The promise and pitfalls of new green building policies: Can district energy thrive?

摘要

Building codes, like district energy, have existed since antiquity. The earliest codes emerged to protect health and safety. More recently they have evolved to regulate energy use, and now carbon emissions from buildings. Energy considerations emerged after World War I in the form of minimum insulation levels in some northern regions. The initial focus was occupant comfort, but their scope expanded in response to the 1970s oil crisis. By the 1990s, most member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development had introduced and increased provisions for energy efficiency in building codes.