For Japan homebuilders zero is magic number

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TOKYO — Major homebuilders in Japan are hoping to sell many more net-zero energy houses, that is, homes whose efficient designs and solar panels mean they have a net energy consumption of zero. In some cases, they may even be net energy producers.

Misawa Homes plans to build zero-energy houses for sale on a large scale in fiscal 2017. The company has already introduced homes with high-performance fiberglass insulation and solar panels as standard features in relatively inexpensive houses targeting people in their 30s. Read more…

PACE-D TA Program to Launch a Net-Zero Energy Buildings Portal in July

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Mainstreaming NZEBs in India would require market transformation as well as policy interventions. There is a need for industry, building professionals, and policy makers to collaborate to catalyze, facilitate, and drive the large-scale adoption of NZEBs. While several green building projects are now imbibing , the integration of renewable energy in buildings is still in a nascent stage. There is a need for a concerted effort, proposed here in the form of an alliance to lead this goal of NZEB. The objective of the alliance is to accelerate market development of NZEBs in India, with a vision to facilitate design and construction of affordable NZEBs by 2030.

World’s tallest Passive House tower to be built in Roosevelt Island, New York

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A 26- floor residential passive house building is currently under construction on New York City’s Roosevelt Island for Cornell Tech’s new campus. This new structureexpected to be completed in 2017- will surpass what is currently the world’s tallest passive house building. It has a height of 82 meters and covers an area of 25084 m2. The exterior walls are 35.6 cm thick prefabricated panels insulated with 27.9 cm of mineral wool and triple glazed windows (U-factor = 0.156). The panelised wall system was chosen both to speed up the construction and decrease the number of joints required to be carefully sealed. Heating and cooling will be provided by variable refrigerant flow air-source heat pumps while a centralised energy-recovery ventilator will provide fresh air to, and exhaust stale air from, each apartment. Panelized wall system The building’s $115 million budget.