Net-Zero Homes

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, buildings in the residential and commercial sectors account for 40% of the total energy consumption in the U.S. Green homes and buildings are helping immensely with reducing energy requirements, but homeowners can do even more to help offset dependence on fossil fuels. The solution is to build or retrofit homes to be Net Zero or Zero Energy. These homes are highly efficient, built very air tight, insulated extremely well, utilize non-toxic materials and generate all of their own renewable solar energy.

  • OUR 5 STEPS TO NET-ZERO

    Zero net energy buildings are emerging as the premium standard of energy efficiency in the green architecture world. A zero net energy (ZNE) building combines high levels of efficiency, good operations, and on-site renewable energy (such as photovoltaic panels) in order to produce as much energy on-site as the building consumes in a year.

    A ZNE Deep Energy Retrofit is possible for a large number of existing buildings in the market today.

    These five steps can help ensure your project’s success:

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  • ASSESS SITE AREA

    A successful ZNE retrofit must start with a thorough assessment of the building. In new construction, the building is shaped by the design. But in retrofits, the design is shaped by the building to a much greater extent. Changing the features of an existing building requires a lot more than moving lines in a drawing. Therefore, a retrofit project needs to begin with a thorough assessment of the building, including current energy performance, weaknesses, and strengths.

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  • SET GOALS AND EXPECTATIONS

    After a comprehensive assessment of the building and/or site, the project team can set goals for the retrofit. Even after the goal of ZNE has been chosen, there are other targets to set.

    Every building and site has only so much potential for renewable energy production, so we want to ensure your expectation is met where your goal meets..

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  • SCOPE OF PROJECT

    Once you have set performance goals for building, the project team can scope the retrofit. New Buildings Institute maintains a database of buildings that have achieved ZNE or similar levels of ultra-low energy. Examining these ZNE precedents can help project teams evaluate a ZNE retrofit for their own building.

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  • IMPLEMENT THE DESIGN

    The next step is to implement the project measures. A project can be disruptive; therefore, the success of the ZNE project requires good timing and accounting for the realities of the building, ownership, tenants, and markets.

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  • OPERATE THE BUILDING

    Ultimately, ZNE must be proven by actual performance and occupation of the building. A successful ZNE building needs to go beyond design, technologies, and strategies. A ZNE building needs to be operated to achieve zero, and good operations start with design.

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To get to Net Zero, the home has to perform to perfection during a 3rd party, federally regulated energy audit. The building envelope needs to be extremely tight and each component in the home must operate at 100% of intended efficiency—from the foundation to the framing, insulation, dry-wall, HVAC and roofing. Each component needs to fit together tightly without any leakage to achieve a zero HERS score.