Abstract
CULTURAL-E project is developing the European Climate and Cultural Atlas for Plus Energy Building Design (2CAP-Energy Atlas) to share the knowledge and results developed in the project with designers, policy makers and researchers.
A significant CULTURAL-E project element focuses on the identification of specific climate and cultural features which affect building energy consumption: "the multifaceted building context". This entails an innovative approach that looks at cultural and climate context to define appropriate solutions.
The 2CAP-Energy ATlas is a comprehensive tool that allows users to focus the development efforts on appropriate technologies throughout the context analysis based upon local climate factors and all the important cultural factors associated with building occupants. After all, buildings don’t use energy, people do. The existing energy efficiency ‘gap’ – which describes the difference between what is optimally possible in terms of energy efficiency and the actual energy performance – is complex and multidimensional.
In addressing and accounting for culture and climate, the 2CAP-Energy Atlas will have relevance far beyond the project and will have an impact on future building design. To do so, the integrated results of Cultural-E are made freely available through this dedicated online tool that can be constantly updated by the building science community.