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The purpose of this paper is to quantify the potential levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) and cost savings from a set of households’ energy saving measures, considered as “everyday choices”.

Four areas of living were selected for the study: household electricity, space heating, transport and food consumption. The study used a quantitative research approach in which the impact of selected scenarios of an average Finnish household was assessed.

Findings suggest that GHG savings from behavioural change regarding household electricity remain marginal in comparison to savings gained from transportation related measures. Transportation also provides the most cost-efficient ways to decrease GHGs but not in all cases. Based on the results, the authors suggest that smart technologies, such as on-line, active feedback systems could have a major role in guiding household energy use. Also, given the high GHG savings from transport, the authors highlight the importance of providing infrastructure and services for clean mobility, and in designing well-functioning and compact cities enabling shorter travels.

The aim of our study was twofold – by analysing the case household’s choices, we obtained information on environmental and economic impacts, but in addition to this, the aim was to open discussion on the role of households in tackling climate change and how to support households in making sustainable choices. Although research regarding household energy behaviour is vast, so far very few studies have focused on both economic and environmental impacts of households’ everyday actions.

VTT DIGITALO is an office building built for use by the VTT Technical research centre of Finland. The building project aimed at producing an office building and a modern workspace that supports an interactive way of working, emphasises the image of the user as a provider of high‐end technology solutions, and is in accordance with the principles of sustainable construction. The paper sets out to assess the project from the viewpoints of user‐requirements management and sustainable construction.

The study includes the following aspects: life‐cycle impacts, building performance and user satisfaction. The paper introduces the project targets, summarises the results, discusses the lessons learned, and makes recommendations for further research.

DIGITALO succeeded in achieving the targets stated for energy‐efficiency, adaptability, indoor conditions and service life, but there are problems with reference to pursued interactive and innovative workspaces. The results of the study emphasise the importance to develop requirement management methods that support the identification and understanding of user needs. The users' own understanding about the nature of work rather than directly expressed needs for workspaces should be considered as the starting‐point.

The DIGITALO project was considered as a milestone in a long‐term process that aims at the development of high‐quality facility and space services that are in accordance with the user needs, and based on understanding the strategic goals of the user. The DIGITALO case did not manage to achieve all the stated requirements, and the paper discusses the problematics of requirement management especially from the viewpoint of methods and tools needed.