Effects of the Dutch energy performance regulations on energy savings in dwellings

In the Netherlands the energy consumption of new buildings is subject to performance based legislation, based on the Energy Performance Coefficient (EPC). The norm has been compulsory for almost 15 years, but only three surveys, one of them by the authors, were conducted to assess its effectiveness to reduce the actual energy use. The research...

A sustainable built environment: A new text book based on ecosystem theory

With half of the world population living in urban areas and with the building sector as the largest industrial sector in the US and Europe, the built environment makes a significant contribution to sustainability problems, in terms of energy use, material extraction, waste production and land conversion. In a search for a common theoretical...