Net-Zero Energy Buildings Take Hold in U.S.

[Starboard Tack]

A weak economy and rising energy prices have led to a buzz over building efficiency. Light bulb regulations, LEED and Energy Star ratings for homes and appliances, stricter construction codes, and government incentives are all parts of a national effort to cut energy waste in the building sector.

Nearly 40 percent of the nation's energy is consumed by homes and commercial buildings, which means that making them more efficient would not only save money but also drastically reduce carbon emissions. So a handful of builders are taking the idea one step further: Why construct a building that uses less energy when we can make one that uses no energy at all?

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=net-zero-energy-buildings-in-us

[NEOhiodemocrat]

1. I love this, such a good idea

My daughter is a fourth year architecture student and they are designing very energy efficient buildings in studio. I don't understand it all but her last few have been especially focused on being water efficient. Pipes move the water up and down the building and water is collected on roof. I hope this trend continues.

[txlibdem]

2. Good for her

I'm happy to see architecture students learning green building practices. If you can, please mention Passive Solar to her as well. She may be interested in that as well.

Heck, mention vertical farms while you're at it. Someone's got to design them.

[NEOhiodemocrat]

3. I know the building she is designing now includes passive solar

and a closed water system. ( it is a design for riverfront Pittsburg) She does incorporate green roofs, but what are vertical farms? Well, she may know and just not have mentioned it to me. I love that they are learning green building also. She graduates in May and is thinking of landscaping architecture for her masters. Maybe the vertical farms has something to do with that?

[Rollin White]

4. Zero Energy Concept Building (ZECB)

As an architect I am in the process of flushing out a definition for Zero-Net Energy Building (ZNEB) in the form of a building design set of guidelines, which is difficult without measuring science (NIST is working on a system). I've attempted to draft a definition on a website I've developed for this purpose. I've provided links to support my conclusions backed up by 3 years research. I welcome all concerned to visit, review, and comment on my effort to help advance the cause. There are two pages on the site; one illustrating an example of a ZECB and the other page is a draft of my definition of ZNEB. Here's the link

https://sites.google.com/site/zeroenergyconceptbuilding/home

[Kolesar]

5. I am going to "bookmark" this and read it later

It looks interesting. Welcome to the forum!

[Starboard Tack]

6. Thanks for sharing. Looks like you've been hard at work.

We need more architects and urban planners involved in these kinds of projects. I have forwarded your link to my daughter, who is a journalist and writes about such stuff.

[Rollin White]

7. ZECB purifies waste water as well as indoor air

The goal of NZEB to generate at least the same amount of energy as buildings consume doesn’t solve the problem of how to construct buildings which are completely self sufficient. A more holistic approach is to reach beyond NZEB to Zero Energy Concept Building (ZECB). ZECB is a leap forward ahead of NZEB because Zero Energy Concept Building includes technology to purify waste water and improve indoor air quality by harnessing the power of Mother Nature to replenish these resources. ZECB addresses poor indoor air quality which has been linked to health problems, while at the same time applying natural processes defined as fixed-film ecology for waste water purification. With fixed-film ecology water is used and reused in diverse ways; continuously cycling through nature’s cleansing process through a series of wetland tanks which do double duty by scrubbing the indoor air through the process of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is a natural charge particle technology that makes pollutants heavy causing them to drop out of the air which is the natural method of cleansing indoor air. For more about understanding this authors definition for ZECB click on this link

https://sites.google.com/site/zeroenergyconceptbuilding/defining-zecb-for-the-green-collar-economy