The building sector constitutes approximately the 40% of the total energy consumption in EU. TheDirective 2002/91/EC provides a precise legislative framework for improving the energy performanceof the built environment. [1]It was adopted on December 2002 and entered into force in January 2003. According to the article 15of this Directive all member states have a time period of three years (till January 2006) to implementthe Directive in their own countries.

This paper describes an educational tool developed at LASH ENTPE (France) laboratory. Theobjective of this tool, called SIMUBEMS, is to familiarize ENTPE students with control techniques andallows performing simulations in order to test heating and ventilation control strategies.An office building equipped with an HVAC system has been used to carry out the simulations. Themodelled zone is 9 m long, 6 m large and 2.5 m height and has large glazed faade.

Denmark has long experience with mandatory labelling of existing buildings. In the implementation ofthe new labelling scheme in relation to the Energy in Building Performance Directive special focus hasbeen on optimizing the actually realised energy savings.

It is often claimed that energy is consumed; this is not only done in everyday conversation but also inscientific discussions associated with energy and environmental issues. This claim conflicts with thefirst law of thermodynamics stating that the total amount of energy is conserved, even though forms ofenergy may change from one to another.

This paper outlines the applicability of the “exergy” concept to describe the built environment for a better futuristic view of heating and cooling systems to be developed. We briefly review the fundamental laws of thermodynamics aiming at the derivation

This paper summarises the work of the LowEx co-operation /1/. The aim was to promote rational use ofenergy by encouraging the use of low temperature heating systems and high temperature cooling systems ofbuildings. These systems can use a variety of fuels and renewable energy sources. Energy is used efficientlywhile providing a comfortable indoor climate. Exergy defines the quality of energy and is a concept fordesigning and assessing different heating and cooling systems. Application of exergy analysis into buildingshas not been common before.

It is often claimed that energy is consumed, not only in everyday conversation but also in scientificdiscussions associated with energy and environmental issues. This claim conflicts with the first law ofthermodynamics stating that the total amount of energy is conserved, even though forms of energymay change from one to another.

Lighting is a substantial energy consumer, and a major component of the service costs in manybuildings. Lighting renovation was done on the Department of Electrical and CommunicationsEngineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. The lighting in the renovated auditorium wasalmost 40 years old. New lamps with electronic ballast are more energy efficient and the ballast lossesare smaller. Also the optical properties of the new luminiares have been greatly improved. This papershow the results obtained in one auditorium.

High energy savings can be expected from building energy and climate concepts which combinethe heat pump technology with a low temperature energy distributions such as concrete corewater pipe circuits within building zones. The paper describes two case studies of a heat pumpplant for heating and cooling of nonresidential buildings. For concept comparison purposes aglobal objective function will be developed in the frame of IEA-ECBCS Annex 48 and has beenpartially tested by using project constrains, thermal comfort expectations and lifecycle costs of thefoccused case studies.

The IEA, section ECBCS (Energy Conservation in Buildings and Community systems), has launched the project Annex 45 ‘Energy Efficient Electric Lighting for Buildings’, of which subtask B deals with innovative technical solutions. Part of the work is to def