In times gone by, homes both grand and modest were of necessity built on the assumption of limited heating or power supplies. Until relatively recently, most households were distinctively “off grid”.

在过去，房屋无论是气派还是朴素，都是基于供暖或供电有限的假设而建造的。直到相当晚近的时候，大多数家庭还是地地道道的“离网”建筑。

For architects today, and particularly in urban settings, power supplies are one of the factors that signify modern living.

对现在的建筑师（尤其是城市建筑师）而言，供电是关系到现代生活的一大因素。

But are we moving back to an era where household heating or cooling uses little or no energy, yet offers the best in modern standards of comfort?

但我们是否正在回到过去的那个时代——家庭供暖或制冷耗能极低或者根本不耗能，而舒适程度以现代标准衡量也属上乘？

Gavin Killip, senior researcher at Oxford university’s Environmental Change Institute (ECI), argues that there are few technological barriers to achieving sharp reductions in the energy consumption of households and non-residential buildings in the coming decades. “A lot of technologies are available out there. It’s not a technological problem but a societal one.”

牛津大学(Oxford University)环境变化研究所(ECI)高级研究员加文·基利普(Gavin Killip)认为，要想在未来几十年显著削减家庭和非住宅建筑能耗，并不用克服多少技术壁垒。“有很多技术可供使用。这不是个技术问题，而是个社会问题。”

He estimates that energy used and lost through buildings accounts for about half of the UK’s overall carbon dioxide emissions. More than half is accounted for by domestic use, suggesting that household consumption accounts for 25-30 per cent of the UK’s carbon dioxide emissions.

他估计，建筑使用、耗散的能源占英国二氧化碳总排放量的一半左右。这其中，超过一半能源为家用。这表明家庭耗能占据英国二氧化碳排放量的25%至30%。

Within a typical home, 60 per cent of energy is used for heating, 20 per cent for hot water, and the remaining 20 per cent for lights and appliances.

在一个普通家庭中，60%的能源用于供暖，20%用于热水，其余20%用于照明和电器。

While much in the short term can be done to encourage improved energy efficiency in the home and public buildings – through replacing old boilers, for example – Dr Killip argues that policy should encourage improved designs of new houses and refitting of old houses to drive down energy demand to a fraction of what is consumed at present.

尽管短期内可以采取多种措施鼓励住宅和公用建筑提高能效——如更换旧锅炉，但基利普博士认为，政策应当鼓励改善新房屋的设计，整修旧房屋，以将能源需求降低到现水平的一小部分。

“The Victorians and Edwardians were fresh air fanatics,” he says. Much of the UK’s and northern Europe’s housing was designed with the need for plentiful circulation of air demanded by the burning of fossil fuels.

他说：“维多利亚女王和爱德华七世时代的英国人热爱新鲜空气。”由于要燃烧化石燃料，英国和欧洲北部的住宅设计大多需保持充足的空气流通。

Beyond improved insulation, the main imperative for achieving substantial reductions in energy demand for heating now is “make it tight, ventilate right”, says Dr Killip.

基利普博士表示，除了提高隔热性能之外，大幅减少供暖能耗需求的主要方法是“结构紧凑，合理通风”。

At its most basic – but perhaps also most elegant – the notion of using design to control temperatures was exemplified by the Italian classical architect Palladio, whose villas were designed to moderate interior temperatures across the extremes of winter and summer.

意大利古典建筑师帕拉弟奥(Palladio)以最基本（而或许也是最优雅）的方式诠释了利用建筑设计控制室温的理念。无论盛夏酷暑还是冬日严寒，他设计的建筑均能控制内温。

The Passivhaus – or Passive House – movement that began in the 1980s, has led to a wave of new houses designed to achieve a 90 per cent drop or more in usual energy use compared with the typical central European home.

被动式节能屋(Passivhaus)运动始于20世纪80年代。运动中诞生了一大批新建筑，比起中欧的普通住宅，它们在传统能源方面的消耗要低90%乃至更多。

High specification insulation, heat exchange systems controlling air flow and even recouping energy from warm water, along with other efficiency measures, are combining to drive down energy consumption in workplaces and homes.

高规格的隔热性能，可控制气流、甚至能从温水中回收能量的热交换系统，再与其他节能措施结合，可降低工作场所和住宅的能耗。

In a Passivhaus, human bodies and the odd electrical appliance provide enough heat for comfort. Though more common in Germany and Scandinavia, the Passivhaus template has been used in a growing number of construction projects in North America and the UK.

在被动式节能屋中，人体和区区几样电器产生的热量便足以让居住者感到舒适。被动式节能屋在德国和斯堪的纳维亚半岛诸国更为常见，但其样板也在北美和英国越来越多的建筑工程中得到使用。

But what of the remaining housing stock? Dr Killip argues that the biggest contribution to energy demand management in the home can be made through refitting of old housing stock.

但现有的住宅怎么办？基利普博士认为，整修旧房屋能对住宅能耗需求控制产生最大影响。

Not all housing is suitable for the highest specification of energy-saving measures, such as the ducting of air to prevent the unnecessary loss of ambient heat.

并非所有房屋都适合采用最高规格的节能措施，例如用管道输送空气以避免不必要的环境热能散失。

Even so, he argues that a suite of refitting measures for most buildings, even if not capable of meeting the Passivhaus targets, could still achieve 60-65 per cent falls in typical energy use.

即便如此，他仍指出，一套适用于绝大多数房屋的改装措施，即便不能达到被动式节能屋的标准，也能使房屋的常规能耗降低60%至65%。

Even if the house of the future may include such items as solar panels, air ducting, biomass burners or CHP (combined heat and power) units instead of boilers, “it doesn’t have to look that different”, he argues.

他指出，即使未来的房屋可能采用太阳能面板、空气输送管道、生物质燃烧机、热电联产(combined heat and power)等配件取代锅炉，“在外观上也并不一定需要发生很大变化”。

However, research conducted by the ECI examining the potential and constraints of refitting in France and the UK suggests low uptake of the most modern energy-saving measures available.

但牛津大学环境变化研究所对在法国和英国进行房屋改装的潜力以及限制所做的研究显示，目前可用的绝大多数现代节能措施的应用率很低。

“In both countries, the current market for low carbon refurbishment is extremely small, and it needs to grow significantly and at a considerable rate if the housing sector is to make its contribution to national and international carbon reduction targets”, the research concluded.

这项研究的结论是：“在这两个国家，低碳型房屋整修目前的市场规模都极为有限，如果房地产业要想对一国以及全球范围内的碳减排目标有所贡献的话，这一市场的规模需要显著扩张，并且快速增长。”

The Institute’s Katy Janda, who is also involved in the project says: “I see deep renovation as very much of a ‘chicken and egg’ question.

环境变化研究所的凯蒂·让达(Katy Janda)表示：“在我看来，深度整修在很大程度上是一个‘先有鸡还是先有蛋’的问题。”让达也参与了项目研究。

“It is about both supply of expertise as well as the demand for it. This is certainly true with new housing ... The skill involved in building a passive house is not the same thing as building a ‘normal’ house.”

她表示：“深度整修与相关专业技能的供给与需求都有关系。对于新建房屋来说当然也是如此……建造一所被动式节能屋所需用到的技能与建造一所普通房屋的技术要求不是一回事。”

Another factor that prevents refitting along Passivhaus lines is the passivity of consumers themselves.

另一个妨碍按照被动式节能屋模式进行整修的因素在于消费者自身缺乏积极性。

A study recently conducted by academics at the University of East Anglia (UEA), funded by the British Energy Research Council, suggested that energy efficiency was rarely the main motivating factor for people’s decisions to renovate their homes.

东英吉利亚大学(University of East Anglia)近期在英国能源研究委员会(British Energy Research Council)的资助下完成了一项研究。研究结果显示，提高能源利用效率很少会成为促使人们决定翻修房屋的主要原因。

Instead, the biggest motive was to improve the comforts of domestic life by extending or adapting space. Other triggers might include specific events such as the need to replace a boiler or window.

正相反，通过扩大或者改变空间布局提升居家生活的舒适度才是房屋翻修的最主要动机。其他驱动因素包括某些特定事件，例如需要更换锅炉或者窗户。

According to George Chryssochoidis, leader of the university team: “The fundamental insight from this research is that home renovations have to be understood through the lens of normal, routine domestic life.

东英吉利亚大学研究团队的领头人乔治·克里索柯蒂斯(George Chryssochoidis)表示：“这项研究得出的根本观点是，必须通过普通常规居家生活的视角来理解房屋翻修。”

“Decisions to renovate are rooted in a need to improve the quality of life at home, rather than any burning desire to be energy efficient,” Mr Chryssochoidis adds.

克里索柯蒂斯补充称：“翻修房屋的决定根植于改善居家生活质量，而非提高能源利用效率的强烈愿望。”

Rising energy costs though, argues Dr Killip, alongside enlightened public subsidies for refitting, could accelerate the emergence of the low-carbon house – and the human body as a key supplier of ambient warmth.

但基利普博士指出，能源成本上升以及政府在对房屋翻修的补贴方面趋于开明化，或许能加快低碳型房屋的涌现速度——而人体本身也可作为环境热量的一个关键来源。