Domestic energy use, lifestyles and poe: Past lessons for current problems

Many research and demonstration projects in the 1970s showed it was not difficult to make houses with a much lower energy use than conventional ones. Some of these projects also included autonomous systems, such as collecting and using rainwater and growing food on site. These projects not only recognized clear limits, but also translated into consumption restraints for occupants which positively affected their behaviour. However, these ideas failed to become mainstream. This resulted in houses in many developed countries becoming more energy efficient, but, paradoxically, the demands for increased floor area and amenity suggested that what users actually want is more rather than fewer resources. Building regulations to save energy have been outweighed, in terms of resources consumed, by other consumer-led moves. Seminal ideas and projects from the 1970s for the design of low-energy, autonomous houses are re-evaluated showing where resource reductions through synergy of lifestyle activities can be made. Post-occupancy evaluation (POE) could have a significant role in the lowering of environmental impacts, but the framing of domestic POE must embrace a rating of the occupants' behaviour. A key challenge is to provide indicators not only on technical performance and usability, but also on user behaviours.