Solar versus green : The analysis of a Norwegian row House

There are, presently, two schools of thought when it comes to designing buildings that promote sustainable development. One school emphasizes materials use and «green» buildings, while the other one emphasizes energy use and low energy/solar buildings. The promoters of «green» buildings often claim that the reduced energy use during operation of the solar and low energy buildings is counteracted by the increased embodied energy in these buildings. The paper describes the results of a study of embodied energy and energy use in operation in a wooden row house. The house, designed and built as a solar house with very low energy consumption during operation, is located i Hamar, in southern Norway. In the study, the built version is compared with four other versions: two versions where the house is designed according to the requirements of the new Norwegian Building Code, one version where the house is designed according to present constuction and insulation standards in Norway, and one version where the house is designed according to principles used by the architects presently designing «green» buildings in Norway. The results of the study, whih are compared with some results from abroad, show that the solar building has a lower overall energy use, when both embodied energy and energy use during operation is taken into account. Also, it shows that there is less difference between the approaches of the two schools of thought than is sometimes believed. The best buildings are generally those that are both solar, low energy, and «green».