How does a not-for-profit municipal utility that has committed to eliminate carbon from buildings ensure that its low and moderate income customers aren’t left behind during the transition? This was exactly what the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) set out to do. Previously the utility company had launched the nation’s most aggressive initiatives under uts ‘All-Electric Smart Homes program’ to encourage all electric homes, offering incentives worth upto $5000 for each all-electric new single-family home.

For the low and moderate income households, SUTD outlined a goal of launching a full-fledged low-income electrification program within a year. Through this program, by the end of November, SMUD contractors had installed 105 air-source heat pumps, 13 heat pump water heaters and 10 induction stoves/ranges for low-income households across Sacramento. Further, a study revealed that considering the low electricity rates in California, customers in existing single-family homes who replace gas-burning furnaces and water heaters with electric air-source heat pumps and heat pump water heaters could save up to $750 annually. For customers in existing low-rise multifamily buildings, the shift could result in utility bill savings of around $300 annually.

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Insipred by the Baya weaverbird’s nest, researchers at De Montfort University, Leicester (DMU) have developed a 3D-printed brick made out of plastic waste! Thermal insulation tests showed that the brick has a U-value of 0.25 Watts per metre Kelvin (W/m²K), which is 10 times more effective than a clay brick, which delivers an average of 2.94 W/m²K.

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Branded as one of the worst performers in the Renewable energy (RE) sector, Netherlands is soon turning the tide! Comprising of almost 15 floating islands, more than 70,000 sun tracking solar panels are being built in Netherlands. This is going to be the world’s largest sun-seeking solar farm.The first phase of the project, involving three islands, each of which will be 140 meters in diameter, is due to be finished soon, once the migratory season for birds has come to an end.

Similar projects are underway in Japan, Chile & UK.

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To propel the Net-Zero movement in India, the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is conducting a feasibility analysis for 100 buildings across the country to achieve Net Zero Energy status. The typologies include educational institutions, healthcare, shopping complexes, hospitality, airports, and railway/metro stations. Moreover, the analysis will be conducted free of cost for the building owners.

As per the selection criteria, buildings should have a minimum built-up area of 5,000 square meters with the minimum connected load higher than 100 kW. The contract demand should be greater than 120 kVA or as specified by the state or union territory. Further, on conclusion of the analysis, EDS will generate a comprehensive report detailing out all the energy conservation measures to be undertaken by the building owners to achieve an NZEB facility. However, the buildings are not bound to follow these measures.

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Developed by Founder Cody Friesen, a materials scientist and associate professor at Arizona State University, a solar panel system can generate drinking water sufficient for 2 to 3 people, even in arid conditions. The solar panel converts sunlight to energy, which heats the material inside and creates condensation. Water collects in a 30-liter reservoir which is placed below the panels. Minerals are added to improve taste. Then the water is pumped directly to a household tap or a refrigerator’s fill station.

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Designed by Sasaki Associates, the 50,000 sq.ft John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building at Bristol Community College in Fall River, Massachusetts, is the first net-zero energy academic science building in the Northeast. Intended to be a high performance facility, the project team has pushed the boundaries of energy efficiency to become a net-zero energy (NZE) building. A key question asked by the project team was how can a building achieve net-zero target for an energy-dense program in a cold climate?

The approach taken was a holistic mix of passive and active strategies. Ultimately, the energy efficiency components incorporated in the building reduce the energy consumption by 80% compared to the baseline. Passive features include a Wall-to-Window-Ratio (WWR) ratio of 22%, cooling through natural ventilation and openable windows, optimum orientation to maximize daylight and reduce heat gain, adequate shading systems to cut out glaze and inclusion of a high performance envelope to reduce air leakage and thermal bridging. Active features include reduction of the lighting power density to 0.58 W/sq.ft, dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS), ground source heat pumps etc. To meet the energy requirements, the site plan includes a 3.2 MW solar PV array.

Through these strategies the building has pioneered the concept of pushing the limits of sustainable design while maintaining an occupant-friendly teaching environment.

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Following the footsteps of Australia and the European Union, buildings in New York City will be graded based on their energy efficiency. The main goal is to reduce the GHG emissions of buildings, which account for two-thirds of the emissions of the city. By the beginning of 2020, mid-size and large buildings will be required to submit their annual energy consumption details. Further, they will have to post the grades allotted by the city based on the energy data.

The process would include the submission of energy-use statistics to an online portal developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).The tool will calculate greenhouse emissions by taking into account factors such as building type, number of occupants etc. The buildings will then submit their scores to the city, after which letter grades will be awarded. The grading spectrum will range from ‘A’ to ‘D’ with ‘A’ allotted to highly energy efficient buildings while ‘D’ will indicate energy guzzlers.

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Proceeding rapidly towards the final completion stage, the 15,000 sq.ft building designed by Ashley McGraw for the Sustainable Energy Fund (SEF) challenges conventional thinking towards energy efficiency by generating 130% more energy than it needs. The building is located in the Lehigh Valley town of Schnecksville, PA. Some of the key features of the building include a roof-mounted photovoltaic array, variable refrigerant flow system, daylighting controls, advanced electricity metering, and a solar thermal hot water system. The project aims to showcase the viability of net-zero commercial building to the construction sector.

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Can a fan replace conventional air-conditioning systems to provide space cooling? Backed by Temasek Holdings Private Limited, a bladeless fan developed by the American company ‘Phononic’ reduces the ambient air temperature by 10 deg C and humidity by 15%. The Outdoor Active Cooling in Singapore (OACIS) bladeless fan uses half the energy of an industrial fan, depending on the operating mode and ambient temperature. Further, there is a possibility for OACIS to be integrated into the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems of residential and commercial buildings in future, thereby resulting in further reduction of energy consumption.

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In line with its vision of creating a sustainable organization, the Capgemini campus in Bangalore becomes the first corporate campus in India to achieve the Net-Zero Energy  -Platinum certification from Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

The campus is designed to be climate responsive and incorporates a wide range of sustainable initiatives such as variable refrigerant flow systems and water cooled chillers for comfort air conditioning, a dual feeder electricity supply to reduce diesel generator operations and smart aisle containment for efficient cooling at its data center. To generate on-site renewable energy, a solar plant of 1100kwp with bidirectional energy meters was commissioned. The meters export unused green energy to the local grid during weekends and holidays. The organization has also entered into a long-term agreement for purchase of renewable power from offsite solar and wind farms to meet its energy requirements.

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How feasible is it to pair adorable housing with net-zero energy design? A project in Providence, Rhode Island called ‘Sheridan Small Homes’ is soon going to answer this question. The site plan consists of five houses, each of 750 sq.ft built on a 0.75-acre plot. The project costing $1.4 billion is majorly funded through a program called ‘Zero Energy for the Ocean State’ which is a public-private partnership between Rhode Island Housing, National Grid, and the state Office of Energy Resources.

Some of the features of the houses include triple-glazed windows, 11-inch thick walls, electric heat pumps, highly insulated roofs and PV panels. To enable equal share in the solar generated energy, the managing association will own the solar panels. The project aims to serve as a blueprint for future projects, as the city has identified some 250 vacant, tax-reverted lots that might be suitable for small, affordable homes.

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In line with the Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5° Celsius, New Zealand lawmakers have unanimously approved the ‘Zero Carbon bill’ which commits the country to carbon neutrality by the year 2050. The country is well-poised to meet this target. It generates around 80% of its electricity requirements through renewables and has committed to planting around 1 billion trees by the year 2028. Further, the government is shifting its fleet to electric vehicles and is investing around $14.5 billion into transit, biking and walking infrastructure.

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