PNNL

Abstract

People spend most of their time inside buildings, and buildings are responsible for approximately one third of worldwide carbon emissions. Likewise, buildings in the U.S. account for about 40% of total U.S. energy consumption. The development of future buildings has a significant effect on global environment, energy consumption, and occupant health, productivity, and wellbeing. As a necessary step in the development of a comprehensive vision of typical U.S. buildings roughly a century from now, here we provide a review of past and present building paradigms, building environmental rating systems, and the key technologies that are likely to influence future buildings. We anticipate that climate change, population growth, and resource scarcity will all be important, and that economic, social, health, and productivity factors, equipment and information technologies, and utility infrastructure will influence the design and function of buildings of the future.