$10,000 2012 Zero Net Energy Building Award

A search for the best building in the Northeast that captures as much energy as it consumes

The intent of this award is to encourage efficient, elegant, self-reliant buildings and patterns of occupancy by honoring demonstrated achievement of zero annual net energy. The zero energy target is easily defined, readily understood and is measurable - and it has captured the public imagination in a way that more abstract concepts of energy efficiency and building performance never have.

For the purpose of this award, we have adopted a definition of a "zero energy building" derived from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory definition:  "Zero net energy buildings reduce energy load to the minimum practical level, then capture on-site the required amount of renewable energy to satisfy remaining needs."

A $10,000 Incentive to Meet the Challenge

To help spur the market for zero energy buildings in the Northeast, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has developed the Zero Net Energy Building Award to recognize net-zero-energy buildings designed for the unique Northeast climate. As an incentive for design/build teams, NESEA will offer a $10,000 cash prize for the best building in the Northeast that can document net-zero energy use (as described in the earlier definition) while offering a high level of comfort, affordability and reliability.  

Submission Deadline

The entry deadline is December 15, 2011.

New for 2012

The Zero Net Energy Building Award advisory committee has reviewed the rules and forms associated with the competition and made a few changes.

Last year, we received feedback from several applicants to our competition that the judging criteria were not as transparent as they could be, and that the forms we required applicants to submit could be clearer.

This year we invited a number of experts from the NESEA community to join an advisory committee to help us address these concerns. These experts represent a mix if practitioners throughout the Northeast as well as previous entrants to the NESEA Zero Net Energy Building Award competition. Several of them have presented in the past at the BuildingEnergy Conference on topics related to zero net energy buildings. The members of this advisory committee were:

Robb Aldrich, Steven Winter Associates
Luke Falk, Related Companies
John Jacobson, JTJ Investments
Henry Vandermark, Solar Wave
Mike Duclos, DEAP Energy Group
Margot Moomaw, Zero Net Energy homeowner
Mark Price, Price Sustainability
Hope Strode, Architect and NESEA Board Member
Tina Halfpenny, MA Department of Energy Resources
Phil Kaplan, Kaplan and Thompson Architects

The Changes
In order to provide more guidance to both the applicants and the judges, the advisory committee developed:

  • A document that details guidelines and a potential judging framework for the applicants and judges;
  • A more detailed matrix of relevant criteria for the judges to consider; and
  • A clearer spreadsheet for reporting applicants' energy use data

Each of those forms can be found by clicking here.

Basic Requirements

This competition is open to occupied buildings in the Northeast-the six New England states plus New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Included below are  four of the core requirements for eligibility in the Zero Net Building Award contest.

  1. Continuous occupancy - it is expected that applicant projects are fully occupied during the 12 month period during which supporting data is provided. 
  2. Documentation - eligible buildings must have documented net-zero energy useage for the above mentioned 12 month period.
  3. Replicability - it is expected that applicant projects achieve zero energy in ways that are reasonably easy to replicate.
  4. Idiosyncrasy - conserver behavior is encouraged; however, behaviors that are purely idiosyncratic (ex. acceptance of unduly low thermostat settings) will be discounted.  Applicants submitting an uncommonly low power demand may be asked to provide an itemized listing of appliance loads.

Please visit the Eligibility page for complete contest rules and details.


How to Apply

  1. Read through the Eligibility and Submissions requirements to ensure you understand the rules.
  2. Register on the Registration page to let us know you're interested.
  3. Download all documents on the Forms page (these are required for your entry into the contest.)

Documentation and submission requirements are detailed on the Submissions page.

Judging

Entries will be judged by a panel of distinguished experts in the fields of green building and renewable energy. Judges for the 2012 include:  Phil Kaplan, Principal, Kaplan Thompson Architects, Michael H. Nicklas, FAIA, Principal, Innovative Design, Inc., and Susan Pickett, Area Manager, Mitsubishi Electric HVAC.

An entered building must first meet our annual net-zero energy requirements. Our judges will then judge the entry on the basis of several design attributes that make the building a model for present and future markets.

The winner will be announced at the BuildingEnergy Conference and Trade Show in March.