ABSTRACT
Owners, designers, regulators and occupants all variously assess proposed and completed buildings with regard to comfort, functionality, cost and aesthetics. In addition to these fundamental parameters, buildings are evaluated based on their environmental performance in areas such as energy consumption, air quality, daylighting and recycled materials. The evaluation of the environmental and energy performance of buildings is a necessary component of the overall design process; in the European Union the requirement to label buildings according to their energy performance has given particular impetus to building energy evaluation in recent years.
