Environmental Characteristics of Net Zero

Current trends of making houses sustainable and use zero-net energy will take time and research to be implemented most effectively and used on a large scale, but it is the drastic change that is needed to solve the issue. There are many different combinations and approaches to a sustainable zero energy building. In order to describe the current trends I will look at two different buildings, the ZOE building located at Discovery Park and America’s most efficient home built in Salt Lake City, Utah. I will also explain LEED certification, HERS and ENERGY STAR in order to explain how the efficiency of sustainable buildings and appliance are nationally measured.

The first section of my report touches two case study buildings that considers such matters in an intimate way, the Dalby Forest Visitor Centre in Yorkshire, and the Heels Building, National Trust Headquarters, located in Swindon. The second section of the report focuses on a personal statement, giving my opinions on both buildings environmental sustainability and overall impact.

Being environmentally friendly isn’t merely a trend. After thousands of years of using the earth’s resources, we have finally come to realize that we are destroying this beautiful gift we were honored with. Architects play an influential role in trying to preserve this gift by encouraging a multitude of strategies that can be more cost efficient in the long run, be more comfortable for its users, and most importantly, have a lower carbon footprint. Strategies can include drastic changes to heat and air systems, construction material selections, or even specific design details to the architecture of a building that would reduce the amount of energy it consumes.

Energy use by buildings would be reduced by a Factor 10 or more below that of conventional buildings. The purpose of factor 10 is a long-term

Site waste management would be in place, site waste will be at an absolute minimum due to offsite manufacturing of the building system.

Wind energy is, “a renewable resource and has no fuel cost”, which helps the wind energy industry rise to prominence (American). With the low prices of wind energy, it is becoming an affordable form of electricity, although it still isn’t a main component in regards to energy production. Hydropower is the United States, “largest source of renewable electricity”; the most common type is conventional, which is typically associated with dams (Valley). Although hydropower is the most prominent green energy source in the United States, it doesn’t take away from the outrageous prices that go along with having this type of energy. Solar energy is the last main source of green energy. There isn’t as much research regarding this industry, because it isn’t as developed as the others. However, millions of dollars have been granted to try and better its development (Howell). Green buildings are structures that, “aim to reduce the negative impacts on the environment through using less natural resources to build and operate” (Dwaikat). These eco-boosting buildings incorporate each of the common types of green energy, however in some cases, they “don’t perform as predicted” (Dwaikat). In a case study over green buildings, it was found that they, “used around 160% more energy than expected”, which became a trend for the majority of the buildings (Dwaikat).

The heavy-duty framing of these doors and windows, along with impact resistant material sandwiched between two layers of laminated glass, which makes them energy efficient. If you install standard windows in your home, hot air from outside can enter your home during summers. This can increase the run time of your air-conditioner which increases your energy bills. During winters, normal windows allow hot air to escape from the room, which increases the runtime of your heater. This can have major impact on your energy bills. Impact resistant doors and windows will prevent this from happening. During winters, the hot air stays inside your home and your heater does not work overtime to maintain the temperature inside the room. During summers, hot air does not enter your home, which reduces the load on the air-conditioner thereby reducing your electric bills.

Fossil fuels are harmful to the environment, they release chemicals into the atmosphere which reduces the air quality, and degrades the protective ozone layer around the Earth. Solar power is unlike fossil fuels in this way; solar harnesses power from the sun, a never ending source, in a simple process that does not harm the environment, making it renewable and sustainable. For a comfortable indoor temperature year round, this house utilises double glazed operable windows. Double glazing windows increases thermal protection of the house by creating a thicker insulating layer, it keeps the cold air outside in winter, and the warm air outside in summer that would usually be transmitted through the windows. The structure is made from metal cladding, cement sheet and plantation timber. Metal cladding and cement sheet create a thermal layer that protects the

Heat load on the buildings are reduced through thermally insulated facades and roof, light coloured roofing, natural shading devices.

The goal of the design was to create a net-zero home through energy efficiency, a super-insulated envelope, passive-solar design, and a photovoltaic power array. A relatively new material on the market called Bio-PCM (a phase-change material) was integral in achieving the desired energy efficiency. Andrew's comprehensive understanding of physics allowed him to research the material thouroughly and determine that it would be an effective addition to the structure.

The goal of net zero as previously mention is the use of clean, green energy we create. Net Zero Homes are taking the concept and applying it to their abode in the most affordable, comfortable and efficient ways possible. Sven Thesen, owner of a net zero home in San Francisco describes how his home functions on energy that they create and fossil fuel being a non existent in their daily living facility. He gives an example of how his house is at moderate temperature all year round being so cool in the summer that his guest believes he has an air conditioning unit. He boast his cooling home to the solid build of the structure, through vigorous testing that contributes to him not replying on burning more energy than is needed. Though Thesen's

Green buildings could become one of the main factors to preserve our rapidly decaying environment. There is no easy way to define a green building, but a green building is essentially a structure that amplifies the positives and mitigates the negatives throughout the entire life cycle of the building (Kriss, 2014). There are many definitions for a green building, but all of them include the planning, designing, constructing, and operating of the building while taking into huge considerations of the energy use, water use, indoor air environment, materials used and the effect it has on the site the green building is being built on. The first green buildings dates back to as far as the 1970’s, when solar panels went from experiments to reality. Green buildings were not as popular as they are today due to their extremely high pricing. With technology rapidly growing, solar panels are becoming cheaper and cheaper, making the transition to creating green buildings more affordable. This is the primary reason for the increased growth of green buildings today. A modern company that is paving the way to the growth of green buildings named LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, focuses primarily on new and effective ideas for environmentally friendly buildings projects. With more than 60,000 commercial projects worldwide and 1.7 million square feet being certified every day, LEED is one of the leading groups for promoting green buildings. LEED has popularized the entire

This report is an analysis of the energy inefficiency of a brick three storey terraced town house built around 1880 circa, and how the dwellings can be made efficient to meet required targets of 114MtCO2 by 2020 and also to comply with the Energy Act 2011 for the private rented sector

Perhaps one of the major advances in insulating our homes in the last 30 years was the increased use of polyurethane foams for filling the cavities between walls. Whilst this made our homes much more energy efficient it was actually a technology that was first invented back in the 1940s in the United States.

The energy analysis for the Architecture Annex was run with the settings of a 24/7 school or university building. The location was set to Urbana, IL, and the HVAC system was set to the default type. The analysis showed that most energy would be used on fuel,