Zero Net Energy - July 20, 2025

City-scale heat pump for district heating in Esbjerg, Denmark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bIlAkTDw8Q
hat tip Joe Rosenow

China’s Antarctic Outpost has Hydrogen, Wind for power year round
https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1016781
hat tip Mark Z Jacobson

Solar panel recycling in Japan
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0ky4ql8/japan-s-solution-to-the-solar-panel-waste-problem

Fukuoka, one of the most water-efficient cities in the world
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0kxwcd1/inside-one-of-the-world-s-most-water-efficient-cities

Nordhaven district of Copenhagen designed as a 5 minute city
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2024/dec/10/the-five-minute-city-inside-denmarks-revolutionary-neighbourhood

Vienna and climate
https://www.npr.org/2025/05/13/nx-s1-5339958/climate-laws-solutions-vienna-solar-geothermal
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/15/nx-s1-5400642/affordable-housing-environment-vienna-climate-change

Respyre - bioreceptive concrete cladding and a specialised moss gel making it easy to create green facades that purify the air, sequester carbon, and cool buildings
https://www.gorespyre.com/

Generation of Representative Meteorological Years Through Anomaly-Based Detection of Extreme Events now published in the Journal of Building Performance Simulation
It introduces a new approach to representing climate extremes in building simulation through the development of Representative Meteorological Years (RMYs).
Christoph Reinhart, MIT Professor and advisor on the paper: you can use the same file to predict typical energy savings from different energy conservation measures and get more accurate estimates of overheating hours and peak loads.
Read the paper: https://lnkd.in/dcFnsRyH
Explore the code: https://lnkd.in/dxiA3Edj

From vacuum cleaners to strawberries - Dyson Agriculture
https://www.core77.com/posts/137666/James-Dyson-is-Revolutionizing-Sustainable-Agriculture

EcoFlow OCEAN Pro: A Smarter, Scalable Solar Battery For Whole-Home Backup
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/07/15/ecoflow-ocean-pro-a-smarter-scalable-solar-battery-for-whole-home-backup/

47 kW of PV through solar tiles with a 46 kWh house battery provides 159% of its own power, including two electric cars, to a house built in 1973
Report in German and French
https://solaragentur.ch/files/solarpreis-gewinner/159%25%20PEB-Sanierung%20Villa%2C%203150%20Schwarzenburg%20BE.pdf
hat tip: @JessePeltan

Old Dubai’s ways of ameliorating extreme heat
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250715-how-old-dubais-historic-streets-beat-extreme-heat
If you hit a paywall, try https://archive.md/2g5ht

Zero Net Energy - March 6, 2025

 3D printed tiny houses for the homeless in Austin, TX

https://www.core77.com/posts/135050/Icon-to-3D-Print-Houses-for-the-Homeless

Passive house buildings as a response to wildfires - on CBS Evening News!
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-a-design-concept-may-help-save-homes-from-wildfires/

“Homeless” squatter cabin community with solar
https://x.com/kevinvdahlgren/status/1882539641955663876

LONGi Kubuqi Desert Solar Power Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vntwjqMgCaE

The rise of the Net-Zero Dad
https://www.economist.com/britain/2025/01/29/the-rise-of-the-net-zero-dad
Non- walled:  https://archive.ph/ZDDDw
Editorial Comment:  Global heat pump efficiency races
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2024/07/what-i-imagine-environmental-community.html

Net zero 3D printed house from Italy and 2022
https://3dwasp.com/en/itaca-the-self-sufficient-and-eco-sustainable-3d-printed-house/
hat tip Michael Bauwens

World’s first solar-powered camper van
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0kn75cz/the-world-s-first-solar-powered-campervan

Allbirds makes a net zero shoe and publishes their recipe for others to copy
https://trellis.net/article/allbirds-wants-footwear-companies-to-copy-net-zero-shoe-design/
hat tip trellis.net
The international carpet company, Interface, has been moving to net zero environmental harm since the mid-1990s and now produces at least one product which removes carbon from the atmosphere and waste stream.  Their story is at
https://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2024/04/notes-on-business-lessons-from-radical.html
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2022/03/interface-from-living-zero-to-climate.html

Factory-built tiny house kit with solar, battery, heat pumps, and water storage
https://cleantechnica.com/2025/02/09/tiny-house-from-mesocore-comes-complete-with-solar-a-battery-a-heat-pump/

Easy(er) solar battery install from DIY Solar Fun
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAJByNRCw0k
DIY Solar Power Forum
https://diysolarforum.com/

re:arc - "We work at the intersection of climate action and architecture to support community-led solutions that address the root causes and effects of climate change and nurture the creative reimaging of our social and ecological systems."
https://www.rearc.institute/

“Edenizing”  LA after the fires
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5Nc64UBems
from Edenicity (https://www.edenicity.com/) "Sustainably Abundant Cities for All"

Zero Net Energy - January 16, 2025

 East Chinese province pilots extensive vehicle-to-grid interaction

https://english.news.cn/20240816/47b3faa6206247b8b9c79772563a213d/c.html
Editorial Comment:  All electric vehicles, including e-bikes, e-scooters, and other such micro-mobility devices, should be able to interact with the grid as “rolling storage” as Amory Lovins suggested 30 years or more ago.

"Delivering Net Zero: A Framework for Policymakers is a handbook for governments to design and implement decarbonization strategies"
https://www.netzeropathfinders.com/downloads/Netzero%20Pathfinders%20Delivering%20Net%20Zero%20-%20A%20Framework%20for%20Policymakers.pdf
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/09/13/want-to-know-more-about-how-to-design-deliver-net-zero-policy/

Barcelona’s subway trains use regenerative braking to power EVs
https://grist.org/transportation/barcelona-is-turning-subway-trains-into-power-stations/
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/09/30/barcelona-is-using-regenerative-braking-to-power-subways-ev-chargers/
Editorial Comment:  I remember reading in Edwin Black’s Internal Combustion about the Milwaukee Road, an electric railway in the early decades of the 20th century, and thinking that you could possibly plan routing freight trains in such a way that traveling downgrade with regenerative braking could power traveling upgrade without any need for excess power.  Actually, now Fortescue Williams, a hard rock mining company, operates an "Infinity Train” in Australia that never needs charging using this idea. 
https://solarray.blogspot.com/2022/07/playing-with-electric-trains-as-climate.html

A greenhouse over a house in Norway that grows food all year round
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp_HPzfxbQ
hat tip boingboing.net

Electric wallpaper to decarbonize Glasgow flats - radiant heating wallpaper
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/10/19/glasgow-is-trialling-eco-friendly-electric-wallpaper-to-heat-its-ageing-homes
hat tip Katharine Hayhoe

Finnish sand battery - It stores energy in sand as heat, serving as a high-power and high-capacity reservoir for excess renewable energy at up to 600 °C  for 10 GWh and 100 MW
https://polarnightenergy.com/sand-battery/

Survey of energy positive buildings
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/12/18/energy-positive-buildings-give-more-than-they-take-leaving-the-planet-better-than-before-construction/

The German boom in “balcony solar"
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/12/21/germany-embraces-balkonkraftwerke-balcony-solar-for-apartments/

NODE - net zero and net zero ready flat pack home kits, designed for the circular economy
https://www.greencanopynode.com/net-zero

Calles Completas - reimagining Mexico City’s infrastructure
https://x.com/eliascattan/status/1808184039108391111
hat tip John Thackara

Rajapalayam, a city of 200,000, in Tamil Nadu, India has a master plan to be carbon neutral by 2041
https://rajapalayamlpa.com/
hat tip Erik Solheim, more at https://x.com/ErikSolheim/status/1876348901092987022

Solar powered street lights, Dark Sky approved so we can see the stars
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2024/09/18/2948004/0/en/Streetleaf-Illuminates-in-California-Bringing-Solar-Powered-Streetlights-to-Moreno-Valley.html
hat tip Bill McKibben

Net Zero Energy - August 24, 2024

 She built one of the most energy-efficient homes in D.C. Here’s how.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/03/05/energy-efficient-net-zero-adu/
This may get you past the paywall if you’re stopped:  https://archive.is/RRil5

Modular passive house project in Brooklyn, St Felix Street Project
https://www.asåsemblyosm.com/buildings/sfx

Neighborhood built to be car-free
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/03/13/we-need-more-purpose-built-car-free-neighborhoods-like-culdesac-tempe/
Editorial Comment:  not necessarily net zero energy building but reducing transportation energy is a missing part of the puzzle i.e. electric vehicles alone aren’t enough

The House of Green - buildings that bring nature inside
https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240420-12-stunning-buildings-that-bring-nature-inside

Final Clean Energy Rule for Federal Buildings - "phase out fossil fuel usage in new federal building construction or major renovation by achieving a 90% reduction in fossil fuel use for new projects started between fiscal years 2025 and 2029 and completely eliminating on-site fossil fuel usage in new projects beginning in 2030"
https://www.energy.gov/femp/federal-building-energy-efficiency-rules-and-requirements
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/04/24/u-s-department-of-energy-announces-final-rule-to-propel-federal-buildings-toward-zero-emissions/

"Construction company builds 3D-printed starter home in under 20 hours"
https://www.thecooldown.com/green-tech/havelar-3d-printed-homes-portugal-affordable/

Net positive retrofit of 1945 building in Queens, NYC
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/realestate/yoåu-can-be-a-little-different-in-queens-why-this-home-is-not-like-the-others.html?u2g=i&unlocked_article_code=1.w00.gIok.rTLp9LLGewUm&smid=url-share

USA DOE now has a national definition for a Zero Emissions Building - "a building that is highly energy efficient, does not emit greenhouse gases directly from energy use, and is powered solely by clean energy"
https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2024-06/bto-national-definition-060524.pdf
hat tip cleantechnica.com

Combining waste heat and heat pumps to reduce fossil fuels in a NYC high-rise
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/heat-pumps/this-nyc-high-rise-is-using-heat-pumps-and-waste-heat-to-cut-fossil-fuels
Editorial Comment:  Not close to zero, yet, but another step along the way for a difficult form factor

South Australia will be 100% wind/solar grid by 2027, 70% now
https://reneweconomy.com.au/south-australia-locks-in-federal-funds-to-become-first-grid-in-world-to-reach-100-per-cent-net-wind-and-solar/

NYC has largest passive house in USAmerica, 700 units of affordable housing
https://www.senderoverdenyc.com/
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/08/15/new-york-city-is-home-to-largest-passive-house-building-in-the-us/

World’s largest 3-D printed neighborhood nears completion - not necessarily net zero but certainly solar based upon the picture
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/worlds-largest-3d-printed-neighborhood-nears-completion-texas-2024-08-08/
Editorial Comment:  I heard Professor Behrokh "Berok” Khoshnevis of USC lecture on his early work on this kind of process at MIT in 2004

Zero Net Energy - March 5, 2024

 World’s biggest “passive house” office building

https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/carbon-free-buildings/boston-skyscraper-named-worlds-biggest-passive-house-office
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/10/12/winthrop-center-in-boston-named-worlds-largest-passive-house/

DOE’s “Affordable Home Energy Shot” and other housing emissions reductions initiatives of the Biden administration
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/10/21/fossil-free-100-affordable-housing-can-mean-residents-have-no-utility-bills/

Cement and carbon black as a supercapacitor and a building material
https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/green-tech/a44716956/scientists-make-supercapacitor-out-of-cement/
hat tip Andrew Tobias

"Just over half of Europe's single family homes could technically be fully energy self-sufficient with a combination of solar energy and storage systems, according to a report by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology"
https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/half-europes-family-homes-could-be-energy-self-sufficient-solar-and-storage-report
Report (in German):  https://www.kit.edu/kit/pi_2023_088_energiewende-energieautark-im-einfamilienhaus.php

Flood resistant homes from bamboo
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2023/flood-resistant-home-bamboo/
Use https://archive.ph/14gDa to get past the paywall 
Editorial Comment:  this is not necessarily net zero energy building but could be and could also be adapted to the rest of the world, urban and rural

All electric sustainable skyscraper in Brooklyn
https://cleantechnica.com/2024/01/24/a-sustainable-skyscraper-grows-in-brooklyn-thanks-to-alloy/

Geos net zero energy community in Colorado
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/carbon-free-buildings/this-colorado-community-is-already-living-in-the-all-electric-future
hat tip to Jennifer Hill
Jennifer Hill also pointed me to
Kaupuni Village in Hawaii
https://g70.design/project/kaupuni-village/
https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/53401.pdf
Living Zenith in Utah
https://livingzenith.com/
Red Fox Crossing in Wisconsin
https://www.probuilder.com/wisconsins-first-net-zero-community
Hillside East in Vermont
https://hillsidevt.com/energy-resiliency/

Building passively cooled schools in Burkina Faso
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/29/we-dont-need-air-con-how-burkina-faso-builds-schools-that-stay-cool-in-40c-heat

Zero Net Energy - October 11, 2023

 National University of Singapore’s College of Design and Engineering retrofits its buildings and develops a net zero urban sustainability program

https://cde.nus.edu.sg/news-detail/cde-launches-landmark-urban-sustainability-initiatives/
https://inhabitat.com/net-zero-program-at-singapore-university-leads-asia-forward/

Türkiye’s 300 year old eco-mansions
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20230510-turkeys-300-year-old-eco-mansions

New Forest House - 97% less expensive to run than a home built to 2021 building standards, using 110% less energy compared to a home powered by gas
https://padstudio.co.uk/project/new-forest-national-park/
https://inhabitat.com/net-zero-new-forest-home-is-made-out-of-timber/

CABN net zero modular homes for a net zero community
https://cabn.co/
https://inhabitat.com/cabn-modular-homes-will-be-part-of-a-net-zero-community/

First zero carbon house in California, Malibu of course
https://www.marisolmalibu.com/zero1
https://inhabitat.com/the-first-home-in-california-to-be-zero-carbon-certified/

Clayton Homes is building manufactured houses that meet Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready Home specifications
https://inhabitat.com/these-zero-energy-ready-homes-are-solar-and-energy-efficient/
https://www.claytonhomes.com/

Houston will have a net energy positive public artwork, Arco del Tiempo, or Arch of Time, a shape made from the sun’s path
https://news.artnet.com/art-world/houston-clean-energy-artwork-arch-of-time-riccardo-mariano-2335103
hat tip Leslie Alden

Growing buildings from fungi
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/07/15/scientists-are-growing-sustainable-buildings-from-fungi-now/

Chinese sky wells
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230712-how-ancient-skywells-are-keeping-chinese-homes-cool

800-unit apartment Passive House development in Newton MA
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/08/02/business/how-one-housing-project-newton-may-change-way-we-think-about-building-green/
Alternative if paywalled:  https://archive.ph/Z3uqK#selection-1653.2-1653.29
Editorial Comment:  The developer listened to Green Newton, a long-time local environmental group

Building Climate Positive
https://medium.com/the-climate-action-lab-at-wally-farms
https://www.youarethecity.com/
hat tip https://www.treehugger.com/wally-farm-guesthouses-by-kaja-kuhl-7852690

A Brooklyn near zero energy renovation - from the NYTimes
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/19/realestate/sustainable-home-renovation-brooklyn.html

Zero Net Energy - April 5, 2023

 Climate positive residential development in Berlin, Germany

https://www.peter-ruge.de/project/klimapositiv-wohnen-in-berlin/language/en
https://inhabitat.com/live-in-a-climate-positive-off-grid-housing-development/

Senang residential block in Amsterdam heated and cooled with collective heat pump 
https://inhabitat.com/earth-friendly-residential-block-has-new-take-on-old-design/
http://www.m3h.nl/project/senang-transformatie-indische-buurt-amsterdam/

Net positive certified office furniture from Humanscale, certified by Living Product Challenge*
https://www.humanscale.com/blog/humanscale-wins-metropolis-planet-positive-award
https://inhabitat.com/humanscale-wows-with-26-net-positive-certified-products/
*https://living-future.org/lpc/
Editorial Comment:  Interface, the international carpet tile manufacturer, has achieved zero environmental impact after working towards it for more than 20 years and is producing a net positive carpet product:  https://solarray.blogspot.com/2022/03/interface-from-living-zero-to-climate.html

Net positive Brink Tower in Amsterdam, including aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system
https://www.mecanoo.nl/Projects/project/266
https://inhabitat.com/brink-tower-in-amsterdam-is-a-pillar-of-sustainable-design/

A sustainable city for 150,000 in Africa producing 100% of its food, water, and energy on site
https://urb.ae/projects/theparks/
https://inhabitat.com/the-parks-will-be-africas-largest-sustainable-city/

Factory-made, modular net zero-ready buildings from Vantem
https://vantem.com
https://cleantechnica.com/2022/11/25/vantem-offers-energy-efficient-factory-made-modular-dwellings/

Triple Zero – planning a decarbonized logistics facility, aiming for net zero emissions over the entire lifecycle of the building
https://nrep.com/project/triple-zero/
https://inhabitat.com/triple-zero-is-going-above-and-beyond-decarbonizing/

Largest net zero building in Boston, BU’s Center for Computing and Data Sciences uses geotheramal energy
https://www.wbur.org/news/2022/12/07/boston-university-unveils-citys-largest-net-zero-building-geothermal

Regenerative architecture - net zero complex in Yakushima, Japan which enhances the local ecology
https://www.to-no.me/works/sumu-yakushima
https://inhabitat.com/regenerative-architecture-in-japan-is-100-off-grid/

Zero net energy remodels case studies
https://zeroenergyproject.com/renovate/zero-energy-remodels-case-studies/
hat tip Ambrose Spencer

Podcast on designing net zero energy homes
https://propane.com/environment/podcast/2-17-designing-zero-net-energy-homes/?utm_campaign=p20-podcast__aud-etl__str-etl

NREL pilot program for mass energy efficiency retrofits
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-efficiency/foam-panels-can-turn-old-abodes-into-energy-efficient-homes-of-the-future