EEBA Academy

This presentation lays out a path to net zero energy home construction offered by the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home program.

This 1924 Colonial home had fallen into severe disrepair before coming up for sale. As part of the muchneeded renovation, the new homeowners (two Steven Winter Associates, Inc. employees) wanted to eliminate onsite combustion and produce as much of their operating electricity as possible. Other goals included lower embodied energy materials and a healthy indoor environment. LEED v4.1 for Homes offered one platform to address energy, health, and materials. The home was gutted down to the foundation, framing, and floors before the year-long renovation. After the first 8 months of occupancy (July-February), the home produced 14% more energy than it consumed.

High performance zero energy homes provide many benefits including cost savings, energy resiliency, durability, comfort, and sustainable operation. While these types of homes have been built for a long time, the knowledge of how to build them has historically been kept by few. Now with increasingly stringent building codes across the U.S., driven by long-term energy policy and growing demands on the energy grid, all builders and implementers need to know how to build high performance. 

"Zero Energy Ready Homes" have grown from a niche product unfamiliar to many, to a standard offering in the marketplace found in codes, stretch codes, and many utility and affordable housing programs. But we're still in the early stages of the journey to zero. The DOE Zero Energy Ready Homes program is moving to Version 2 in 2022, which will incorporate more proven innovations and establish ZERH as the jumping off point for net zero performance. At the same time, Zero Energy Ready Homes have reached a new high with major commitments from large production builders, affordable housing developers, and military housing projects. Finally, the program is launching the ZERH-Multifamily spec in 2022 to serve as the next step for Energy Star Multifamily New Construction builders. During this session we invite you to learn more about these exciting program advancements and share your input and questions.