It is the aim of this article to explain the testing procedures developed at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) and to evaluate the potential natural ventilation and daylighting applications that have arisen from this research. The objectives for research into this field were to reduce energy costs and increase the sustainability of building stock. From the results of these experiments actual and potential designs are illustrated and discussed in this article.

Under deregulation, performance incentives to get utilities interested in investing in energy efficiency programs need to change. What works now and why?

Evolution in qualitative demand for future residential and commercial buildings is expressed through very various and, sometimes, non-compatible, tendencies.

However, all these demands have to be satisfied in a common environment of, one more time, different constraints.

The synthesis of both demands and constraints is very specific to national contexts. For example, the concept of "sustainable building" is different from a country to another, depending on the availability of resources (space, water, energy, ... ).