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Net Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) have received increased attention in recent years as a result of constant concerns about energy supply constraints, decreasing energy resources, increasing energy costs and the rising impact of greenhouse gases on world climate. Promoting whole building strategies that employ passive measures together with energy efficient systems and technologies using renewable energy became a European political strategy following the publication of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive recast in May 2010 by the European Parliament and Council. However designing successful NZEBs represents a challenge because the definitions are somewhat generic while assessment methods and monitoring approaches remain under development and the literature is relatively scarce about the best sets of solutions for different typologies and climates likely to deliver an actual and reliable performance in terms of energy balance (consumed vs generated) on a cost-effective basis. Additionally the lessons learned from existing NZEB examples are relatively scarce. The authors of this paper, who are participants in the IEA SHC Task 40-ECBCS Annex 52, “Towards Net Zero Energy Solar Buildings”, are willing to share insights from on-going research work on some best practice leading NZEB residential buildings. Although there is no standard approach for designing a Net Zero-Energy Building (there are many different possible combinations of passive and efficient active measures, utility equipment and on-site energy generation technologies able to achieve the net-zero energy performance), a close examination of the chosen strategies and the relative performance indicators of the selected case studies reveal that it is possible to achieve zero-energy performance using well known strategies adjusted so as to balance climate driven-demand for space heating/cooling, lighting, ventilation and other energy uses with climate-driven supply from renewable energy resources.

The purpose of this study is the development of the theoretical fundament of zero-point energy conversion, together with a description of its experimental verification.

The theoretical approach is based on quantum theory, its experimental verification uses a design within electrodynamics.

The new finding is a value for the energy density of the electromagnetic zero-point waves of the quantum vacuum, as far as they can be utilised to operate an energy converter.

The energy density of the zero-point waves defines a principle limitation to the output power of zero-point engines.

The paper demonstrates the fundamental basis for zero-point energy motors at all. Furthermore, it shows how to convert this type of energy into electrical or mechanical energy for practical utilisation in aerospace applications and in many other applications.

The zero-point energy of the quantum vacuum is a new source of energy, which is an important contribution to solve the energy problem. It gives clean energy, inexhaustible, available everywhere at a low price.

The calculation of the energy density of the electromagnetic zero-point waves is new.

The purpose of this study is to systematically review the state-of-art literature on the net-zero economy in the field of supply chain management.

A systematic literature review of 79 articles published from 2009 to 2021 has been conducted to minimise the researchers' bias and maximise the reliability and replicability of the study.

The thematic analysis reveals that studies in the field of net-zero economy have mostly been done on decarbonisation in the supply chain, emission control and life cycle analysis and environmental and energy management. The findings highlight the strong positive association between digitalisation, circular economy and resources optimization practices with net-zero economy goals. The study also addresses the challenges linked with the net-zero economy at the firm and country levels.

Practitioners in companies and academics might find this review valuable as this study reviews, classifies and analyses the studies, outlines the evolution of literature and offers directions for future studies using the theory, methodology and context (TMC) framework.

This is the first study that uses a structured approach to analyse studies done in the net-zero field by assessing publications from 2009 to 2021.

The amount of energy consumption of buildings has obtained international concern so the concept of zero energy building becomes a target for building designers. There are various definitions and evaluation methods for efficient buildings. However, detailed research about the critical parameters that have a major effect through the operational time to reduce the energy consumption is not emphasized as this paper represents. The main aim of this study is to identify the effect of applicable interventions on energy consumption parameters with their sensitivity to each other to reach zero energy building. Relatedly, the cost of energy reduction is also determined.

Energy consumption parameters were defined as area lightings, space heating, space cooling, ventilation fans, pumps, auxiliary equipment and related miscellaneous equipment. The effect of each applied intervention on energy consumption was classified as high, medium, low, very low, no effect and negative effect by utilizing a sensitivity analysis. The base case's energy model is created by utilizing energy performance software such as e-Quest. Accordingly, energy performance improvement scenarios are developed by applying interventions such as lamp replacements, sensors, heat pumps and photovoltaic panels’ integration. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses of each intervention were developed for consumed energy and its cost.

Results indicated the electric consumption is more effective than gas consumption on primary energy and energy cost. Solar systems decline primary energy by 78.53%, lighting systems by 13.47% and heat pump by 5.48% in this building; therefore, integrating mentioned strategies could rise the improvement rate to 100%, in other words, zero amount of energy is using from the grid that means saving $ 5,750.39 in one year.

The study can be applied to similar buildings. It is worthwhile to investigate suggested methods in diverse buildings with different functions and climates in future works.

This study aims to investigate of energy consumption of an educational building in the Mediterranean climate to convert an existing building into a zero energy building by saving energy and renewable sources. Subsequent purposes are analyzing the effect of each strategy on energy consumption and cost.

The novelty of this study is filling gaps in sensitivity analysis of energy consumption parameters by not only identifying their effect on overall energy consumption but also identifying their effect on each other. Some interventions may have a positive effect on overall consumption while having a negative effect on each other. Identifying this critical effect in detail not only further improves the energy performance, but also may affect the decision-making of the interventions.

The purpose of this study is to design a zero-energy home, which is known to be capable of balancing its own energy production and consumption close to zero. Development of low-energy homes and zero-net energy houses (ZEHs) is vital to move toward energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment. To achieve zero or low energy targets in homes, it is essential to use the design process that minimizes the need for active mechanical systems.

The methodology discussed in this paper consists of an interfacing building information modeling (BIM) tool and a simulation software to determine the potential influence of phase change materials on designing zero-net energy homes.

BIM plays a key role in advancing methods for architects and designers to communicate through a common software platform, analyze energy performance through all stages of the design and construction process and make decisions for improving energy efficiency in the built environment.

This paper reviews the literature relevant to the role of BIM in helping energy simulation for the performance of residential homes to more advanced levels and in modeling the integrated design process of ZEHs.

This study aims to provide an example of how higher education institutions (HEIs) can use a successful campus infrastructure project to fund a student- and faculty-led, community-success platform that advances the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The authors applied conceptual models for systems thinking and creating virtuous cycles to analyze Millersville University’s work to establish a community-impact, micro-grant fund using cost savings and utility rebates associated with a new campus zero-energy building. The analysis provides a case study that other HEIs can implement to create university and community virtuous cycles that advance the SDGs.

The case study suggests that as HEIs face increasing financial challenges, opportunities exist to capitalize on philanthropic giving and other funding sources to support community prosperity and increase university vitality through a shared responsibility paradigm centered on the SDGs.

This case study identifies specific funding sources that HEIs can use to fund campus and community sustainability projects using the SDG framework, mechanisms for establishing shared purpose around that impact and a conceptual model for thinking about opportunities to leverage philanthropic giving to create a virtuous cycle that increases university vitality through community impact.

Constructing a campus zero energy building funded in part through philanthropic giving provided a unique opportunity to explore how a project’s success can be leveraged to create additional community successes. This case study offers an example for how to convert one success into a platform that funds projects that have direct community impact in one or more of the SDG goal areas.

This paper aims at bridging the gap between theoretical frameworks for community sustainable development and descriptive-only case studies by using a case study to demonstrate a conceptual model or framework for advancing community sustainability (Karatzoglou, 2013). The case study provides a unique model for using utility rebates associated with an infrastructure project that was funded through philanthropic giving to establish a fund for projects that support the community. Utility rebates associated with campus energy efficiency projects are often otherwise overlooked, used to fund additional energy efficiency projects or simply returned to a university’s operating budget. For some HEIs, this model may connect the work of facilities staff to student success in ways that have not previously been explored. For others, this alternative use of utility rebates may offer an opportunity to increase the investment value of utility rebate dollars by creating virtuous cycles within their communities that contribute to university vitality.

In recent years, there have been a growing number of projects and initiatives to promote the development and market introduction of low and net-zero energy solar homes and communities. These projects integrate active solar technologies to highly efficient houses to achieve very low levels of net-energy consumption. Although a reduction in the energy use of residential buildings can be achieved by relatively simple individual measures, to achieve very high levels of energy savings on a cost effective basis requires the coherent application of several measures, which together optimise the performance of the complete building system. This article examines the design process used to achieve high levels of energy performance in residential buildings. It examines the current design processes for houses used in a number of international initiatives. The research explores how building designs are optimised within the current design processes and discusses how the application of computerised optimisation techniques would provide architects, home-builders, and engineers with a powerful design tool for low and net-zero energy solar buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to propose building code changes that would benefit both architectural design and the potential of achieving nearly zero energy goals by analyzing the architectural implications of the energy system boundaries within the Swedish code.

The analysis is driven by three questions that relate the national implementation of EU directive on nearly zero energy 2020 to the premises set out in the guidelines for revising the Swedish building code aiming at a performance-based regulation. A crucial part of the research is a comparative analysis of the design implications of the code to research findings in scientific articles on near-zero energy or low-energy design.

The energy system boundaries in the Swedish code are steering the architectural design and energy consequences of offices towards using less heat but more electricity. The energy section is also limiting the architectural design choices by ignoring the positive energy aspects of daylight. A proposal of a new comprehensive energy section taking all architectural design related energy aspects into account is presented, in order to support design of nearly zero energy buildings.

A building code that relates the energy system boundaries to form will help integrated design choices that are more likely to support the strive towards nearly zero energy buildings.

The paper reveals the design implication of the Swedish energy section to be counterproductive regarding energy efficiency as well as limiting architectural design choices.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the feasibility and design of zero-energy buildings (ZEBs) in cold and semi-arid climates. In this study, to maximize the use of renewable energy, energy consumption is diminished using passive solar architecture systems and techniques.

The case study is a residential building with a floor area of 100 m² and four inhabitants in the cold and semi-arid climate, northeast of Iran. For thermal simulation, the climate data such as air temperature, sunshine hours, wind, precipitation and hourly sunlight, are provided from the meteorological station and weather databases of the region. DesignBuilder software is applied for simulation and dynamic analysis of the building, as well as PVsyst software to design and evaluate renewable energy performance.

The simulation results show a 30% decrease in annual energy consumption of the building by complying with the principles of passive design (optimal selection of direction, Trombe wall, shade, proper insulation selection) from 25,443 kWh to 17,767 kWh. Then, the solar energy photovoltaic (PV) system is designed using PVsyst software, taking into account the annual energy requirement and the system’s annual energy yield is estimated to be 26,291 kWh.

The adaptive comparison of the values obtained from the energy analysis indicated that constructing a ZEB is feasible in cold and semi-arid conditions and is considered an effective step to achieve sustainable and environmentally friendly construction.

In 2016 all new houses in England and Wales must be zero carbon. To date most work in zero carbon housing has been carried out on detached family housing typologies. Practice has shown that one of the overriding factors in the struggle to achieve zero carbon status (Code for Sustainable Homes Level 6) is the projected significant increase in construction cost. While grant funding can offset some of this increase, further costs savings will be required to allow developers to deliver affordable homes within reasonable profit margins. One result of this will be a reduction in design quality; which will impact on the quality of the spaces provided and the robustness and longevity of the construction and finishes. In order to deliver better design standards, higher density attached family housing models should be considered to ensure that a proportion of the projected increase in cost of the building fabric can be transferred to the internal volume of the house, thus achieving better quality living spaces. The following paper reviews the context for future housing provision in the UK and examines two existing medium density terraced housing developments. The existing examples reflect two contrasting approaches: one derived from low-energy principles utilising minimum space standards, the other reflecting the need for high quality spaces but at premium cost. A new medium density terrace model is proposed that deals with these conflicting demands to demonstrate that it is possible to provide affordable, high quality, higher density, family housing whilst meeting low energy targets.