We present a method for computing the flux of energy through a closed surface containing a gravitating system. This method, which is based on the quasilocal formalism of Brown and York, is illustrated by two applications: a calculation of (i) the energy flux, via gravitational waves, through a surface near infinity and (ii) the tidal heating in the local asymptotic frame of a body interacting with an external tidal field. The second application represents the first use of the quasilocal formalism to study a non-stationary spacetime and shows how such methods can be used to study tidal effects in isolated gravitating systems.

REVTex, 4 pages, 1 typo fixed, standard sign convention adopted for the Newtonian potential, a couple of lines added to the discussion of gauge dependent terms