Paladino and Company recently released the free ebook “Net Zero Energy: Why and how to pursue net zero energy for your new or existing buildings,” that explores the arguments for and against net zero energy and lays out practical techniques for pursuing net zero energy. Find an excerpt from the ebook below or read the full ebook on the Paladino and Company website.

Net zero energy is a newly minted industry shorthand that means that a building produces as much energy as it needs to operate. The term net zero can also apply to water and waste, but most commonly refers to energy.

While net zero is an easy concept to grasp, it can be complicated to design. In many cases, when the initial first-cost of the technologies comes into focus, the solar panels, fuel cells, wind turbines (and more) can overwhelm the project vision, and drown out the net zero goal.

The goal of sustainability and green building is to design buildings that can endure. Market adoption of LEED was a major milestone in the timeline of high performance buildings, but LEED is not the destination. Net Zero is the next milestone in that journey.

WorldGBC CEO Terri Wills thinks so. She believes that “the success of our ambitions to keep global warming to within 1.5 to 2 degrees will depend on our ability to advance net zero buildings.” Further, the DOE has been working under the Commercial Building Initiative (CBI) since 2008 to create marketable net zero buildings by 2025. There has been and continues to be [a] vocal group of advocates who are making a powerful case for net zero.

Read the full ebook on the Paladino and Company website.