Over the past two decades, research has clearly amassed a considerable amount of information, knowledge and experience related to the environmental performance of buildings. Within this context, a key notion considered of significance in environmental research is the "aggregation of knowledge."  The workshop considered several aspects and benefits of "aggregation" including:

• Drawing together what we already know and creating a more effective capability the capability for its dissemination. This will reduce duplication of research effort and enable practice to readily access to the best information.
  
  
• Drawing together information from a broader range of disciplines rather than simply those related to technical performance of buildings. A great deal of environmental research is currently technically framed with little reference to social/behavioral issues. Research is needed to understand the relationship between technological and cultural advance. At the building level, this translates into the way that building occupants understand and relate to emerging green technologies and strategies. Gaining a much better understanding of what works and what doesn't, and why through Post Occupant Evaluations will significantly enhance future building design and performance.
  
  
• Understanding the consequences of transferring knowledge and experience from one cultural context to another. The development of cultural "filters" that evaluates the benefits, consequences, or knowledge and experience generated in a given situation when applied in a qualitatively different one, would significantly assist in the developments of place/regional-specific building design.
  
  
• Understanding what strategies are appropriate at different scales. Currently, the focus of building environmental performance resides at the level of the individual building and creates approaches that emphasize "autonomous" buildings—onsite energy generation, water harvesting, waste water treatment, etc. The relationship between building and community scale strategies is currently poorly understood.

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