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GENERAL ENGLISH · IELTS COURSE · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

SUSTAINABLE
HOUSING

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1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the questions.

1. What type of housing is common in your town or city?

2. What strange materials do you know of that have been used to make houses?
3. Do you think housing options will change in the future? Why, why not?

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2 Vocabulary

Look at the following words and choose the correct definition from the two options.

1. sustainable (adj.)

a. able to continue for a long time with little or no damage to the environment

b. doing lasting damage to the environment

2. energy-efficient (adj.)

a. uses a lot of electricity and gas

b. uses little electricity and gas

3. habitable (adj.)

a. bad living conditions

b. good living conditions

4. upcycling (n)

a. the activity of making new items from old, used or waste material

b. the activity of buying and selling recycled items

5. renewable (adj.)

a. limited supply that cannot be replaced after they have been used

b. can be produced as quickly as they are used

6. labour (n)

a. difficult work

b. practical, physical work

7. versatile (adj.)

a. having many different uses

b. limited to one use only

8. progressive (adj.)

a. in favour of new ideas, modern methods, and change

b. a traditional approach

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3 Listening for gist

Part A: You are going to listen about sustainable housing options. First, look at the following photos.
Have you seen any houses like these? Do you think they are the houses of the future? Why/why not?

Picture A Picture B Picture C

Part B: Listen to the lecture and put the housing options in the order you hear them. Use the letters
A-C from the images above.

1.

2.

3.

Glossary:
patent - an official right to be the only person to make, use or sell a product or an invention
steel - a strong, hard metal that is made of a mixture of iron and carbon

4 Listening for specific information

Answer the following questions. Write no more than three items for each answer.

1. Which three sustainable housing options does the speaker give examples of?

2. If used efficiently, which two factors create sustainable housing?

3. Which three places have examples of sustainable housing?

4. Which two costs are minimised with a sustainable house?

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5 Listening for detail: matching

Listen to the lecture again. Which option matches each description? Write the correct letter A-C next
to questions 1-6.

A. Prefabricated Houses
B. Shipping Containers
C. Earthships

1. have the earliest history:

2. are the most environmentally friendly option:

3. are only made from recycled materials:

4. were first featured in a film:

5. are the most resistant:

6. solved a variety of housing demands through the centuries:

6 Discussion

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you think we need more sustainable housing options?

2. Do you think these are practical houses for the future? Why, why not?
3. Would you like to live in any of the three houses that were mentioned? Which one and why?

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7 Optional extension: signposting

Part A: Read the short text about signposting and fill in the gaps with words from the box.

predict / coherent / guide / phrases / academic

1 2
Signposting words and are used to the listener through
3
what is being said and help them understand the content in a way. They tell
4
the listener what the lecture will be about, how it will be structured, and help
what is going to be said next. Recognising these words and phrases is particularly useful for
5
Section 4 of the listening exam which involves listening to an talk or lecture.

Part B: Listen to the audio again and identify the correct phrases.

1. to introduce the talk

2. to explain the lecture structure

3. to introduce the first section

4. to start a new point

5. to finish the talk

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Part C: Read the following phrases/words and write letters A-R next to each category.

1. (A) The next/second...

2. (B) I’m going to divide this talk into two parts.

3. (C) Today’s lecture is about...

4. (D) Let’s start by talking about...

5. (E) In summary...

6. (F) Now, let’s turn to...

7. (G) So today, we’ll look into...

8. (H) To begin...

9. (I) To sum up...

10. (J) In today’s lecture, I’m going to cover three points.

11. (K) I’ll start with...

12. (L) Firstly...

13. (M) First, we’ll look at... Then we’ll go onto... And finally...

14. (N) The next area I’d like to focus on...

15. (O) Today, I’m going to talk about...

16. (P) And now I’d like to talk about...

17. (Q) In conclusion...

18. (R) The purpose of today’s lecture is...

Introducing the topic of the lecture:

Explaining the lecture structure:

Introducing the first section:

Starting a new point:

Concluding:

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Transcripts

3. Listening for gist

Lecturer: Welcome, everyone. Today, I’ll be discussing sustainable housing options and why they
might be the homes of the future. I will describe three examples of sustainable houses,
their history, and their positive impact on the environment and the owner.

Lecturer: So, what makes a house sustainable? Well... a sustainable house reduces the negative
impact on the environment by efficiently using resources and energy. It also has lower
costs and requires less maintenance. In a time when people are far more environmentally
conscious and are facing ever-increasing housing costs, these options are more appealing
than ever before.

Lecturer: Let’s start by talking about the most common type of house, the prefabricated house,
also known as a prefab house. Prefabrication is the process of building elements off-site
and then transporting the pieces to a site to assemble them. Interestingly, prefabrication
building methods have a long history and go as far back as the Mesopotamian civilisation
and Roman times. Records show that the Romans used prefabricated components to build
forts quickly in new lands. In the 1800s, the Eiffel Tower in Paris was created with the
help of prefabrication methods. Due to time constraints, 12,000 parts of the tower were
pre-built in a workshop. In the 1830s, John Manning, a London carpenter, created the first
prefabricated home for his son who was emigrating to Australia. He built the different
parts of the house in London and then shipped them to him in Australia. The prefabricated
model then became popular in the United States during the gold rush in the 1840s to meet
the rapid housing demand. In 1942 prefab houses were used in the United Kingdom when
Winston Churchill, the prime minister at the time, wanted a speedy, efficient solution to the
housing crisis that was unfolding due to the Second World War. Nowadays, prefabricated
houses are becoming more popular than ever, offering a more sustainable and affordable
housing option. The process of building off-site reduces water usage, and material and
labour costs. Manufacturers are also including sustainable, energy-efficient components
in the designs as house owners are looking for more environmentally friendly options.

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Lecturer: Let’s move on to shipping containers. Shipping containers have been used to transport
cargo internationally since the 1950s, but now are being used to create housing and other
buildings. In the 1960s, Reyner Banham wrote his thesis on the concept of converting
old shipping containers into homes. However, it wasn’t until a few decades later that
the first building was made. In 1985, on the set of a movie called Space Rage, shipping
containers were used to create several buildings. Then in 1987, a man called Phillip Clark
applied for a patent for the ‘method for converting steel shipping containers into habitable
buildings’ and two years later it was finally approved. This was the first official record
of a shipping container home. Nowadays they are being used as homes, offices, schools,
and restaurants. As they are made from steel, they are extremely durable and versatile
as multiple containers can be joined together to make a bigger, more creative structure.
Shipping containers are an excellent example of upcycling. Rather than wasting unused
containers, they can be turned into homes saving builders from using new materials. And
like prefab houses, they are built first and then transported to the site, reducing the cost of
labour and additional material. As the containers are smaller than traditional homes, they
require less energy to heat and power the space.

Lecturer: The final house I am going to talk about is probably the least common but most progressive
and unusual type of sustainable housing. It is called the Earthship, and it is a completely
self-sustaining off-grid house that was designed by an American eco-architect called
Michael Reynolds in the 1970s. He was inspired by the increasing problem of rubbish,
the energy crisis and the lack of affordable housing and wanted to create environmentally
friendly structures that only use renewable resources. He started by creating building
materials from recycled materials such as tin cans and tyres and his designs and vision
developed into the Earthship. There are currently around 3,000 Earthships, mostly built in
America. The houses are not only built using all recycled materials but are also designed
to heat and cool themselves using solar power and wind power. They collect water from
the rain and use a purifying system, so the water is drinkable, and any wastewater leftover
is used to water the plants.

Lecturer: It is clear that people are looking for an alternative option to the more traditional,
unsustainable houses that are used today. Environmental and social issues are prompting
them to search for something different. So, perhaps in the future, we will be seeing more
shipping containers, prefab houses and Earthships popping up in our neighbourhoods.

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This stage is to set the context for the lesson. It introduces the topic of housing alternatives and allows the
students to personalise the topic and check their existing knowledge on the subject.

2. Vocabulary

10 mins.
This stage is for students to identify some keywords which they will hear in the recording. They read the word
and choose the correct definition from the two options. During feedback check the meaning of each word and
practise the pronunciation.

1. a. 2. b. 3. b. 4. a.
5. b. 6. b. 7. a. 8. a.

3. Listening for gist

Part A
5 mins.
This stage is for students to look at the three sustainable housing options that will be discussed in the lecture.
Students, in pairs, answer the two questions. At this stage, don’t tell the students the names of the housing.
Part B
10 mins.
This stage is for students to listen and get a general idea of the topic discussed in the lecture. They listen and put
the photos in the order they hear them.
Exam format: During the exam, the students will listen to four different recordings. This listening focuses on
Recording 4, which is a monologue on an academic subject.

1. C - Prefabricated houses 2. B – Shipping containers

3. A - Earthship
Audio sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Earthship
https://www.earthshipglobal.com/projects
https://containerone.net/blogs/news/the-history-of-shipping-container-homes
https://elemental.green/what-are-the-different-types-of-sustainable-homes/

4. Listening for specific information

10 mins.
This stage is for students to listen for specific information in the lecture. Give them time to read the questions
and glossary first. This task type focuses on short answers so remind students that they must use no more than
three words in their answers.

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1. prefabricated houses, shipping containers, Earthships

2. resources, energy
3. Australia, the United Kingdom, The United States
4. labour, materials

5. Listening for detail: matching

10 mins.
This stage is for students to listen to the lecture in detail. This task type focuses on matching. Give the students
a minute to read the statements first. During feedback, ask the students how they were able to identify each
answer.

1. A. "Prefabrication building methods have a long history and go as far back as the Mesopotamian civilization
and Roman times."
2. C. "It is a completely self-sustaining off-grid house."
3. C. "The houses are not only built using all recycled materials."
4. B. "In 1985, on the set of a movie called Space Rage, shipping containers were used to create several buildings."
5. B. "As they are made from steel, they are extremely durable."
6. A. "Romans used prefabricated components to build forts quickly in new lands.", "(Churchill) wanted a speedy,
efficient solution to the housing crisis that was unfolding due to the second world war."

6. Discussion

5 mins.
This stage is for students to respond to the text. In pairs, they discuss the questions.

7. Optional extension: signposting

Part A
5 mins. This stage is for students to understand what signposting is and how it is used in the exam. They read the
short text and complete the gaps with appropriate words.

1. phrases
2. guide
3. coherent
4. predict
5. academic
Part B
5 mins.
This stage is for the students to identify phrases used for signposting. They listen or read the transcript again and
identify the correct phrases. Give the students time to read 1-5 first.

1. Today, I’ll be discussing ...

2. I will describe ...
3. Let’s start by talking about ...
4. Let’s move on to ... / The final house I am going to talk about ...
5. It’s clear that ...
Part C
5 mins.

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This stage is for students to identify and categorise a set of words and phrases used for signposting. This will build
up their lexical resources and help them navigate recordings in the exam. In pairs, students complete the task.

Introducing the topic of the lecture: (C) Today’s lecture is about ..., (G) So today, we’ll look into ..., (O) Today I’m
going to talk about ..., (R) The purpose of today’s lecture is ...
Explaining the lecture structure: (B) I’m going to divide this talk into two parts., (J) In today’s lecture, I’m going to
cover three points., (M) First, we’ll look at ... Then we’ll go onto ... And finally ...
Introducing the first section: (D) Let’s start by talking about ..., (H) To begin ..., (K) I’ll start with ..., (L) Firstly ...,
Starting a new point: (A) The next/second ..., (F) Now, let’s turn to ..., (N) The next area I’d like to focus on ..., (P)
And now I’d like to talk about ...
Concluding: (E) In summary ..., (I) To sum up ..., (Q) In conclusion ...

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