European Energy Policy and Building Research

After the oil crisis in the seventies, Europe started to rethink the energy situation. Buildings were recognised as a sector where energy consumption could be reduced by improving insulation. The application of passive solar technology was also an option for building designers. An international effort was supported by DG XII (now DG Research) to develop policy, technologies and tools in the building sector. One of the RTD activities launched in 1985 was the PASSYS project. All Member States, at that time nine, joined the consortium, which aimed to create an environment for outdoor testing of building components and furthermore to develop analysis techniques for performance assessment under real climatic conditions. An additional objective was to develop reliable software tools for building simulation purposes. The interaction with architects and building designers lead to the development of simplified design tools. At the same time the European Commission was preparing a Directive for Construction Products that was finally adopted in 1989. A general characteristic of the period until 1995 was the development of a common infrastructure in terms of computer technology, software and hardware.

BLOEM Johannes; 

2006-12-12

European Commission; DG Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability

JRC32169

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC32169,