Photo from Ross Family Residence, 2012 ZNEBA Winner

We’re excited to be recognizing—and celebrating!—zero net energy projects. As an industry, we’re far from setting zero net energy as a performance standard, but it seems we’re picking up steam.”
— Christina Halfpenny, MA Department of Energy Resources

Sustainable building’s magic number: zero

The Zero Net Energy Building Award is NESEA’s annual search for the best building in the Northeast that captures as much energy as it consumes. By “best” we mean one that offers not only efficiency, but ideally also comfort, affordability, reliability, and elegance. Because 95 percent of construction is rehab, we strongly encourage submission of retrofit projects as well as new buildings.

The zero net energy target is easily defined, readily understood, and measurable. And unlike more abstract concepts of energy efficiency and building performance, it has captured the public imagination. When we unveiled the award—with its $10,000 prize—in 2007, not one entrant met the rigorous requirements. But with each passing year, more fit the bill. We know how to build the buildings of the future, and increasingly, we’re doing it.

A $10,000 cash incentive

Our $10,000 cash prize is a nice incentive for design/build teams. We hope it will help spur the market for zero net energy buildings in the Northeast. Interested in helping to fund the prize? See the sponsor page.

New for 2013

Advisory committee members:

• Robb Aldrich, Steven Winter Associates 
• Mike Duclos, DEAP Energy Group
• John Jacobson, JTJ Investments
• Bob Lemaire
• Rob Lewis,  Bakker & Lewis Architects
• Sara Ross, Sungage
• Michele Sopher
• Henry Vandermark, Solar Wave Energy
  
• Ben Weil, UMass Amherst

Judges:

• Martine Dion, SYMMES MAINI & McKee Associates
• Jacquelynn Henke, TD Bank
• Phil Kaplan, Kaplan Thompson Architects

Revamped Zero Net Energy Data Form:

You gave us a lot of feedback on how we could make our entry forms better, and with the help of current and past advisory committee members, we’ve done just that. The data form has been reborn into a single, streamlined spreadsheet broken down into five different tabs (Basic Info, Electric Bill, Gas Bill, Delivered Fuel, and Renewables). You can find it on the forms section of the Zero Net Energy Building Award portion of our website.

Photo Release Form:

We want to make sure credit is given where credit is due, and as such we’ll be requiring a photo relase form to be submitted with this year’s application. This also has the added benefit of helping you  understand where and how we use your photographs. You can review this document on the forms section of the Zero Net Energy Building Award section of our website.

Photo Naming Convention:

In an effort to help applicants, judges, and the advisory committee organize and credit your photos, we’ve created a naming convention, which you can find here. Please look under the submission requirement of building images for a guide with an example of how we would like for you to name and organize your photos.

For more transparency, new guidelines and criteria

To provide more guidance to both applicants and judges, the advisory committee developed these documents. You can download them in the Forms section.

• Zero Net Judging Matrix. We now have a more detailed matrix of relevant criteria for the judges to consider.
• Zero Net Performance Data Forms. A clearer spreadsheet for reporting energy-use data.

Ready to enter? Click here to get started