From the Editor
Oh, how times have changed. Even as recently as five years ago, you’d probably hear the majority of architects scoffing at the notion that net-zero energy buildings were possible, much less that they could or should be common practice. Today, at least judging by the amount of chatter about net-zero energy buildings at this month’s American Institute of Architects show, the idea is more than taking root. The AIA’s 2030 Challenge — all commercial buildings will be designed net-zero energy by 2030 — and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s new 220,000-square-foot net-zero energy facility in Boulder, Colo. (which, by the way, was built for $259 / square foot), were both front and center in the educational sessions, as well as on the exhibit floor.

Most interestingly — and more evidence of a sea change in architects’ thinking in just the last few years — a huge part of that chatter at the show focused on the importance of efficient operations in achieving truly net-zero energy buildings. I almost stood up and applauded at one session when an architect said, without trace of irony, “We, as architects, have to consider the life-cycle of buildings.”

One session about outcome-based codes — codes that cover not just how a building is designed, but also how it’s operated (a building must meet a particular ongoing standard, energy use intensity or Energy Star rating, for instance) — began with Jessyca Henderson, AIA’s director of sustainability advocacy, explaining that, “Getting to net-zero energy by 2030 in codes will require a major change.” There’s no question about that, but the fact that net-zero energy was a major focus of a session about codes where the outcome is just as (if not more) important than the design really illustrates the shift in thinking.

This isn’t to say that net-zero energy buildings will be the standard tomorrow. Clearly, Henderson’s right, we have a long way to go. But with designers, engineers and facility managers all on the same page and working on the same goal, it just might be possible that net-zero energy buildings are not as far off as skeptics may think.

What do you think? Do you see net-zero energy buildings as still a stretch goal or a soon-to-be-practical reality?

Cheers,

Greg Zimmerman, editor  

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