Energy and Construction Policies in the Past Fifty Years

The problem of managing resources has been tackled in the last decades probably more than ever. Spanning over half a century, energy management policies were influenced by the technological development (with an emphasis on computer aided modeling) and had a major impact on more or less the whole society. The political preoccupations on energy broadened in time and included targets and measures regarding the relation between the natural and the anthropic environment. Accordingly, the philosophies concerning the building sector suffered dramatic changes as well (in conjunction with all the fields of human activity), leading to several new theories, experiments, and movements, with more or less success. However, it is important to emphasize that the reason for buildings to be constructed in the first place is the well-being of the occupants—human or not: the role of the building is not just to provide shelter but to represent a safe, appropriate, and beautiful environment. And this is not a new idea: the first architect who put it in writing was a Roman: Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. According to him—and always after him—buildings should respond to these three requirements (and in this order): strength—utility—beauty or firmitas—utilitas—venustas, in Latin. While analyzing each decade, beginning with the 1970s, the chapter broadens the perspective with collateral information regarding the main principles of design of each period and the biunivocal relation between the energy management measures and the building sector.