  We discuss a simple procedure for computing one-loop quantum energies of any
static field configuration that depends non-trivially on only a single spatial
coordinate. We specifically focus on domain wall-type field configurations that
connect two distinct minima of the effective potential, and may or may not be
the solutions of classical field equations. We avoid the conventional summation
of zero-point energies, and instead exploit the relation between functional
determinants and solutions of associated differential equations. This approach
allows ultraviolet divergences to be easily isolated and extracted using any
convenient regularization scheme. Two examples are considered: two-dimensional
$\phi^4$ theory, and three-dimensional scalar electrodynamics with spontaneous
symmetry breaking at the one-loop level.
