If you're targeting browsers supporting flexible boxes you could do the following.. http://jsfiddle.net/meyertee/AH3pE/
HTML
<div class="container">
<header><h1>Header</h1></header>
<div class="body">Body</div>
<footer><h3>Footer</h3></footer>
</div>
CSS
.container {
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
flex-wrap: nowrap;
}
header {
flex-shrink: 0;
}
.body{
flex-grow: 1;
overflow: auto;
min-height: 2em;
}
footer{
flex-shrink: 0;
}
Update:
See "Can I use" for browser support of flexible boxes.