Globally, buildings are responsible for approximately 40% of the total world annual energy consumption. Most of this energy is for the provision of lighting, heating, cooling, and air conditioning. Increasing awareness of the environmental impact of CO2, NOx and CFCs emissions triggered a...

Reducing energy demand and increasing energy efficiency are seen as major elements of the ongoing transformation of energy systems in multiple national and international programs like the EU 20-20-20 targets. Despite the predominately socio-economic nature of energy demand such interdisciplinary...

Despite a common EU directive on energy efficiency in residential buildings, levels of energy efficiency differ vastly across European countries. This article analyses these differences and investigates the effectiveness of different energy efficiency policies in place in those countries. We...