The US Department of Energy (DOE) NZE classifications and definitions are used by the majority of the design practice nationwide.
Achieving Net Zero: The Future of School Design
Designing more sustainable buildings is not a new concept. Leveraging the built environment to protect the natural world has been a modern industry focus since the 1970s, originating from the birth of the Green Building Movement. Followed by a second-generation movement in the 1990s and 2000s—in part supported by new LEED rating systems—the built environment has further evolved to incorporate the following considerations: active and embodied carbon reduction, materials transparency, health, wellness, and resiliency towards climate change adaptiveness. Significantly, successful implementations of these strategies have been envisioned through a holistic design approach.
Today’s most urgent facet of green design involves Net Zero Energy (NZE), meaning a building is designed to produce as much energy as it consumes over the course of a year. To see NZE strategies applied in impressive and accomplished ways, we need to look no further than our local Massachusetts school buildings. With K-12 design at the forefront of the growing NZE movement, we should ask ourselves: