Is it enough just going passive?

What is an energy sufficient building? How far from this are the buildings we currently live and work in? How can we encourage more sufficient buildings that enable us to live better? Our report explores these questions and offers suggestions for the way forward.

There are many ways to move towards greater energy sufficiency in our buildings.  We can choose to use less space.  We can also choose to use our space more effectively, constructing more flexible buildings that can be used differently as our needs change.  This Concept Paper examines the types of building we need to build, and also the way we build them, the equipment we use to heat them and our behaviour as we use them.

It examines trends in the size of buildings across Europe, and compares and contrasts different countries to explore the potential for more energy sufficient building sizes.  It also highlights examples of innovative building design that allow spaces to be used more flexibly and potentially in a more energy sufficient way.  

If we are to move to more energy sufficient buildings, policy makers need to enable and encourage us to make the right choices.  The paper finishes with an analysis of energy sufficiency policies in this sector; policies that enable choices that people are already keen to make, and those that encourage greater change.

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See concept paper on sufficiency in buildings.