When valuing a new highly energy efficient home, designers, builders, lenders, realtors and homebuyers usually speak in terms of “dollars per square foot” or the “pay back in years on the added costs of energy saving features”. They rarely consider the total cost of ownership of a new home. Yet, the total cost of ownership, […]

We received the following question about indoor air quality during a power outage in a Zero Energy Home recently and thought we’d share the findings. Question: We built a Net Zero Energy home, and the blower door test meets the Passiv Haus standard for air tightness. The final blower door test was 269 cubic feet […]

Part 2: Inspiring People to Purchase and Own a Zero Energy Home As a builder or real estate agent, proactively marketing your Zero Energy or Zero Energy Ready Homes to homebuyers is more important than ever. In Part 1 of this series, we explored some tips on identifying what type of Zero Energy Home customer […]

Part 1: Know Your ZEH Customer Introduction Developing and building Zero Energy and Zero Energy Ready Homes and Buildings is still a very small trend. However it is a trend that is growing fast and in the future will be enhanced, as private developers, municipalities and government agencies develop codes, regulations, incentives, and mandates for […]

A tool for properly appraising Zero Net Homes We often talk about how Zero Energy Homes and Zero Ready Homes have a higher value for the owners and occupants. Thanks to advanced technologies, they are more durable, more energy efficient, more comfortable and healthier than standard homes, all while being less expensive to own. Sometimes […]

Window Choices Can Have a Substantial Effect on Building Performance When designing and building a Zero Energy Home or Zero Energy Ready Home, the goal is to have the highest performing building envelope possible for energy savings. If you look at a building as though it is a cube with the sides of the cube […]

Calgary was the first Canadian municipality to adopt a green building policy in 2003 declaring that all new City buildings—and major renovations to existing ones—are designed to meet or exceed the silver level LEED® rating. In June 2012, in an effort to assess their efforts, Calgary City Council directed an investigation into the cost/benefit difference […]

Race To Zero Student Design Competition The Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has opened registration for the Race to Zero Student Design Competition. The Race to Zero is an annual competition, open to students and faculty from any interested collegiate institution in the United States and […]

Mayor Rex Parris at the NetZero Energy Conference Rex Parris, Mayor of Lancaster, California is leading the charge for Lancaster to become the first net-zero city in the world, starting with a mandate that every new single-family home constructed in the city has solar energy. Our ultimate goal is to become the first net-zero city […]

When designing, building or even remodeling a home to be very energy efficient, much time is spent on the building envelope, electrical systems and appliances. But did you know that exterior landscaping can affect the energy performance of your home? A well designed and energy efficient landscape can reduce your heating, cooling and lighting costs. […]

Interview with Carter Scott, of Transformations, Inc. Carter Scott of Transformations, Inc has built numerous Zero Net Energy Homes in Massachusetts, ranging from custom homes, to development homes and to very affordable low income Zero Energy Homes. He shares some of what he has learned about building Zero Energy Homes in this interview. What year did you build […]

See the original article on the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association website. (This is a synopsis of a peer-reviewed article by Marc Rosenbaum, found in the Fall 2014 edition of BuildingEnergy magazine), and a preview of what’s in store for students of Marc’s BuildingEnergy Masters Series Course, Zero Net Energy Homes. A zero net energy building […]