How Realistic Is Zero-Energy for an Old Building?

M ANY PEOPLE THINK ZERO-ENERGY goals for new buildings are cost-prohibitive. We will show you that Zero-Energy goals can be achieved within a reasonable budget for new buildings and they are also possible when restoring and renovating existing buildings. To accomplish these goals within a reasonable budget, all that is required is to create a project design and develop construction processes that are guided by technology with a firm commitment to building science. Technology and building science give owners the basis from which to make data-driven decisions. What is behind Zero-Energy is the knowledge that it’s possible for existing buildings to be self-sufficient. To reach self-sufficiency, the industry is transitioning to low-carbon expectations, which requires energy-efficient solutions for the existing building stock as well as for all new buildings. To this end, we know that “it takes between ten and eighty years for a new building that is 30 percent more efficient than an average-performing existing building to overcome, through efficient operations, the negative climate-change impacts related to the construction process.