Tracking the growth of zero energy homes in all their different forms is essential to building momentum for the growth of zero. If you are an owner, builder, or designer of a zero home, be sure your home is listed and help grow the movement toward zero.

Factory-built homes show great promise for zero energy housing. This company is combining high performance and small size with low cost to meet the housing challenges of the coming decade. 

There is one major obstacle to the widespread transition to zero energy homes: The mortgage industry has been slow to recognize their higher market value and reluctant to finance the additional upfront cost of financially sound energy efficiency features. One solution is a system to create mortgage backed securities specifically for energy efficient homes. 

Ten years ago, making a home or building generate as much energy as it uses over the course of a year seemed an immense challenge. Tens of thousands of these advanced energy-efficient structures have been built. But they need to be better to meet the challenges of climate change, health, security, and resilience. So what’s next? Zero 2.0! 

When choosing a high-performance wall assembly, you have many choices. One of them is to build double-stud walls. The double-stud wall approach sometimes raises the concern that it will lead to mold growth and wood rot. Is this fear based in reality? Green Building Advisor checked it out and found that wood-moisture content and seasonal temperature fluctuations do not seem to create moisture problems in double-stud walls.

Homeownership has been the core of the mythical American Dream, but it has been slow to take hold within the millennial generation. Perhaps the housing sector has not been meeting their needs for small, energy efficient, well connected homes. Well planned zero energy homes can make homeownership more accessible to millennials.

The future of residential construction will include more factory buildings. BrightBuilt Home builds modular homes that are modern, durable, and zero energy ready. The precision of factory construction is a perfect match for zero energy homes, and BrightBuilt has been building zero energy homes this way since 2010.

He may no longer be the world’s richest man, but he still has some big ideas about reducing greenhouse gases. Gates’ latest book describes an ambitious, well-thought-out, set of climate actions needed to get to zero by 2050. Building efficiency and electric vehicles are just the “easy” part. Here are highlights from his plan for what must be done and how to make it happen. It's a must read for all who want to help avoid a climate disaster.

Building or renovating a home? One key to success is hiring zero energy experienced construction professionals. Now you can find designers, builders, energy consultants, prefab companies and panel manufacturers that have already built to zero. Check out our new, expanded directory of zero energy construction professionals.

Spray foam is used enthusiastically by many builders hoping to improve energy performance of their projects. But the hidden climate impact of conventional 2-pound, closed- cell foam is actually a huge step backward. A new generation of low global warming potential spray foam corrects this fatal flaw.

The sixth annual inventory of zero energy homes has just been released. It shows considerable growth to almost 28,000 units. Projections indicate the number could double in 2021.

Brightleaf Homes used zero energy ready homes to break into the Chicago home building market. Building higher value high performance homes was just the beginning. Then they had to make the extra cost work for buyers. Here’s how they do it.