Although the price of solar panels has plunged in recent years, they are still the most expensive element of a zero energy home. It’s okay to defer installing panels until the time is right. Here’s how to plan your zero energy ready home so it’s ready for solar when you are.

This question is becoming more common as we begin to move past zero energy homes into the realm of positive energy. Homes can do more than power themselves. They can also put a huge dent in the energy use and carbon emissions from our personal transportation.

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced an update to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), the most widely used green building program in the world. What’s new with LEED version 4.1? Net zero certifications for carbon, energy, water and waste. With these certifications and and its upgraded recertification program, LEED is truly a leader in encouraging climate-friendly green buildings.

For decades, buildings have been influenced by transportation trends. But the reverse is also true: transportation can be influenced through building location and design. It’s time for green building professionals to make both buildings and their associated transportation carbon-neutral.

The most recent inventory of zero energy homes by Team Zero, formerly the Net Zero Energy Coalition, has just been released. The sector is steadily growing in the US and Canada.

Energy efficiency is at the core of all green building certification programs. It’s time to ratchet up these modest improvements to make homes as green as they can be by operating them entirely with clean energy.

Energizing the Green New Deal Part Three is the final installment of our three-part series on realistic, primarily market-based methods for creating a zero carbon economy. Buildings are responsible for about 40% of greenhouse gas emissions and transportation for another 29%, so there is a lot of work to do there. Agriculture and forestry are two more fields that must be addressed.

The future is electric and the power will come mostly, if not entirely, from renewable sources. In Part Two of Energizing the Green New Deal, we get specific about strategies that utilities and heavy industry can utiliz e to address climate change and make a profit at the same time. Utilities will play a central role in guiding development of renewable resources and efficient ways to deploy them. Industry may present the greatest challenges, but there are existing technologies to smooth the transition, plus smart incentives and new technologies in the pipeline.

The number of zero energy commercial buildings continues to climb according to The New Buildings Institute. They collect and analyze information on verified zero energy buildings each year. Now, you can access information on these projects through an online database.

It’s no surprise that covering cold windows enhances comfort and improves building energy performance. However, until now there hasn’t been a reliable way to measure or express the efficiency of shades, blinds, shutters and storm windows. Now there is, thanks to the recently created Attachments Energy Rating Council.

Energizing the Green New Deal: Part One of a Three-Part Series. Realistic climate action requires clear goals and objectives and an achievable timeline. If it is to have any chance of becoming reality, it must also align with the free enterprise system in which most of the work is accomplished by the private sector. Here is a comprehensive set of specific goals and objectives plus how best to achieve them, with the least government involvement.

High performance homes are a great investment for the homebuyer, no matter how you measure it, as described in Part One of this series. But there are also many non-monetary benefits for the homeowner. These highly efficient homes are a win for everyone involved, including builders, realtors, lenders and utilities. Here’s a powerful list.