TO ZERO AND BEYOND: Zero Energy Residential Buildings Study. 2016 Inventory of residential projects on the path to zero in the U.S. and Canada

Buildings and their energy use account for 41% of carbon emissions in the United States (DOE 2011). The goals set out at the last United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP22) call for keeping the global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius. In order to meet this imperative, the World Green Building Council (WGBC), in its recently published report, “From Thousands to Billions,” states that all new buildings must operate at net zero carbon by 2030 and 100% of ALL buildings must operate at net zero carbon by 2050. The next few years will be pivotal for the growing zero energy movement, with new cities and states adopting zero energy and zero carbon policies, solar costs plummeting to new record lows, and growing demand globally for zero energy buildings. Lux Research projects zero energy buildings and nearly-zero energy buildings will grow to a $1.3 trillion market by 2025. This illuminates a major market opportunity for the entire construction industry that will be driven and accelerated by NZEC’s collective action efforts