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This report documents the process and outcomes involved in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program certification standards while helping homebuilders in Climate Zones 5 and 6 in the Upper Midwest achieve ZERH certification.
This report documents the process and outcomes involved in achieving the U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program certification standards while helping homebuilders in Climate Zones 5 and 6 in the Upper Midwest achieve ZERH certification.
The intention of this project is to assist home builders in the upper Midwest in achieving DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program certification, and to document the process and outcomes involved in meeting this rigorous standard. NorthernSTAR, in conjunction with our program partner Building Knowledge, Inc., provided technical support to the builders during the design and construction process. At the time of this publication, four qualifying homes have been completed and an additional three are currently under construction to be completed later this year. Three additional homes were excluded from certification due to the HVAC contractor not completing their required credentialing until after completion of the homes, though the energy performance would have otherwise qualified the homes for program certification. Both Amaris Homes and Cobblestone Homes note that participation in the ZERH program provides them with competitive advantage in the market place at reasonable construction costs that also result in extremely satisfied clients who are willing to recommend the builders to friends and family.
This guide was developed as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Zero Energy Schools Accelerator (ZESA), a collaborative effort between DOE; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory; and school districts, states, and educational support groups from around the country. Because education is managed locally in the United States, this research documents some of the ways U.S. school officials and educators configure school financing, design, construction, curriculum development, and other school-related matters in their areas. The steps outlined here document the process of creating a zero energy school, and can provide a strong foundation for future ZE school projects.
Groundbreaking efforts are necessary to mitigate contributors increasing impacts of climate change. In parallel to inventing pioneering clean energy technologies it is even more fundamental to rethink designing energy systems within a singular facility and collectively to function as a district. Facilities should not be continuously passive by just consuming; there is a need to shift to perform more dynamically. Designing for zero energy and zero carbon on a multi-building scale can uncover opportunities for building energy efficiency, decarbonization, demand flexibility, and resiliency that are not accessible at an individual building scale. This approach can be challenging without innovative tools to evaluate the multitude of possibilities. As an investigated result, we highlight the use of a campus-scale energy modeling platform - URBANopt™ - for the expansion of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) South Table Mountain campus in Golden, Colorado. Programmatic growth included the design of three new all-electric, zero-energy, and zero-carbon, mixed used buildings (a combination of research laboratories and office space). This investigation is critical to NREL reaching net-zero emissions for its operational footprint, which will occur in phases over the next decade. Leveraging URBANopt's capabilities, we evaluate 1) high-performance building energy efficiency and decarbonization measures, 2) 4th generation district heating and cooling (4th GDHC) systems, 3) optimized onsite generation and energy storage assets that meet zero-energy and zero-carbon targets at minimum life-cycle costs, and 4) cost-optimal distributed energy technology mixes, dispatch strategies, and associated capacities that increase resiliency to grid outages. This work demonstrates the use and capabilities of URBANopt through a real-world case study on a multi-building scale.
Zero energy buildings, or zero energy ready buildings, which are designed and operated by public or private commercial property owners can play an important role in reducing carbon emissions. This paper discusses lessons learned and key takeaways from an in-depth analysis of three zero energy buildings that took an integrated design and construction approach to significantly reduce energy use. Two of these projects are new construction and one is a retrofit to zero energy. Findings are based on project literature review, data analysis, and in-depth interviews with the building design teams and staff who were involved during the design, construction, and operation of the buildings. The paper addresses value proposition and cost data in such a way that other building owners can replicate the strategies and technology solutions in response to regulatory mandates or organizational goals. It also provides details on operational improvements taken at each zero energy building to enhance energy performance and increase the potential for load flexibility, and discusses challenges and lessons gleaned from design teams and building staff. The findings serve as a reference for building owners, designers, engineers, contractors, or others interested in, or involved with, the design, construction, or use of new or existing buildings. The paper also includes recommended pathways for widespread adoption of zero energy strategies that can be applied in various locations.
Net zero energy communities (NZECs) are critical to ensure sustainability and resilience of modernized power systems. System modeling helps overcome technical challenges in designing and operating NZECs. In this paper, we present the modeling work based on a real NZEC. Two sets of models are developed: higher-fidelity physics-based models considering the interaction between subsystems of the studied NZEC and capturing fast-dynamics; and lower-fidelity data-driven models requiring less resource to establish and/or run. All models are validated against measurements from this real NZEC. In addition, we create a simulation framework which streamlines the processes for simulation and thus allows using developed models to form a virtual testbed. To demonstrate the usage of the virtual testbed, a case study is conducted where a building-to-grid integration control is evaluated via simulation. The evaluation results suggest that the tested control significantly smooths the power draw of the studied community and doesn’t sacrifice the thermal comfort to a great extent.
Designing, building, and operating zero energy ready K-12 schools provides benefits for districts, students, and teachers. Optimizing energy efficiency is important in any building, but it's particularly important in K-12 schools. Many U.S. school districts struggle for funding, and improving a school building's energy efficiency can free up operational funds that may then be available for educational and other purposes.
Windows have traditionally contributed to a building's HVAC load, but they can also become a source of net energy gain or even operate as zero-energy components. For heating applications, highly insulating windows can harness more solar heat than the energy lost through them, transforming windows from energy liabilities to assets. Dynamic glazings provide further benefits by regulating solar heat gain, reducing cooling loads in summer and heating demands in winter. This simulation study focuses on developing the next generation of zero-energy windows (ZEW) for residential new construction. Through annual energy simulations across climate zones 1-8, ZEW performance benchmarks were established based on current code-level buildings, and we've identified the regions where meeting ZEW standards are most achievable. This work evaluates both static and dynamic window technologies, assessing their effects on annual energy use and cost. Key findings demonstrate that ZEW performance is achievable across diverse climate zones, with specific regional requirements. Most climate zones from 3-8 can achieve ZEW with specific configurations, while some warm climates (1-2) appear challenging for ZEW implementation. Climate zones 4-6 consistently allow for zero energy window implementation, offering multiple pathways through either static or dynamic window technologies. Colder climate zones (7-8) ZEW products allow for higher SHGC values while requiring low U-values.
Zero energy districts aggregate multiple buildings and optimize energy efficiency, district thermal energy, and renewable energy generation among those buildings so that on-site renewable energy can offset the energy use at a district scale. Zero energy districts have the potential to dramatically improve the economic competitiveness, resiliency, environmental quality, and energy independence of communities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Districts Accelerator (ZEDA) brings together district developers, planners, owners, national experts, and key stakeholders to develop the energy master planning documents needed for zero energy district development and replication. Through this effort, DOE is working with pioneering leaders to understand and address barriers to achieving zero energy districts. Each district partner will complete detailed energy master plans that provide the framework necessary to achieve ambitious energy goals. These complex projects represent billions of dollars of investment and are creating the communities of the future. ZEDA partners are using best-practice approaches to realize energy performance goals for the entire building and district life cycle. Their successful strategies will be documented and made available to promote replication in cities around the world that are setting aggressive energy goals. This paper introduces zero energy districts, reviews the structure of ZEDA, discusses the value of energy master planning, presents barriers to zero energy districts and how these are being addressed by zero energy district pioneers, and suggests pathways for wide-scale replication.
This article describes the U.S. Department of Energy's Zero Energy Ready Home Program and Housing Innovation Awards. Since 2013, builders around the country have certified over 1,170 homes to the high performance criteria of the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program. Each year DOE recognizes the best innovators among this group with the DOE Housing Innovation Awards. 2017 winners will be announced at an awards event taking place at the Energy & Environmental Building Alliance (EEBA) high-performance home summit October 10-12, 2017, in Atlanta, Georgia. Twenty-five builders are expected to take home awards and grand award winners in each of the five competition categories will be revealed at the conference. Participating builders represent every climate zone in the country and DOE Zero Energy Ready labeled homes can be found in 34 states. Homes represent the full spectrum of the U.S. construction industry, from affordable to production to custom homes and from single-family detached to duplexes and up to five-story multifamily buildings as well as some retrofit projects have also met the criteria. Every DOE ZER certified home is certified through the ENERGY STAR Certified Homes (Version 3.0, revision 8) program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Indoor airPLUS program. Each home must meet the hot water distribution requirements of the EPA’s WaterSense program and the insulation requirements of the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code. If the home has HVAC ducts, they must be installed within the conditioned space of the home. Appliances, exhaust fans, ceiling fans, and most of the lighting should be ENERGY STAR qualified. The DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program also requires homes to have solar electric panels installed or at a minimum to have the conduit and electrical panel space in place for future PV installation, if the home is in a location appropriate for solar power. Homes are constructed with enough energy efficiency built in so that, with a reasonable amount of solar PV panels (i.e., small enough to fit comfortably on the roof), the home could produce enough of its own power to equal the power it uses in a year.
Zero net energy (ZNE) buildings are needed to reverse the growing trend of increasing energy consumption. But to make dramatic changes, existing buildings must be renovated at scale. In addition, the building stock must be electrified so that its energy needs could be met by renewable generation. Such aggressive goals often mean very high custom design and capital construction costs. Suitable options for comprehensive envelope retrofits can be too expensive to be practical, and electrification requires upgrades to building-level electrical infrastructure. This paper is a case study of eight projects—primarily multifamily residential—that strived for zero-energy, all-electric retrofits. The design teams were challenged to create solutions that could be replicated at scale, showing decreasing costs with broader adoption. Key technologies considered in designing cost-effective, scalable solutions include industrialized prefabricated retrofit components, modular HVAC solutions, and innovative domestic hot water systems. We trace the progress toward the goals set and examine the choices made by the teams as they encountered technical, logistical, and cost barriers. We also discuss financial challenges for multifamily retrofits, provide guidance for incentives, and examine procurement processes for design services and technologies.
Zero energy districts aggregate multiple buildings and optimize energy efficiency, district thermal energy, and renewable energy generation among those buildings so that on-site renewable energy can offset the energy use at a district scale. Zero energy districts have the potential to dramatically improve the economic competitiveness, resiliency, environmental quality, and energy independence of communities. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Zero Energy Districts Accelerator (ZEDA) brings together district developers, planners, owners, national experts, and key stakeholders to develop the energy master planning documents needed for zero energy district development and replication. Through this effort, DOE is working with pioneering leaders to understand and address barriers to achieving zero energy districts. Each district partner will complete detailed energy master plans that provide the framework necessary to achieve ambitious energy goals. These complex projects represent billions of dollars of investment and are creating the communities of the future. ZEDA partners are using best-practice approaches to realize energy performance goals for the entire building and district life cycle. Their successful strategies will be documented and made available to promote replication in cities around the world that are setting aggressive energy goals. This paper introduces zero energy districts, reviews the structure of ZEDA, discusses the value of energy master planning, presents barriers to zero energy districts and how these are being addressed by zero energy district pioneers, and suggests pathways for wide-scale replication.
In this conference paper for the ASHRAE Buildings XV conference, December 2022, PNNL staff share key metrics for companies who are combining off site construction with certification to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home program to create homes that are both cost effective to construct and high performance to live in. Key performance metrics and measures for modular, panelized, and SIP homes are compared against all homes in the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program and against new homes built to code. These metrics show that off-site construction homes got similar or better energy performance to site-built homes, and in the case of modular and panelized, at considerably lower average cost than site-built homes. The paper also highlights the experiences of two DOE Zero Energy Ready Home builders who employ offsite construction methods. One builder constructs production homes using pre-assembled panels. The other builder designs and ships kit homes all over the United States. The paper will focus on the optimum value engineering aspects of the panelized construction processes used by each builder to identify management and production practices employed by the builders to operate profitably while meeting high energy performance goals, despite a year marked by skyrocketing materials costs and supply chain and labor shortages. Cost and labor savings methods will be discussed in the context of these two unique business models.
Development of a zero energy community is more costly in northern cold climates than in moderate regions. Building energy loads are higher, thanks to the colder weather, and site solar photovoltaics (PV) are less productive due to lower solar incidence and misalignment with the buildings’ energy needs (summer production, winter demands). Geothermal energy production can support a zero energy community through application of energy efficiency (demand design), geothermal production (supply design), and asset dispatch as an integrated techno-economic package. This article presents the process used to explore geothermal system integration, our findings, and technical challenges for community-scale adoption of geothermal as an electric and thermal resource. We show that under a wide range of conditions, community-scale geothermal electric power and direct-use thermal energy is economically competitive with “business-as-usual” design and construction practices for zero energy communities. Furthermore, geothermal-produced energy will be self-consumed to a much greater extent than PV, resulting in significant reductions in site energy import and export. We conclude that under appropriate conditions, community-scale geothermal can be the most economically favorable energy resource for northern-climate zero energy community developments. Ongoing geothermal research and development to improve performance and reduce costs will further enhance the value proposition for community-scale geothermal technologies. We expect that including geothermal power and thermal energy in zero energy community design can improve its cost-effectiveness and therefore enhance the benefits of zero energy in more northern climates.
Case study of a DOE 2020 Housing Innovation Award winning custom home in a cold climate that got a HERS -7 with PV, with 1,280 square feet, ENERGY STAR certified appliances, no-VOC products, and a 7.75-kW PV system.
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Thrive Home Builders built this 2,780-ft2 townhome in Lone Tree, Colorado, to the high-performance requirements of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) Program.