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Similar or related terms: Near zero energy building, Zero energy house, Near zero energy house
A zero energy building (ZEB) can be described as structure with a net energy consumption of zero over a typical year.
In its narrowest sense a zero energy building is a building wherin the quantity of energy the structure generates annually on-site from on-site available renewable sources (typically from a grid tied solar electric generating system) equals the quantity of energy energy consumed to operate the structure over the year. Measurement of the quantities of energy consumed and produced may be limited to purchased or resold energy which would exclude energy consumed as it was generated as well as gains from food through body heat, passive solar, active solar thermal, energy efficiency et cetera.
The design and construction methods which result in zero energy buildings appear to depart significantly from conventional building practise. Conventioal designers and builders rarely do any energy analysis or lifecycle operationg cost calculations on smaller buildings and appear to over emphasize minimizing first costs . A competent ZEB designer is always interested in the lifecycle energy consumption (see Life cycle energy analysis) effects of system options and is usually willing to increase first costs if they reduce energy demand and operating costs by an equal or greater amount. The ZEB approach might be described as energy first building design. In the ZEB approach every decision about major sub-system selection is evaluated in terms of its energy life-cycle energy demand consequences. Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) is an approach in which all energy inputs to a product are accounted for, not only direct energy inputs during manufacture, but also all energy inputs needed to produce components, materials and services needed for the manufacturing process. ...
The ZEB methods appears to be related to the passive house concept which may in turn be an extension of the superinsulation concept which appears to have originated in the USA in the 1970's. Interestingly the technologies needed to create zero energy buildings are available off the shelf today. The novel profoundly energy efficient buildings that result may stem from the systems design approach taken throughout the design and construction. A passive house is a building that uses no designated energy for heating. ...
Superinsulation is an alternative to Passive solar (although many building designs include some features of both). ...
When buying things, Off the shelf refers to products that have already been designed and made, compared to Made to measure (One-off, Custom-Built, etc. ...
Systems design is the process or art of defining the hardware and software architecture, components, modules, interfaces, and data for a computer system to satisfy specified requirements. ...
During the design of a ZEB the impact of design options on building life cycle energy requirements (see Life cycle energy analysis) would typically be anwsered with precision using sophisticated computer based building energy simulation tools. The simulations take into account a wide range of design variables such as orientation relative to the sun, window type and placement, overhang depth, R-value of exterior walls, air tightness, climate, heating system efficiency. These simulations help the designers to know how the building will perform before it is built and get closer to the economically optimal building design by implementing energy efficiency measures (EEM's) that save the most energy per dollar expended first. Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) is an approach in which all energy inputs to a product are accounted for, not only direct energy inputs during manufacture, but also all energy inputs needed to produce components, materials and services needed for the manufacturing process. ...
ZEB's also allow owners and tenents to take concrete steps to address a wide range of social and environmetal issues such as reducing CO2 emissions, see Global warming and reducing dependance on hazardous nuclear power and reducing dependance on energy imported from increasingly unstable nations. Global mean surface temperatures 1856 to 2005 Mean temperature anomalies during the period 1995 to 2004 with respect to the average temperatures from 1940 to 1980 Global warming is an increase in the average temperature of the Earths atmosphere and oceans. ...
A nuclear power station. ...
Key ZEB Enabling Technologies
- Institution(s) able to support basic research "ORNL Habitat"
- Air to Air heat exchangers
- Building energy simulation software
- Non-toxic, non-carcinogenic, non-ozone depleting insulation "1"
- A cadre of competent energy designers that are properly integrated into the building design and specification process (working for or with architects, home designers, professional builders and owner builders)
Architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
Potential Advantages of ZEB - it appears to isolate the buildings occupant(s) from operating cost increases due to energy price increases
- homes and other buildings with high surface to volume ratios built using ZEB concepts tend to be more comfortable due to more uniform temperature (this can be demonstrated with comparative isotherm maps)
- with todays technologies it is substantially less expensive to improve energy efficiency during initial design and construction than it is to do so through a retrofit
- higher resale value
- the value of a ZEB building relative to similar conventional building increases as energy costs increase
An isotherm is a line of equal or constant temperature on a graph, plot, or map; an isopleth of temperature. ...
In physics and engineering, including mechanical and electrical engineering, energy efficiency is a dimensionless number, with a value between 0 and 1 or with times 100 given in percent. ...
Potential Disadvantages of ZEB - first costs can be expected to be higher in the near term
- future significant declines in energy costs could strand capital invested in energy efficiency
- new technology in the field of solar cells could strand capital invested in a solar electric generating system
- challenge to recover higher first costs on resale of building
A solar cell, a form of photovoltaic cell, is a device that uses the photoelectric effect to generate electricity from light, thus generating solar power (energy). ...
Internal links A passive house is a building that uses no designated energy for heating. ...
Superinsulation is an alternative to Passive solar (although many building designs include some features of both). ...
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is a semiconductor device consisting of a large-area p-n junction diode, which in the presence of sunlight is capable of generating usable electrical energy. ...
Insulation must not be confused with insolation (the latter word has an o where the former has a u). Insulation is any material used to reduce or “slow down†or “resist†the flow of energy. ...
Weatherization is the practice of protecting a building and its interior from the elements, particularly from sunlight, precipitation, and wind, and of modifying a building to reduce energy consumption. ...
Active solar is a term which refers to the use of solar energy to actively convert the energy in sunlight into other forms. ...
In physics, thermal conductivity, λ or k, is the intensive property of a material which relates its ability to conduct heat. ...
Thermal resistance has two different meanings: 1) the temperature difference across the structure when a unit of heat energy flows through it in unit time or 2) the temperature difference across a unit area of a material of unit thickness when a unit of heat energy flows through it in...
Thermal mass, in the most general sense, is any mass that absorbs and holds heat. ...
See also Earth sheltering is the architectural practice of using earth for external thermal mass against building walls. ...
Earthships are earth-sheltered autonomous buildings made of tires rammed with earth, which are usually arranged in a U or horseshoe shape. ...
Energy-efficient landscaping is a type of landscaping designed for the purpose of conserving energy. ...
Environmental design refers to taking environmental concerns into consideration in the design process. ...
Life cycle energy analysis (LCEA) is an approach in which all energy inputs to a product are accounted for, not only direct energy inputs during manufacture, but also all energy inputs needed to produce components, materials and services needed for the manufacturing process. ...
Renewable energy (sources) or RES capture their energy from existing flows of energy, from on-going natural processes, such as sunshine, wind, flowing water, biological processes, and geothermal heat flows. ...
An autonomous building is a building designed to be operated independently from infrastructual support services such as the electric power power grid, municipal water systems, sewage treatment systems, storm drains, communication services, and (in some cases) public roads. ...
Straw-bale construction is a building method that uses straw bales as structural elements, insulation, or both. ...
Sim Van der Ryn is acknowledged as a leader in sustainable architecture. ...
Steve Baer (1938- ) is an American inventor and solar and residential designer. ...
References Oak Ridge National Lab (ORNL)
Download 2000 ZEB meeting report
Further Reading Nisson, J. D. Ned; and Gautam Dutt, "The Superinsulated Home Book", John Wiley & Sons, 1985, ISBN 047188734X, ISBN 0471813435. Markvart, Thomas; Editor, "Solar Electricity" John Wiley & Sons; 2nd edition, 2000, ISBN 0471988537.
Clarke, Joseph; "Energy Simulation in Building Design", Second Edition Butterworth-Heinemann; 2nd edition, 2001, ISBN 0750650826.
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