SPECIAL FEATURE
the ROI these costs bring is quick and the reduced energy savings last for many years afterwards. “Our customers have reported ROIs in as short as 18 months to a maximum of three years for LED purchases, depending on the application of the LEDs and the use of the building,” Bisberg says. The key to selling the net zero idea is moving
building owners from a commodity to a value-based mindset. “Have them focus more on the ROI many of these technologies bring and value the long-term cost savings more than the short term, up-front costs of analysis, products and construction,” Bis- berg adds. “Additionally, there are the marketing and ‘good will’ publicity benefi ts that society attaches to a company that is visionary enough to construct a net zero building at this time, verses a conventional building or even a LEED one.”
7. Earlier is better. When aiming for net zero, earlier is better. The greatest potential for savings and the most cost- effective strategies often originate in building design. Whether conceiving a building to make use of appropriate solar orientation, or land use planned to minimize transportation distances, a manufactur- ing process development that includes minimizing energy use, it is in the design stage that highly cost-effective strategies for making an impact are selected. Furthermore, such options, when ignored, represent “lost opportunities” that are impossible or cost prohibitive to achieve later in a project’s life. It is in the design stage when the energy
performance of and interaction between inter- related building components creates opportunities
to build net zero buildings economically. Integrating building component energy performance creates tradeoffs that can pay for substantial performance improvements without dramatically increasing cost to build. This is what is commonly called a "whole building" approach to design. “Unfortunately, for many contractors this whole
building design approach takes them out of their comfort zone, as they rely heavily on individual suppliers for recommendations and design advice, and the suppliers may not be excited about making trade-offs that reduce their share of the project,” says Justin Harkins, national sales manager at Thermal Design Inc., Stoughton, Wis. “As a result, attempts at net zero buildings are often limited to very high-end projects that can budget for substan- tial independent engineering costs.” Thermal Design offers Simple Saver Synergy
Design services to metal building contractors that allow them to perform rapid design analysis, make design tradeoffs, estimate cost differences, calcu- late energy savings, simulate energy consumption, and facilitate energy related government and utility incentives for the project.
8. They’re becoming required. The California Energy Commission (CEC) is requir- ing residential buildings in California to be net zero energy by 2020 and commercial buildings by 2030. California’s action plan offers common-sense strategies for moving the market toward net zero energy performance. Raising minimum energy per- formance through codes, expanding energy codes to address all energy end uses, developing fi nancial
tools for supporting net zero energy construction, and supporting integrated design are all mentioned as strategies for new construction. For existing buildings, the action plan suggests tightening code thresholds, requiring energy and carbon emissions labeling, and supporting occupant feedback and training. Several California utilities are already work- ing on pilot projects and local governments are already adopting standards more stringent than the state standards. A number of countries and regions have al-
ready established long-term targets and regulations requiring zero energy building construction that will come into effect over the coming years, some as soon as 2016. In the European Union, a March 2009 resolution requires that, by 2019, all newly constructed buildings produce as much energy as they consume on-site. These stringent regulations will accelerate adoption around the world, causing the industry to undergo a signifi cant transformation in the coming years. According to a new report from Pike Research,
worldwide revenue from zero energy buildings will grow rapidly over the next two decades, reach- ing almost $690 billion by 2020 and nearly $1.3 trillion by 2035. That represents a compound an- nual growth rate of 43 percent, with much of that growth occurring in the European Union. “Following the surge in LEED and other green
building certifi cations worldwide over the last few years, zero energy building has emerged as the ‘holy grail’ in green building design,” says research analyst Eric Bloom. “Technically, zero energy build- ing design is feasible for many building types in
Preheating outside air before it enters the building lowers energy consumption to help produce net zero buildings. (Photo courtesy of ATAS International Inc.)
Many different elements make the Oberlin College & Conservatory’s Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies a very successful net zero green building. (Photo courtesy of Oberlin College & Conservatory)
22 METAL CONSTRUCTION NEWS June 2012
www.metalconstructionnews.com
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