Title : NET ZERO: A NOVEL APPROACH FOR SETTING SUSTAINABILITY TARGETS FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
Authors : Charles Kibert and Ravi Srinivasan
Publication : February 13-16, 2013
Volume :
Pages : 18-Jan
Price : 250
Abstract : Setting performance targets for green buildings that are in keeping with the sustainability paradigm has been a continuing challenge for both designers and owners. Sustainability suggests that society should live within the limits of nature and within the resources that are locally available. However, the ecological footprint of most societies has been enormous, often necessitating the import of enormous quantities of energy, materials, and water and the export and disposal of equally enormous quantities of waste. A relatively new concept known as Net Zero, proposes that the built environment and, by extension, building users and owners, be powered and resourced from the local environment, and preferably from the building site. The most advanced of these concepts, Net Zero Energy buildings, has resulted in actual building projects where on-site renewable energy systems generate as much energy as needed to meet the facility’s energy needs. To achieve a Net Zero Energy target, the building energy consumption must be exceptionally low. Similarly a Net Zero Water building must be designed to match building water consumption with local rainfall, wastewater recycling, and water storage strategies. In the same spirit as the Net Zero Energy and Water approaches, the Net Zero strategy is being extended to materials, carbon, waste, and other building environmental and resource issues. This paper will address how this new strategy is affecting the design and construction of high-performance buildings in the U.S. and how national and local governments have begun to incorporate net zero into building regulations.