For many years, we have been used to many energy campaigns (switch it off, conserve it, etc.) and, as a result, both legislation and the balance sheet have encouraged the design of energy efficient buildings. Indeed, this has developed much ingenuity in design concepts, a use of a wider range of materials with particular reference to their thermal efficiency, and (perhaps more important) a better and more fundamental understanding of the factors which may improve energy efficient design, i.e. the passive use of solar energy, etc.
Ron Marsh