Net-Zero Energy Buildings

What are Net-Zero Energy Buildings?

A Net-Zero Energy Building is a high-performance building that uses integrated energy-saving technologies and practices to achieve very low energy use and carbon emissions, and produces from renewable sources at least as much energy as it uses in a year.

Building Policy

In 2007, Congress created  the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings  Initiative  (CBI) as part of  the Energy
Independence and Security Act (§421, 422 et seq.).   Officially  launched by the U. S. Department of Energy
(DOE) on August 5, 2008,  the goal of  the  initiative is to  “develop and disseminate  technologies, practices,
and policies for establishment of zero net energy commercial buildings.” Major milestones are achieving zero
net energy buildings in: 
 
•  New commercial buildings by 2030;
•  Fifty percent of all commercial building stock by 2040; and
•  All commercial buildings by 2050.

Initiatives Underway

Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium - A  public/private consortium, working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and deliver technology,  policies, and practices to  achieve a market transition to Zero Net  Energy Commercial  Buildings by 2030.

DOE  supports Zero  Energy Commercial  Buildings Consortium to coordinate private and public  sector involvement with DOE in technology and market assessments and other activities to help DOE accomplish the goals of CBI.   

Membership in the Consortium is open to all organizations interested in advancing energy-efficient commercial  building technologies, practices and policies.  At  present, there are over 200 public and private Consortium members,  including building  designers, owners and operators, financiers, manufacturers, state and regional  policy makers and program planners, researchers, funding agencies and other stakeholders.  
 

Western Governor Association - Following a stakeholder workshop in 2007 to determine a path to achieving full, commercial-scale deployment of near-zero emissions coal technology, including carbon capture and sequestration. WGA produced recommendations for deploying near-zero technologies for coal.

Resources

Massachusetts State Zero Energy Building Task Force Report 
U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Building Database 
U.S. Department of Energy's High Performance Building Database
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Scale Matters: An Action Plan  for Realizing Sector-Wide  "Zero-Energy" Performance Goals  in Commercial Buildings 
Western Governor Association, Deploying Near-Zero Technologies for Coal: A Path Forward