Net Zero Energy Building: An Overview of Its Progress

One of the major aspects of green building is creating a structure that is energy efficient. Attaining a net-zero energy building, defined as a building which creates an equal amount of energy on site as what it consumes, is a heavily desired goal at the time.Figure 1 illustrates the features of a typical net zero commercial building.  With the increasing use of energy as a result of a growing building sector, energy saving has become more relevant in today’s society.

Figure 1: Features of a Net-Zero Commercial Building, Source: Efficiency Vermont

Despite the attempt to reduce energy consumption in the building sector, a large number of buildings have failed to achieve the desired energy savings. In a study conducted to evaluate the performance constructed sustainable buildings, only 1% of the 490 studied buildings were able to successfully produce 20% of energy from the renewable sources. On average, these buildings received 38% of the available points in the LEED category energy and atmosphere (Berardi, 2012). This is largely due to the fact that net-zero energy is a new concept in the building world. In response to its unsatisfying results, green building supporters are working to improve the methods used to implement this idea. When designing a zero-net energy building it is important to ensure the amount of energy used to produce renewable energy is insignificant (Hudson, 2014). In some situations, the purpose of saving energy is defeated because of this.  Another way to improve the zero-energy is concept is by analyzing the utility bills of buildings to identify where energy problems exist (Pless & Torcellini, 2008). Once the locations of failure are identified, the building designs can be modified and improved upon.

To encourage the reduction of energy, the government has set green building requirements. In 2007, President Bush signed a bill aiming to reduce the energy consumption of federal buildings. The bill requires that all new and renovated federal buildings be fossil fuel free and that a roadmap for the construction of net-zero energy buildings be established by 2030 (Colker, 2008). The Department of Energy hopes to develop a method that successfully creates cost-effective net energy buildings by 2025 (Pless & Torcellini, 2008). In addition to enforced policies, it is essential to educate people on zero-energy buildings and sustainable building. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning engineers has created a three-part Energy Efficiency Guide targeted at existing commercial buildings owners. These books explain to owners why they should cut their energy levels, how they should do it, and how to keep their building running efficiently after incorporating green technologies (Holness, 2011). A reason as to why green buildings are not performing as expected is because their occupants do not know how to effectively make use of green technologies. Through policies and incentives, the development of better net-zero energy buildings can be stimulated.

Based on green building performance evaluations, net-zero energy has still not been successfully achieved. Currently, green building advocators are working on developing better methods and designs to reach this goal. Considering its increasing relevance, it is expected that we will see improved designs of net-zero energy buildings within the next few years.

References

Berardi, U. (2012). Sustainability assessment in the construction sector: rating systems and rated buildings. Sustainable Development, 20(6), 411-424.

Colker, R. M. (2008). Federal roadmap for net-zero. ASHRAE Journal, 50(2), 53. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

Holness, G. V. R. (2011). On the path to net zero: how do we get there from here? ASHRAE Journal, 53(6), 50+. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

Hudson, S. (2014, August). Zero-net energy buildings are game changers in green engineering. Design News, 69(8), 14. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/

Pless, S., & Paul Torcellini PhD, P. E. (2009). Getting to net zero. ASHRAE Journal, 51(9), 18.