Zero-energy buildings – an overview of terminology and policies in leading world regions

摘要

To address climate challenges, major regions of the world aredeveloping policies to move toward ultra-low energy buildings.The European Union (EU) Energy Performance of BuildingsDirective requires nearly-zero-energy buildings (nZEB) in allEU member countries by 2020. In the United States (U.S.), themove is toward “net-zero-energy buildings” (NZEB). Despitethe apparent similarity in these terms, there are significant differencesin the definitions, policies, and support mechanismsassociated with these and other similar goals. These differencesmake it difficult to understand and evaluate global progress towardlower-energy buildings and create confusion for othercountries such as China that are considering setting similargoals. Such confusion could create barriers to low-energybuildinginitiatives in developing regions. To support furtherresearch and sharing of best practices around the globe, this paperreviews and compares the definitions of key “zero energy”terms in major world regions, with a focus on two jurisdictionsat the forefront of zero-energy buildings: Denmark in the EUand the state of California in the U.S. Our analysis summarizespolicy activities that are being implemented to promotezero-energy buildings, highlights differences among policy elementsand criteria, and assesses the progress in regions thathave adopted zero-energy policies. From the current internationalexperience, we consider policy implications for Chinaand other emerging economies that are currently working todevelop goals for zero-energy buildings.