Charting a Path to Net Zero Energy: Public-Private Sector Perspectives of the Commercial Buildings Consortium

Abstract

Transforming the commercial buildings market to become "net-zero-energy-capable" will require dramatically lower levels of energy use sector wide. A comprehensive and concerted industry effort, partnering with utilities and government, must be sufficient in scale to influence the more than 600 billion dollar per year spent on commercial new construction, renovation, and energy bills by fundamentally reinventing today's standard "design- build-operate" building delivery process as an integrated system throughout a building's life cycle. In response to this need, in 2007 Congress called for creation of a Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) as a joint effort by the US Department of Energy (DOE), building owners and developers, states, utilities, and other stakeholders to develop and implement a multi-year agenda to transform the market through coordinated technology development, demonstration, and deployment. Since 2009, the CBC has attracted over 500 members, many of whom contributed actively, through 12 working groups, in developing two major reports released in early 2011. Next Generation Technologies Barriers and Industry Recommendations and an Analysis of Cost and Non-cost Barriers and Policy Solutions. This paper reviews the concept of net-zero energy (NZE) buildings and where we stand today. We discuss some of the near-term actions and longer- term strategies needed to accelerate technology innovation; make today's best practices tomorrow's business-as-usual; and deliver dramatically lower levels of energy use along with high-quality, healthy, and pleasant indoor environments that are resilient, adaptable, durable, and grid-responsive - while achieving market-accepted economics.