Rick Diamond and Mithra Moezzi
Berkeley National Laboratory
Published in the Proceedings of the
2000 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings.
Asilomar, CA. August.(also LBNL-45917)

In this essay we take a closer look at the ways energy professionals and the public alike, talk, write, and think about how energy affects the way in which we design, operate, retrofit and inhabit buildings. What are some of the myths about people, energy and buildings that are current today? Who tells these myths and why do we believe them? How do myths affect our behavior? Myths are a way of understanding the world we live in. They may represent incomplete understanding, or be based on premises that are scientifically not valid, but they help us understand and explain how the world works, and we shape our behavior accordingly.

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