Within its program areas, NBI focuses on three strategic markets that hold the highest promise for our work to catalyze change and positively impact the energy outcomes for targeted building stock.
NBI’s research shows the number of zero energy educational facilities has more than doubled since 2014 – and most of those joining our Zero Energy Schools list are K-12 schools. NBI is working to help K-12 schools get on the path to zero energy, and even zero carbon, by transforming all new school construction and 50% of existing K-12 schools to zero energy by 2035. NBI can help a school district of any size, anywhere in the country, with consultative and educational support for local school designers, builders, and school administration at the state and local level.
Learn moreBuildings across the country are adding wind turbines, solar panels, battery storage and other energy technology in an effort to tackle impacts of climate change. These renewable power resources are revolutionary, but present a risk to the nation’s power grid. For more than a century, the grid flowed only one way, from the large centralized (and likely fossil-fueled) power plant to the customer.
Why is this no longer reality? With the proliferation of renewable solar panels on homes and buildings across the country, power now flows both ways, which can lead to challenges in power grid operation. These challenges range from increased utility costs, to wasted energy, to brownouts or blackouts.
Cities, states and other governmental entities have immense power to cut carbon emissions for everyone. Between the nearly 10 billion square feet1 of commercial real estate that governments own and their responsibility to determine how all buildings are constructed, the potential savings they can create is enormous. But, these savings are only achievable if governments adopt and widely champion zero energy/zero carbon building techniques.
New Buildings Institute envisions a future where every government building is zero energy with significant carbon reduction benefits. The transformation of jurisdictions’ built environment to zero energy could save more than 88 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (the equivalent of taking 20 million cars off the road for a year.) We are currently working with a number of state and local
With the passing of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, 2022 will be a big year for energy efficiency, building codes and grid modernization. As we make gains in energy efficiency, and continue to add more intermittent renewables to our...
While the average person might not think about it when turning on the faucet, changing the way you heat water in your home or business could drastically reduce your carbon footprint. Water heating accounts for a large share of the...
We are optimists, and a new year offers opportunities for inspiration and hope. Our current challenges seem unrelenting. But even as we battle several emergencies all at once, we see bright spots of opportunity for necessary and significant progress to...
With buildings currently representing 39% of U.S. carbon emissions from operational and embodied sources, jurisdictions look toward advanced building codes and policies as critical and urgent strategies for meeting their climate goals. Despite overwhelming support from public bodies, recent efforts...
