Net Zero Energy Building

Pacific Landing is a mixed-use, Net Zero, LEED Platinum, 100% affordable housing project designed for people living with disabilities and those on limited incomes. Located on Lincoln Boulevard in Santa Monica the building is within proximity to downtown Santa Monica and the beach. The project was developed by Community Corp of Santa Monica, a local non-profitdeveloper. The 4-story, 42,000-square-foot building replaced a gas station that once occupied the 14,160-square-footcorner lot. Thirty-seven residences are provided for families in need.  Patrick TIGHE Architecture Patrick TIGHE Architecture The forms of the building are reminiscent of iconic home imagery, now reinterpreted in a ne... More

NetZeroRowHouse began as two architects designing and building a home for their family in the Capitol Hill / H Street neighborhood of Washington DC.  A simple notion about adding solar panels started the journey to create a Net Zero Row House. Caption The original 1925 brick rowhouse was completely reconstructed and expanded.  The front façade and porch were retained to preserve the character of the street.  A third-floor addition, for the principal suite and home office, is setback from the existing roof line, creating a private roof deck.  The lower cellar level was fully excavated with a new entrance to access the accessory dwelling unit / rental apartment.  The addition is clad with a combination of... More

This silky shining dwelling is located in an rural expansion area. At first glance this rustic laid back house does not stand out among the surrounding houses. The burnt wood subtly refers to black barns in this area.  John van Groenedaal The origin of the black-burned facade cladding technique is in Japan, where it is called Shou Sugi Ban. They use this age-old technique to make wood maintenance-free and sustainable. Burning creates a layer of carbon on the wood so that the ingress of moisture and mold is prevented.  John van Groenedaal The chamfering of the charred house follows the border of the plot. It is also oriented to the position of the sun. The entire house forms an asymmetrical sculptural play of mass and o... More

The newly opened Wren Urban Nest, based in the heart of Dublin, is a 137-room, nine floor hotel designed and built using the most advanced carbon reduction technologies, making it one of Europe’s most sustainable hotels in a major city centre.     Eliminating the need for fossil fuels, the building uses 100% renewable energy and is the first hotel in Ireland to comply with the World Green Building Council’s definition of ‘Net Zero Operational Carbon’, without having to purchase carbon offsets. Caption With architectural, civil and structural and mechanical and electrical engineering design from interdisciplinary practice, BDP, the team has taken a number of steps to set the agenda and exceed ‘N... More

Jabe Blumenthal knows numbers. After graduating from Yale with a degree in Applied Mathematics he joined a little-known software company in the early 80s, Microsoft, and co-designed a little program we now know today as Microsoft Excel.   Jabe also knows climate change. He has served on the board of Seattle-based Climate Solutions for over a decade, advocating for ‘practical and profitable solutions to global warming’ throughout the Pacific Northwest. He also knows a thing or two about the costs and benefits of climate-friendly construction. He served on the board of the Bullitt Foundation when that group planned and built its noted “living building,” the Bullitt Center.   So when Jabe and his family be... More

The new office building of the National Institute of Social Security (INSS – Instituto Nacional de la Seguridad Social) is situated in an area of urban development in northern Granada, where a great deal of construction activity is still taking place. With its angular shape, it almost completely covers the triangular plot. The representative new building, which is oriented towards the three surrounding streets, notably contributes towards shaping the newly created cityscape.A double-layer glass skin envelops the three-storey building. The inner façade with its sound reduction glazing minimizes the noise pollution from the three adjacent streets and has low thermal emissivity. The outer layer, made from vertical, active, laminated glass louv... More

Solar panel “wings” power Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation at Mohawk Collage, the result of a progressive net-zero design by mcCallumSather and B+H Architects The new Joyce Centre for Partnership & Innovation at Mohawk College’s Fennel Campus in Hamilton, Ontario, is the region’s first and Canada’s largest net-zero energy institutional building.It opened its doors to students in the Fall of 2018. New students were greeted by 96,000 squarefeet of solar-powered state-of-the-art labs, workshops, open study spaces and lecture theatre, creating a new paradigm for sustainable building and learning in North America.Mohawk Collage Chief Building and Facilities Officer, Tony Cupido, steered the development on behalf of the Col... More

Innovative design, natural slate cladding and modern glass walls to reflect contemporary home trends. This house has been developed by Sustainable Energy & Housing architects to become a Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB). A floating building representing a creative challenge, but both architecturally stunning and functional at the same time.The home looks like a building floating among the trees to blend with the existing nature, seeking the best views and the sunlight. The project consists of an isolated building, with a ground floor, a first floor and a semi-basement which sits on the hillside, in the space generated by the hill as it slopes down, producing as little impact as possible and involving the least amount of civil work on the... More

Zero Cottage is an investigation of compact, sustainable urban development and a contemporary approach to living and working. The cottage is composed of a 712-square-foot living space set over a 430-square-foot workshop. It pairs with an existing building to complete a flexible, mixed-use compound that also includes a two-bedroom flat, studio apartment and storefront space. The free-standing addition presented an opportunity to explore advanced sustainable design, construction techniques, materials and technologies, with a goal of achieving Passive House and Net-Zero Energy certification. The cottage is certified LEED for Homes Platinum. It is the first Passive House-certified home in San Francisco and officially achieved Net Zero Energy B... More