ZNE Makes Its Big Apple Debut

The Delta in Brooklyn (credit: Voltaire Solaire) 

If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. So we're excited to report that New York City has its first ever zero net building. The Delta, as it's called, is a retrofit of a 2,700 square foot building using both solar and wind power for energy needs and generating its own electricity, water and heat. Even with its unique triangular shape and lack of southern exposure, the five-story building located in Brooklyn uses enough renewables to offset its annual energy use.

The building is a triplex residence, studio residence, retail location and restaurant all in one, and includes solar panels, a solar skin, a special window treatment and a rooftop wind turbine, to make it ZNE.

The developer, Voltaire Solaire, partnered with IKEA, Samsung, Sharp and others to make the project come to life, and is now working on a second multifamily project.

Read more about the New York project here. 





 

Project ABC Green Home (And ZNE Blog Series) In Full Swing

Foundation poured at ABC Green Home at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. 

On the heels of ABC Green Home's recent groundbreaking, the project reached yet another major milestone last week -- the setting of the home's foundation slab. What started as an idea by Green Home Builder magazine's publisher and SCE to build an affordable, environmentally friendly home, is now becoming a reality.

Next on the fast-paced construction agenda is building the framing for the house, starting this week. As the project is set to be completed in just 70-80 days, we'll be chronicling the step-by-step process of the build with a series of construction updates and videos on the ZNE blog.  

For more information about the project, check out the June issue of Green Home Builder magazine, which includes a feature story on ABC Green Home's groundbreaking. And stay tuned here for more exciting updates.

ZNE More Mainstream, Researchers Say

Locations of ZNE buildings, in a variety of U.S. climates (source: NBI)

Zero net energy commercial buildings are becoming more mainstream and don't need to cost more to build, according to a recent report from the New Buildings Institute . The report looked at 21 ZNE buildings and 78 zero-energy-capable buildings in the U.S. and Canada, and determined features the buildings shared and any incremental costs.

What they found was that, although the buildings all use highly efficient equipment, there was no super advanced technology that is not commonly known or used. The study also found that there is a growing number of larger ZNE schools and office buildings.

While the buildings studied operate in many climates, they share a few common efficiency strategies, such as natural daylighting, high-efficiency lighting and increased insulation.

Read more about the research study here.