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.

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.

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.

As described in Part One, indoor air can be unhealthy. When you invest in zero energy, you’ll also get something even more important than money in return. Zero energy buildings are also healthier. Here in Part Two of this three-part series, you can read about all the components of zero energy buildings that make this invaluable benefit possible.

The amount of Renewable Energy Tax Credit for residential and commercial buildings will soon begin a gradual decline. If you’re thinking about solar, NOW is the time to act!

The move away from fossil fuels requires that buildings and vehicles be powered by electricity from renewable sources, such as wind, solar, etc. All-electric homes in cold climates present a challenge for comfort and cost, but those barriers have fallen to recent developments in design and technology - making all-electric homes desirable even in cold climates.

Swimming pools are great fun, but they have high running costs and a high carbon footprint. David Green cut both. Now his pool running cost is zero and so is its carbon footprint.

For most people, developing a vacation rental would be about profit. For these two Washington state couples, it was about much more. Oh, and the profit is there too.

To stay competitive, a production builder must find a good balance between cost, price, and profit. Here’s the story of one builder who has successfully added high-performance, clean energy features to their standard offering. More importantly this builder has developed an elegant solution to the challenge of solar-powered homes producing energy when it is not needed by the grid.

A new study shows that the cost of zero energy homes is very close to that of homes built to code. Best of all, costs are dropping and the trend is expected to continue.