Many studies have quantified the potential savings by energy leaks, heat loss, etc..
But conclusive in all respects, arrived at a high cost to avoid these losses. Costs of complex electronic components, cutting and automation sensors.
In short, it is more expensive to keep wasting save energy and heat leaks.
http://www.idae.es/index.php/mod.documentos/mem.descarga?file=/documentos_Informe_SPAHOUSEC_ACC_f68291a3.pdf
The question is that can we concentrate on a part of the house not the whole building?
The part of house that takes up most energy out of total consumption of the house will be usually where there are less open areas.
If we take a bed room and if it has no vacant or open spaces where heat can circulate, it will take up most energy to keep the heat as things in that room absorb most of the heat and the sensors never feel the heat.
That goes for any space in the house. So the more vacant spaces in the rooms, the better conservation of energy or heat. That's my take!! Don't quote me on it.
The distribution of energy through a house - are you asking about the active journey of energy through the house from source to sink, or the map of where energy is to be found about the space? The first answer from Sridutt Tummalapalli assumes the latter, I think. But I cannot see that it has much influence on long term energy consumption. What is stored in internal building fabric or furnishing stays in storage unless there is a change in the temperature of the environment about it, but then what leaves will return when the temperature swings back. That is to say, you do not 'lose' energy to parts of the interior of a building. The former does influence consumption, of course, but then you are asking which parts of the building envelope (not the interior) allow most energy to escape to the exterior (assuming a heating mode). There has been plenty of work done on where the weakest parts of the envelope are. It depends on how much attention has been paid to reducing loss. In an old-fashioned temperate climate house, it is the windows and cracks.
let us take it in this way... where we spend most of our fuel energy in a home? is it in the setting room or bed rooms or kitchen! (in general)... if this is known well, I think we must give a special design for this place....( Passive and Active).
Most of the energy gets its way outside depending on the location of the space with respect to the prevailing wind. However, the conduction and convection terms occupy quite a good percentage from the total energy loss. In practice, the estimation of this energy can be conducted by the rule of thumb given in ASHRAE.
Assuming a heating scenario the most energy lost in any house or for that matter most buildings is through the infiltration of air into the space you are looking at. In other words the higher the air change rate in a room the greater amount of energy you need to reheat the cooler air back to the original room temperature. This assumes that the incoming air is at a lower temperature then the space (room) temperature. Therefore are there any routes that air can travel through your building. E.g. poorly sealed windows, window frames, doors, roof structure, open floor structure, etc.
Does the building have a open chimney/flue? which will allow a natural stack effect to occur as the warm air rises through the chimney and draws colder air into the building through cracks, gaps, etc.
The year your building was constructed will also have an effect on the energy use as the older the building the poorer the thermal insulation and construction standards of the property.
Information on thermal standards, heat losses, stack effect, etc, can be found in a) ASHRAE (USA) b) Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) [UK].
If looking for a quick area heat loss then "Rules of Thumb 2011" (UK), The "Blue Book" (UK) can give you an idea on area loss.
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