Re(de)fining net zero energy: renewable energy balance of environmental building design

Approaching a Net Zero Energy (NZE) building goal based on current definitions is flawed for two principal reasons – they only deal with energy quantities required for operations, and they do not establish a threshold, which ensures that buildings are optimized for reduced consumption before renewable systems are integrated to obtain an energy balance. This paper develops a method to maximize renewable resource use through emergy (spelled with an “m”) analysis. A “Renewable Emergy Balance” (REB) in environmental building design is proposed as a tool to maximize renewable resource use through disinvestment of all non-renewable resources that may be substituted with renewable resources.