ABSTRACT
In the early 1970s, one-third of the energy consumed in the United States was used to heat and cool buildings and to provide illumination, water heating, and other building services. Temporary closing of schools, shutdowns of industry and government facilities during spells of severe weather, and electrical brownouts created demands in several states for regulations that would provide for equitable distribution of supplies during periods of shortage. Responding to these demands in the spring of 1973, the National Conference of States on Building Codes and Standards requested the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) to develop design and evaluation guidelines for energy conservation in buildings that states could use pending development of a national consensus standard. The chapter describes the NBS’s Design and Evaluation Criteria for Energy Conservation in New Buildings, relating the context in which the publication appeared, its impact on science, technology, and the general public, and brief details about the lives and work of the author.
