Thoughtful zero energy design and material selection is only the first step to reducing the climate impact of a new building to zero. In the end, the building needs to generate enough positive energy on site to compensate for both its embodied carbon and its operational energy.

New homes and buildings will stand for decades, if not centuries. The carbon emissions embodied in the building materials and resulting from the manufacturing and construction processes must be factored into their overall carbon footprints. These four steps will get us started on the path to zero carbon.

There’s no time to lose. We must move rapidly and decisively toward a carbon-neutral economy. Direct action is essential, but cannot happen fast enough. After you have reduced carbon in your home, vehicles, and businesses, there is still more to do. Here’s how.

Zero energy buildings are here and growing in the market. Now it’s time to set our sights on the next step in the evolution of building design and construction: zero carbon.

Zero energy homes are poised to go mainstream. Large builders have the scale necessary to launch the market into this new territory. Homebuyers save and builders profit.

Real estate appraisers and mortgage lenders have never embraced the market value of energy efficient homes despite convincing evidence. A new study by Freddie Mac provides more data in support of this added value.

Energy waste is rampant in the American economy. If waste were cut in half, it would reduce carbon emissions the same amount as closing all coal-fired power plants in the US. Each of us can make choices to help reduce this waste.

Zero energy homes have many benefits, and builders need to get better about sharing them with potential homebuyers. How can we expect buyers to choose zero if they don’t have a good answer to the essential question: Why? Here are several ways to answer that question.

The 2019 inventories of zero energy buildings show growth is strong in this important sector of the construction industry. New homes, apartments, and commercial buildings are increasing their share of the market at an impressive pace.

The rapid adoption of electric vehicles is an essential step in the transition to a post-carbon society. There will be challenges to making this transition to an all electric transportation system based on renewable energy. Luckily, positive energy buildings combined with modern transportation innovations may well be up to the task.

The US government may be moving backward on climate action, but cities and other local governments are forging ahead. Zero Energy Project has assembled a list of more than 400 cities and their climate action plans from around the US and Canada. View the locations on our interactive map or sort the list to find cities by name or population.

Time has run out. A climate crisis is upon us. Only immediate and dramatic action can blunt the catastrophic consequences of a “hot house earth” scenario. There are a variety of actions that almost that every citizen of Planet Earth can take. Together we can make a real difference!