Theoretical Framework for Best Practice Integrated Planning Model

The new EU policy for climate protection and promotion of renewable energies introduces under other strategies the concept of buildings as power plants. This concept is based on so called Energy-Plus-House, the next generation of Passive House – a building that would produce more energy than it consumes. Even though the institutional policies do promote the new, innovative forms of buildings and technologies, the innovation of planning and construction processes which are necessary for achievement of such complex planning aims as sustainability is hardly considered. Integrated planning has often been recommended by both literature and practice as solution for planning of energy efficient buildings as complex systems however the research of integrated planning itself has not been qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated or discussed yet within institutional, societal or practical framework. Exactly this objective is one of the main aims of the research project Co_Be: Cost Benefits of Integrated Planning, the theoretical framework of which will be introduced in this paper. Based on practical research through case study methodology of energy efficient buildings, a best practice integrated planning model will be proposed, upon which the implementation strategies for planners, investors and policy-makers will be developed.