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The Buck Stops with You
Time to Get Energized about Net Zero
The emerging trend in sustainability is to not just reduce consumption but to produce energy By Sue Kern-Fleischer When it comes to energy efficiency, some energy-conscious people are taking a closer look at how well their homes and work spaces perform. In many cases, the buildings they occupy are wasting energy, both in terms of the energy they consume and the energy they could be creating. Enter the Net Zero concept, which seems to be getting a lot of buzz lately. It’s a forward-thinking concept in which a home or commercial building could not only reduce the energy it consumes, but produce enough or a surplus of energy so that there are no longer monthly utility bills. “The Net Zero concept has been kicked around a lot for years, and the challenge is putting it into practice,” says Andy Hill, LEED AP and chief estimator for DPR Construction’s Phoenix regional office. DPR, a national general contractor and construction manager specializing in technically complex and sustainable projects, built Arizona’s first targeted Net Zero commercial building last October. Based in Phoenix’s Discovery Triangle, the innovative building serves as DPR’s headquarters and is on track to achieve Net Zero by October 2012. Phoenix-based Meritage Homes built Arizona’s first Net Zero home in April 2011, and since it introduced the option, dozens of homeowners in Meritage’s 26 national communities have chosen to invest in building a Net Zero home. “How you get to Net Zero is critical. The process needs to be cost-efficient for the benefit you receive,” says C.R. Herro, Meritage’s vice president of environmental affairs. Global Race to Net Zero Achieving Net Zero is a complex task. Factors to take into consideration include assessing the existing building for energy inefficiencies and then looking at ways to refurbish and add renewable energy components or rebuild. In the long run, the initial investment and labor is worth it, or so certain countries believe. “Germany is a good forecaster of where we are going because their energy is so expensive. It is three times more expensive than ours. Solar panels are on 80
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percent of their homes. That’s the trajectory we are on,” Herro says. Germany is not alone. According to a February 2011 European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy report, Europe is leading the way, with many countries having already set targets for zero energy or zero carbon by 2020. In the United States, focus has been on research and promotion of the drive toward Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). States leading the change include California, which has committed to achieving zero net energy for all residential construction by 2020 and for all commercial construction by 2030, and Massachusetts, which plans to achieve NZEB for all buildings by 2030. Re-thinking How We Live and Work Here in Arizona, some residential and commercial builders are taking an aggressive approach to reaching Net Zero. DPR Construction has received accolades for moving its headquarters to the Discovery Triangle and redeveloping a former Castle Boutique with the goal of reaching Net
Zero within a year of moving in. The fasttrack project was designed in January 2011 and construction was complete by late September. The 16,500-square-foot building accommodates 58 full-time employees and serves as a living laboratory for how to live and work sustainably in our desert environment. The entire team — DPR, architect SmithGroupJJR, energy consultant KEMA Engineering and several DPR building partners — designed all components of the building to yield a 10-year return on investment. “When we started the process, I had an idea of what Net Zero meant, but having lived through the process, it takes more creativity and work. You have to re-think how you are going to approach it. The only way you achieve Net Zero is to first concentrate on reducing dependency on the grid,” Hill says. Dissecting a building for energy use is important, but Hill says one of the most critical components to achieving Net Zero is adjusting human behavior. “We involved our employees in the process before we started construction. We conducted surveys and explained the inbusine ssmag.com