Net Zero and Passive homes are the ultimate in sustainable building and is the cutting-edge progression of where home building can go. In the 21st century, building science and technology have united and the old models of home building are quickly fading. We couldn’t be happier about that since The Green Cocoon is a green company that strives to make little to no negative impact on the environment.
What Is Net Zero?
Zero net energy (ZNE) building, also known as zero-energy building (ZE), and net-zero energy building (NZEB), is a building with zero net energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy created on the site, or in other definitions by renewable energy sources offsite. In some cases, these buildings consequently contribute less greenhouse gas overall to the atmosphere during operations than similar non-ZNE buildings.1One of the easiest ways to attain a net zero energy home is by following the design principles of the Passive House standard.2 Homes designed to this standard consume 90% less energy than a home built to code standards today!
What Is a Passive House?
“Passive building comprises a set of design principles used to attain a quantifiable and rigorous level of energy efficiency within a specific measurable comfort level.” A passive building is designed and built in accordance with these five building-science principles:
Employs continuous insulation throughout its entire envelope without any thermal bridging.
The building envelope is extremely airtight, preventing infiltration of outside air and loss of conditioned air.
Employs high-performance windows (double or triple-paned windows depending on climate and building type) and doors – solar gain is managed to exploit the sun’s energy for heating purposes in the heating season and to minimize overheating during the cooling season.
Uses some form of balanced heat- and moisture-recovery ventilation.
Uses a minimal space conditioning system.
TGC can proudly say that we have worked with home builders from all over New England who are building Net Zero homes.
If you need insulation for your next project, contact us!
[1] Wikipedia.com (2020). Zero-energy buildings, retrieved from en.wikipedia.org.
[2] Passive House Institute US (2020). Passive House Principles, retrieved from phius.org