Introduction

It is recognised that energy efficiency requires integrated design of buildings to minimise the demand for energy in order to obtain the desired environmental performance and to minimise dependence on electro-mechanical systems - for illumination, ventilation or cooling/heating. Integrated design requires a combination of three levels of building design:

• The first requires the configuration of the building plan to control exposure to the external conditions according to the climate.
• The second level requires an informed selection of materials for the building envelop – walls and roof, and the design of windows. These are the passive energy efficiency measures.
• The third level requires the selection and integration of energy efficient cooling and heating equipment to obtain the desired levels of comfort when passive measures do not suffice.