Name: The benefits and challenges of net-zero energy buildings
Uploaded: 2023-10-24T16:23:08.251Z
Duration: 383.52

The challenges associated with net-zero energy V2.mp4

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Greenbuild 365

The challenges associated with net-zero energy V2-1.vtt

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{{00:00:00}}
It's nice to think about a single building

{{00:00:03}}
communities and regions being net zero.

{{00:00:16}}
Today, we're joined by Chris Schaffner,
founder and CEO of Green Engineer.

{{00:00:19}}
Thanks so much for joining us, Chris.

{{00:00:21}}
Thanks.

{{00:00:21}}
I'm happy to be here.

{{00:00:22}}
And today we're going to talk
about net zero energy buildings

{{00:00:24}}
or zero energy buildings.

{{00:00:26}}
So can we start first of all,
just by defining what that means?

{{00:00:29}}
The general idea of a net zero
energy building is that over

{{00:00:33}}
the course of the year, produces
as much energy as it consumes.

{{00:00:37}}
So it may be that during the summer,
it's producing excess energy and

{{00:00:41}}
in the winter, it's consuming more.

{{00:00:42}}
But at the end of the year, the
meter reads zero, and that's how

{{00:00:46}}
you define a net zero building.

{{00:00:48}}
And then there are different variations
based on what kind of renewable energy

{{00:00:52}}
you're using and where it's coming from.

{{00:00:54}}
Some people consider offsite
renewables to be a part of net zero,

{{00:00:59}}
others have a stricter definition.

{{00:01:02}}
What are the basics though?

{{00:01:03}}
How do you go about building
that sort of building?

{{00:01:05}}
So the key of a net zero building
is it's two steps, right?

{{00:01:08}}
So the first is making your energy
consumption as low as possible.

{{00:01:12}}
It's not going to work if you don't
have a very efficient building.

{{00:01:15}}
You can't just take a very
inefficient building and stick a

{{00:01:19}}
bunch of solar panels on the roof.

{{00:01:21}}
So you drive the energy
consumption as low as you can go.

{{00:01:25}}
And then you make up what's left
with renewable energy on site.

{{00:01:29}}
Most commonly that's done with
solar, but there are other options

{{00:01:33}}
available depending on your location.

{{00:01:35}}
People can do wind or small
scale hydro and things like a

{{00:01:38}}
mill, but usually it's solar.

{{00:01:41}}
And are there any particularly famous
examples of those sort of buildings?

{{00:01:44}}
One in particular is the new
building at Boston University-

{{00:01:49}}
the Centre for Computing and data
Sciences, which is about a 320,000

{{00:01:54}}
square foot academic building.

{{00:01:58}}
And it is completely electric powered by,
heated and cooled by ageothermal energy.

{{00:02:05}}
And it's considered net zero.

{{00:02:07}}
Now, the way that BU does net zero is they
actually are generating renewable energy

{{00:02:13}}
somewhere offsite and connecting that
production to the building consumption.

{{00:02:20}}
A different example that we also
worked on at a smaller scale.

{{00:02:23}}
If you're familiar with Walden
Pond, we worked on the visitor's

{{00:02:26}}
center for Walden Pond.

{{00:02:27}}
It's a small building and that is, again,
a very efficient building, all electric.

{{00:02:31}}
And then it has solar both on the
roof of the building and also in

{{00:02:35}}
the parking area of the building.

{{00:02:36}}
And so it actually produces much more
energy than it consumes just on site.

{{00:02:40}}
So that would be an example of an
on site net-zero energy building.

{{00:02:43}}
And are there any particular sort of,
you mentioned a few feats of engineering

{{00:02:47}}
there, but particularly innovative design
or engineering things that need to go into

{{00:02:50}}
or do go into net zero energy buildings?

{{00:02:53}}
First of all, they're all electric.

{{00:02:54}}
We're trying to be all electric.

{{00:02:55}}
It's hard to zero out the fossil fuels.

{{00:02:58}}
So using heat pumps is very important.

{{00:03:01}}
And once we're using heat pumps,
a lot of projects look at using

{{00:03:04}}
a ground source heat pumps or
sometimes that's called geothermal.

{{00:03:07}}
That's really the most efficient way
you can heat with electricity and in

{{00:03:10}}
a cold climate, like where I live.

{{00:03:13}}
It's very important that
you are heating efficiently.

{{00:03:16}}
Another feature of many Net Zero buildings
is a very robust building envelope.

{{00:03:21}}
So they really make the
buildings very airtight.

{{00:03:24}}
We use very high performance glazing,
sometimes triple glazing, more insulation

{{00:03:30}}
than building codes would require.

{{00:03:31}}
And there's a lot of attention to detail
to make sure things like thermal bridges

{{00:03:35}}
don't exist in the building envelope.

{{00:03:37}}
And what about, I mean, you sort of
mentioned some of them there, but what are

{{00:03:39}}
the main challenges with kind of building
and maintaining a building like that?

{{00:03:43}}
The main challenges for building
and maintaining, I think, first

{{00:03:46}}
of all, sometimes you have
some unfamiliar technology.

{{00:03:48}}
So both from a builder's perspective and
a designer's perspective, and then also

{{00:03:53}}
from the owner, we often see an owner has
got people on staff who are comfortable

{{00:04:00}}
with working with furnaces and boilers
and other gas equipment, but now they've

{{00:04:04}}
got variable refrigerant flow heat pumps
that they've never worked on before, and

{{00:04:08}}
they need to learn how to do that, or
sometimes the owner might need to change

{{00:04:14}}
the way they service their building.

{{00:04:16}}
So that's definitely a challenge.

{{00:04:18}}
I think the potential costs, especially
the upfront costs, are a challenge

{{00:04:23}}
for a lot of building owners as well.

{{00:04:25}}
And what about, I mean, we're talking
about new buildings here, but can you

{{00:04:27}}
retrofit an older building to be net zero?

{{00:04:30}}
Well, there's no reason that you can't,
you know, the same principles apply.

{{00:04:33}}
We need to drive down the energy
consumption and then find a

{{00:04:36}}
source of renewable energy.

{{00:04:38}}
An older building will have
some challenges because it may

{{00:04:41}}
be harder to bring it up to a
very high level of efficiency.

{{00:04:45}}
Some older buildings, it's not simple
to put things like solar on the roof

{{00:04:48}}
because the structure may not be
designed for that, but it can be done.

{{00:04:51}}
And I think in that case, people
with existing buildings are often

{{00:04:56}}
looking at offsite solutions for
the renewable part of it as well.

{{00:05:01}}
And how about the future?

{{00:05:02}}
I mean, at the moment, presumably very
few buildings are net zero energy.

{{00:05:05}}
You know, could we get to a point where
all buildings are net zero energy?

{{00:05:09}}
Well, yeah, that's the goal, right?

{{00:05:11}}
So we need to, in fact, get to that point
where we're not emitting carbon from

{{00:05:15}}
our buildings through their operations
and ultimately through the materials

{{00:05:19}}
that go into the buildings as well.

{{00:05:20}}
So part of that is going to be the
grid, how the buildings are served.

{{00:05:23}}
The electric grid is going to
get cleaner and greener and

{{00:05:26}}
we use more renewable sources.

{{00:05:28}}
So ultimately, I think it's nice to think
about a single building being net zero,

{{00:05:32}}
but we need to think about communities
and regions being net zero and that's done

{{00:05:38}}
through a combination of electrification.

{{00:05:41}}
So we're never going to
zero out the fossil fuels.

{{00:05:43}}
If you're burning gas, you're
always going to be emitting carbon.

{{00:05:46}}
And then in order for us to
electrify, we need to be efficient.

{{00:05:49}}
Otherwise, the grid won't
be able to handle it.

{{00:05:52}}
And then we distribute as much renewables
on our buildings as we can support.

{{00:05:56}}
And then support renewables at the
community and the utility scale and

{{00:06:02}}
ultimately combinations of things
like offshore wind and solar on our

{{00:06:06}}
rooftops and very efficient buildings
using things like heat pumps are

{{00:06:10}}
going to get us to that net zero
future that we're hoping to achieve.

{{00:06:14}}
Amazing.

{{00:06:14}}
Thanks so much for talking to us today.

{{00:06:15}}
Oh, it was great.

{{00:06:16}}
Thanks.

It's nice to think about a single building

Today, we're joined by Chris Schaffner,
founder and CEO of Green Engineer.

And today we're going to talk
about net zero energy buildings

So can we start first of all,
just by defining what that means?

The general idea of a net zero
energy building is that over

the course of the year, produces
as much energy as it consumes.

So it may be that during the summer,
it's producing excess energy and

But at the end of the year, the
meter reads zero, and that's how

And then there are different variations
based on what kind of renewable energy

Some people consider offsite
renewables to be a part of net zero,

How do you go about building
that sort of building?

So the key of a net zero building
is it's two steps, right?

So the first is making your energy
consumption as low as possible.

It's not going to work if you don't
have a very efficient building.

You can't just take a very
inefficient building and stick a

So you drive the energy
consumption as low as you can go.

And then you make up what's left
with renewable energy on site.

Most commonly that's done with
solar, but there are other options

People can do wind or small
scale hydro and things like a

And are there any particularly famous
examples of those sort of buildings?

One in particular is the new
building at Boston University-

the Centre for Computing and data
Sciences, which is about a 320,000

And it is completely electric powered by,
heated and cooled by ageothermal energy.

Now, the way that BU does net zero is they
actually are generating renewable energy

somewhere offsite and connecting that
production to the building consumption.

A different example that we also
worked on at a smaller scale.

If you're familiar with Walden
Pond, we worked on the visitor's

It's a small building and that is, again,
a very efficient building, all electric.

And then it has solar both on the
roof of the building and also in

And so it actually produces much more
energy than it consumes just on site.

So that would be an example of an
on site net-zero energy building.

And are there any particular sort of,
you mentioned a few feats of engineering

there, but particularly innovative design
or engineering things that need to go into

And once we're using heat pumps,
a lot of projects look at using

a ground source heat pumps or
sometimes that's called geothermal.

That's really the most efficient way
you can heat with electricity and in

It's very important that
you are heating efficiently.

Another feature of many Net Zero buildings
is a very robust building envelope.

So they really make the
buildings very airtight.

We use very high performance glazing,
sometimes triple glazing, more insulation

And there's a lot of attention to detail
to make sure things like thermal bridges

And what about, I mean, you sort of
mentioned some of them there, but what are

the main challenges with kind of building
and maintaining a building like that?

The main challenges for building
and maintaining, I think, first

of all, sometimes you have
some unfamiliar technology.

So both from a builder's perspective and
a designer's perspective, and then also

from the owner, we often see an owner has
got people on staff who are comfortable

with working with furnaces and boilers
and other gas equipment, but now they've

got variable refrigerant flow heat pumps
that they've never worked on before, and

they need to learn how to do that, or
sometimes the owner might need to change

I think the potential costs, especially
the upfront costs, are a challenge

And what about, I mean, we're talking
about new buildings here, but can you

retrofit an older building to be net zero?

Well, there's no reason that you can't,
you know, the same principles apply.

We need to drive down the energy
consumption and then find a

An older building will have
some challenges because it may

be harder to bring it up to a
very high level of efficiency.

Some older buildings, it's not simple
to put things like solar on the roof

because the structure may not be
designed for that, but it can be done.

And I think in that case, people
with existing buildings are often

looking at offsite solutions for
the renewable part of it as well.

I mean, at the moment, presumably very
few buildings are net zero energy.

You know, could we get to a point where
all buildings are net zero energy?

So we need to, in fact, get to that point
where we're not emitting carbon from

our buildings through their operations
and ultimately through the materials

So part of that is going to be the
grid, how the buildings are served.

The electric grid is going to
get cleaner and greener and

Expert Insight

According to the UN, the building and construction sector are responsible for over 34% of global energy demand. Net-zero buildings aim to change that by putting back at least as much energy as they use.

Chris Schaffner, Founder and CEO of the Green Engineer Inc, spoke to Streamly's Sarah Austin about how a building can get to net-zero and some of the challenges of building and maintaining these future-ready spaces.

Energy Resources

Green energy

Renewable resources

Solar energy

UN 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction.pdf

UN 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction

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Chris Schaffner

CEO and Founder

Schaffner introduces the concept of net-zero energy buildings and addresses the two pillars businesses must consider to achieve it.


What is a net-zero energy building and how do you achieve it?

Schaffner explores a few exemplar net-zero energy building projects, as well as some of the innovative solutions that have made this goal easier to reach.


Examples and innovations of net-zero energy buildings

Find out about some of the challenges businesses face in the journey towards net-zero, particularly when retrofitting existing buildings.


The challenges of reaching net-zero energy

Schaffner confronts the question of whether all buildings will be net-zero in energy consumption in the future.