resulting in high standard vacation houses. How do architects/designers think and what responses are generated by their views on design? What are the thoughts and preferences concerning design and sustainability amongst users?

Taken together, these empirical explorations should allow us to make a unique contribution to the understanding of the uneasy relationship between sustainability, consumption and production.