So many people say things are #NetZero these days. What does it even mean?
If you tell me your individual building has reached net zero, cool! & I have a lot of questions: Energy or emissions? Over what time scale? What forms of off-site energy or carbon offset purchases allowed?
If you tell me the planet has reached net zero, I know what you mean & I'm celebrating!
Planetary net zero is the goal: humanity’s emission are *no larger* than what can be removed by natural and manmade systems.
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If you think that global #NetZero sounds like the point of #drawdown, you’re right! It’s what we’re working for.
It requires steep emissions cuts, and fast.
The image below from
@globalecoguy shows what it would look like to get there in 2050.
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A #NetZeroEnergy building, also called a zero energy building, is one that “produces enough renewable energy to meet its own annual energy consumption requirements.”
– U.S. Department of Energy, https://www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/articles/common-definition-zero-energy-buildings
Not everyone means the same thing by net zero energy! Ask questions:
1) Is your energy consumption measured as site energy or as source energy?
2) Do you require your renewables to be on-site renewable energy?
3) Do you allow biomass energy or sources that create pollution?
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A #CarbonNeutral building is “one where the design, construction, and operations do not contribute to emissions of greenhouse gases that cause climate change.”
– New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, https://nyserda.ny.gov/All-Programs/Carbon-Neutral-Buildings/Carbon-Neutral-Buildings-State-Fair
For #NetZeroCarbon buildings, “the amount of greenhouse gas they produce is no more than the amount they remove.”
– CBRE, https://www.cbre.com/insights/reports/decarbonizing-commercial-real-estate
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NYSERDA’s Carbon Neutral Buildings Roadmap lays the framework to decarbonize New York’s building stock by 2050. To achieve this goal, the Roadmap recommends a suite of energy efficiency and electrification strategies that improve comfort and indoor air quality in buildings, via the removal of fossil fuel consumption on site.
For net zero carbon or carbon-neutral buildings, ask lots of questions:
1) How are you quantifying emissions throughout the building’s life cycle?
2) How is your building removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere?
Watch out for “offsets”! Why they're problematic: https://drawdown.org/news/insights/the-world-needs-better-climate-pledges
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Still not sure what to make of #NetZero or whether it’s useful for your building?
Here's my perspective on why the concept is important and how it should point us toward the bigger picture of caring for our planet: https://drawdown.org/news/insights/net-zero-is-bigger-than-any-one-building-but-every-building-can-help-us-get-there
#Decarb4Good #NetZeroBuildings #NetZeroBuildingsWeek #BuiltEnvironment
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Amanda Smith
