Strategies for Sustainable Comfort in Buildings

It is possible within some decades to achieve environmental sustainability in the building sector and at the same time provide a comfortable and healthy life for all Europeans as well as leaving that option open for other people in the world.Buildings are charcterized by having the longest lifetime of all capital in our societies, often more than a hundred years.

For that reason they should never be designed on the bases of just present cheap energy supply and energy system, but with the long term outlook and risks in mind. New buildings can be designed to require essentially no space heating, or at least achieve a reduction of 90%. These option are slightly lower for the excising building, typically a 70% reduction.

Electricity use for lighting, ventilation and appliances can typically in WesternEurope be reduced by 80% and still provide the services needed. The strategies for achieving these goals include phasing out all use of electricity for space heating and for hot water supply. Furthermore building codes should require new buildings to be very well insulated, 30-40 cm mineral wool, for instance, and low energy windows.

Similar codes, although not always as strict, should be applied to renovation of excisting buildings, supplemented with subsidies. Finally care should be taken to not oversize the building stock, which could outweigh the gains from insulation, etc.