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a b s t r a c tPromoting energy efficiency improvements of residential buildings is considered to play an important role in achieving the Kyoto targets. That is because it allows us to reduce energy consumption without curtailing social welfare. It is worth noting that there is an increasing amount of literature on this topic that has been published in recent years. This paper therefore provides an updated review of the literature on improving the energy performance of residential buildings. The set of materials obtained has been examined according to the following topics: area of application and design variables, objectives and performance measures, type of analysis, solution methodology, software tools, case study location and type of building. Apart from trends related to the different topics, opportunities for future research are also presented.

Every decision-oriented life cycle assessment (LCAs) entails, at least to some extent, a future-oriented feature. However, apart from the ex-ante LCAs, the majority of LCA studies are retrospective in nature and do not explicitly account for possible future effects. In this review a generic theoretical framework is proposed as a guideline for ex-ante LCA. This framework includes the entire technology life cycle, from the early design phase up to continuous improvements of mature technologies, including their market penetration. The compatibility with commonly applied system models yields an additional aspect of the framework. Practical methods and procedures are categorised, based on how they incorporate future-oriented features in LCA. The results indicate that most of the ex-ante LCAs focus on emerging technologies that have already gone through some research cycles within narrowly defined system boundaries. There is a lack of attention given to technologies that are at a very early development stage, when all options are still open and can be explored at a low cost. It is also acknowledged that technological learning impacts the financial and environmental performance of mature production systems. Once technologies are entering the market, shifts in market composition can lead to substantial changes in environmental performance.