Hub: Getting to Zero
Biden administration ramps up efforts to reduce carbon footprint of buildings
News / October 12, 2021
Published by IHS Markit: The Biden administration has devoted a significant amount of attention to the building sector as part of its efforts to reduce US carbon emissions. Led by the Department of Energy (DOE), these programs seek to revive...
Bipartisan Coalition’s New K-12 Climate Action Plan Says Net-Zero Schools, Infrastructure Changes are Key to Mitigating Climate Change
News / September 28, 2021
Published by The 74: A new bipartisan coalition with some high-profile education leaders has released an action plan outlining how the sector can model climate change solutions. Recommendations include ways schools can reduce carbon emissions, utilize infrastructure as a teaching...
An Insider’s Guide to Talking about Carbon Neutral Buildings
News / September 23, 2021
About the Webinar: The building sector is shifting from decades of regulation and programmatic oriented on energy efficiency (kWh and therms) to governmental plans centered on carbon and greenhouse gas emission reductions (CO2e). While energy and carbon metrics are related,...
Low-Carbon Concrete: A Vital Challenge for Decarbonization
News / September 22, 2021
Published by Energy and Clime Partnership of the Americas: The average school or apartment building or skyscraper positively hums with energy, as occupants turn on air conditioners, fire up furnaces, or power an array of appliances, machines, and devices. All...
Getting to Zero Twitter Chat: Engaging the Next Generation to Achieve our Climate Goals
Event / September 20, 2021
The 2021 Getting to Zero Forum is happening this October 27-29, and we're excited to highlight the ways our industry can work with the next generation to continue valuable decarbonization work. Join us on Twitter, Monday, September 20th at 11…
An Insider’s Guide to Talking about Carbon Neutral Buildings
Guideline / September 8, 2021
The Insider’s Guide to Talking About Carbon Neutral Buildings presents a common language and framework to align market ideas around what it means to design, construct, and operate buildings that contribute little or no carbon emissions. This document explains the…
Biden Pushes To Curtail Emissions from Healthcare Facilities
News / September 8, 2021
Published by Healthcare Facilities Today: The Biden administration recently launched a new health office that will prod hospitals to cut carbon emissions, aiming to provide greener, more environmentally friendly medical care, according to the Associated Press. The new Office of Climate...
An Insider’s Guide to Talking about Carbon Neutral Buildings
Webinar / September 23, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am PDT
The building sector is shifting from decades of regulation and programmatic oriented on energy efficiency (kWh and therms) to governmental plans centered on carbon and greenhouse gas emission reductions (CO2e). While energy and carbon metrics are related, they are not…
Getting to Zero Twitter Chat: Building Momentum to Decarbonization
Event / August 20, 2021 @ 11:00 am - 12:00 pm PDT
The 2021 Getting to Zero Forum is happening this October 27-29, and we're excited to start sharing some of the topics we'll be touching on at the event. Join us on Twitter, Friday August 20th at 11 am PDT /…
Net Zero Homes: Your Guide to the Greenest Housing Option
News / July 30, 2021
Published by HomeLight: Buildings account for 40% of all energy consumption in the U.S. annually, with the residential sector accounting for as much as 21% of that figure. For the eco-minded, this is concerning. But what if there was a way for...
Students join Next Gen cohort to learn about getting to zero in the built environment
Post / July 19, 2021
This blog was originally published on newbuildingsin.wpenginepowered.com on July 9, 2021. NBI is excited to welcome 20 students from college campuses across the United States and Canada to the inaugural cohort of the Next Gen program. Next Gen was designed...
Partner Event: NEEP Summit Sessions 2021
Event / September 20, 2021 - September 22, 2021
As NEEP celebrates 25 years of partnerships to accelerate building energy efficiency across the region, their Summit Series 2021 will highlight climate stabilization and resiliency, affordability and equity, economic recovery and growth, and public health and wellbeing. Climate Stabilization and…
Partner Event: Michigan Energy Summit
Event / August 12, 2021
The 2021 Michigan Energy Summit will recognize and celebrate competitors of the Michigan Battle of the Buildings ‘biggest loser’ competition. Building Owners and Managers have faced significant challenges since the pandemic began but there’s been no shortage of innovators and…
Jurisdictions Prepare for a Wave of Embodied Carbon Policies
Post / June 17, 2021
Third-party rating systems like LEED have put pressure on building product manufacturers to disclose details about the environmental impacts of their products. In just the past 16 months alone, the environmental product declarations (EPDs) for concrete within the Embodied Carbon...
Net-Zero Energy Isn’t the Real Goal: 8 Reasons Why
News / June 14, 2021
Published by BuildingGreen: The U.S. is now adding renewable energy generation faster than any other source, which is putting us on a path to rapidly decarbonize the electric grid. In some parts of the U.S., the grid is already relatively...
Podcast: How Zero-Energy Buildings Fight Climate Change and Can Save Us Money
News / June 7, 2021
Published by Great.com: Keeping the lights on, the rooms warm and our machines whirring comes at a cost. A massive 40 percent of the energy the USA consumes goes towards keeping its buildings running. In this episode of the “Great.com...
Continuing Education: Zero Energy Houses
News / June 2, 2021
Published by Architectural Record: By now this salient fact has been hammered into architects’ heads: buildings account for nearly 40 percent of carbon emissions. But most professionals don’t know how to change that number fast. One straightforward solution is to...
Getting to Zero: Grid-Integrated Buildings
Webinar / April 29, 2021
The role of buildings and the grid is changing as historic grid infrastructure strains to handle more centralized and distributed renewable resources, electric vehicles, and smart systems. Growing trends toward all-electric technology deployment further challenge grid health. But solutions are…
Industry Titans Roundtable – Getting to Zero in the Building Sector by 2030
Webinar / April 22, 2021
Zero energy and carbon neutral pledges from leading building industry organizations are accelerating the AEC community toward zero. US Green Building Council, ASHRAE, Urban Land Institute, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and other industry titans have committed to progressing…
Why K-12 Should Feature in America’s National Climate Strategy
Paper / April 21, 2021
This white paper by UndauntedK12, New Buildings Institute, and the Coalition for Climate Education Policy offers a national perspective on the urgent role that our K-12 sector must play in our national climate strategy. In particular, we urge state and…
Industry Titans Roundtable – Getting to Zero in the Building Sector by 2030
Webinar / April 22, 2021 @ 8:00 am - 9:00 am PDT
Zero energy and carbon neutral pledges from leading building industry organizations are accelerating the AEC community toward zero. US Green Building Council, ASHRAE, Urban Land Institute, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and other industry titans have committed to progressing…
Checking in on State Energy Code Progress Toward Zero Energy
Post / April 14, 2021
ACEEE’s 2020 State Energy Efficiency Scorecard was released in December with California reclaiming the number one spot from Massachusetts. This is based on five categories including utility and public benefits, transportation, building energy efficiency, state initiatives, and appliance standards, according...
New Partnership Aims to Accelerate Net Zero Buildings Worldwide
News / April 6, 2021
Published by Environment + Energy Leader: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and New Buildings Institute (NBI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship. The agreement — signed last month — defines how...
WBCSD and NBI Sign MOU to Advance Net Zero Buildings
News / April 2, 2021
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and New Buildings Institute (NBI) have signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) formalizing the organizations’ relationship. The agreement signed last month defines how the two organizations will collaborate to advance and promote energy...
The Time for a Net Zero Building Boom Is Now
News / March 26, 2021
Publish by Urban Land Magazine: The cascading effects of climate change demand a new approach to how buildings are developed and managed. In the past two years, the number of net-zero-energy (NZE) commercial buildings in the United States has increased...
Getting to Zero: Buildings Case Study Jam
Webinar / March 25, 2021
Prime examples of net zero buildings are found across the country and total over 700 verified and emerging projects, according to NBI tracking. This webinar features some of the best buildings to date with a Case Study Jam format that…
Getting to Zero: Grid-Integrated Buildings
Webinar / April 29, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 pm PDT / Integrated Solutions
The role of buildings and the grid is changing as historic grid infrastructure strains to handle more centralized and distributed renewable resources, electric vehicles, and smart systems. Growing trends toward all-electric technology deployment further challenge grid health. But solutions are…
Utility Administrators Share Expertise on Zero Energy Programs
Post / March 17, 2021
Urgency to address climate change, along with policy and market forces trending toward a smart, flexible grid, has led a growing number of utility efficiency program administrators to consider ways to increase support for energy-efficient, zero energy buildings. With the...
Denver Shows Leadership With Net Zero Energy Plan
Post / March 5, 2021
The City and County of Denver recently released a comprehensive plan to achieve net zero energy (NZE) in new buildings and homes by 2030, one of many initiatives being taking to meet the jurisdiction’s goal of an 80% reduction in...
An Architecture Firm’s Push to Build Net-Zero Apartments—On a Budget
News / February 5, 2021
Published by The Wall Street Journal: Onion Flats, the Philadelphia-based architecture-and-building firm behind Front Flats, is at the forefront of designing low-cost buildings that use design, mechanical equipment and residents’ behavior to slash fossil fuel consumption. Mark Lyles, a project...