Energy efficiency is today a crucial topic in the built environment - for both designers and managers of buildings. This increased interest is driven by a combination of new regulations and directives within the EU and worldwide to combat global warming.

All buildings now must now acquire and display an EPC (energy performance certificate), a rating similar to the A-G rating given to white goods. But in order to understand how to be more efficient in energy use, you need first to understand the mechanisms of both energy requirements and how energy is used in buildings.

Energy...