Designing homes for the 21st century: lessons for low energy design

There are many challenges in designing homes fit for the 21st century.

We need homes that achieve zero carbon performance, whilst providing a healthy indoor environment. We also need homes that are resilient to climate change and are not susceptible to overheating for extended periods during the year.

To meet these challenges, this guide argues for an integrated design approach fully informed by the needs of home occupants, and proposes a model for planning new homes in four stages: evaluation, best practice, integration and optimisation. Overall the author advocates a ‘fabric first’ approach, making sure that insulation, air-tightness and ventilation are designed to give the best practical performance before low carbon technologies are applied.