2000 W society: a sustainable energy vision for the future

A group of Swiss researchers has developed a vision of a sustainable future where both energy demand and carbon dioxide emissions are substantially reduced without compromising standards of living. The upcoming challenges of climate change, scarcity of resources and growing disparities between industrialised countries and developing countries in energy need and carbon dioxide emissions require changes from the building and engineering sector. 2000 W compatible construction is planned in Switzerland based on the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects' (SIA) efficiency path for energy. Apart from the operations energy, this standard also includes both the embodied energy accounting with the construction materials and mobility related to the use of the building to calculate a building's energy footprint. To implement the 2000 W vision in the design and construction of new buildings, a holistic approach to lower energy consumption is essential. Such an holistic approach includes both the appliance of the best available technologies and the substitution of the current carbon dioxide-intensive energy supply by a considerable proportion of renewable power.