Single-Family Houses That Meet The Future Energy Demands

In 1990 the Danish Government decided to make an effort to reduce the heat demand of new buildings by 50% before the year 2000. In 1995 a new Building Code (Boligministeriet 1995) was introduced, which resulted in a 25% reduction compared to the previous Building Code (Boligministeriet 1988). Before any further tightening of the regulations are introduced, however, it is necessary to illustrate the consequences of such actions with regard to finance, building technology, indoor climate and comfort. Therefore a series of investigations and experimental projects are being launched, in order to examine these consequences thoroughly. The department is presently contributing to this end by participating in quite a few investigative projects, where single-family houses are designed to meet the proposed future energy demands. This paper describes the results obtained from one such project where the department, in co-operation with a major building entrepreneur, has developed a single-family house that shows that there are no evident problems in meeting the future energy demands.