Buildings

Zero Energy Buildings: Has the region progressed since 2012?

In the past four years, have states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic region become more supportive of zerio energy policies and construction? What have those states done since NEEP first released it's Roadmap to Zero Net Energy Public Buildings report?

To answer these questions, NEEP recently released the Roadmap to Zero Energy Public Buildings: Progress Report (The Progress Report).

Northeast Leads the League in Building High Performance, Zero Energy Homes

With Opening Day about to ring in another season of me rooting for my hometown New York Yankees while embedded in Red Sox Nation here at NEEP, I made the following realization: our region is the Yankees of building high efficiency homes. Think about it:

A Renter’s Guide to Green Real Estate

Rental horror stories, we’ve all got one. Whether it’s you or someone you know, it’s common to hear tales about moving into a new apartment or home and being caught off guard by some feature in the house that leads to skyrocketing energy costs or an uncomfortable living situation. Mine goes like this:

Insider Insight: Walking the Corridors of a High Performance School

Before last week, I (like most) had never stepped foot in a high performance school. It wasn’t futuristic in terms of its aesthetics, no chrome-plated walls or robots roving through the corridors. However, it was futuristic in the sense that it carefully considered the health of the students, their learning atmosphere, and our environment as a whole.

Updates from the 2015 Better Buildings Summit: Big Progress Towards an Ambitious Presidential Goal

Over 900 stakeholders from around the country gathered last week in Washington D.C. to showcase the accomplishments made thus far in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative. The initiative was launched by President Obama in 2011 with the goal of reducing national building energy usage by 20% over ten years.

Comprehensive Checklist Enables Real Estate Professionals to Assess Home Energy Attributes

The energy-efficient home market in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic continues to grow at a steady pace. The market penetration of high-performance homes in the United States reached $36 Billion in 2013 and is projected to hit $72 Billion by 2016 (Source, McGraw Hill Construction). Consumers are seeking green and energy efficient features, and builders are striving to meet the demand.

Vermont First in Nation to Adopt Latest, Greatest Building Energy Code

On December 5, Vermont finalized an update to its Residential and Commercial Building Energy Standards (RBES and CBES), thereby becoming the first state in the country to adopt* a building energy code based on the 2015 International Energy Conservation Code (2015 IECC). The 2015 IECC is the newest and most efficient version of the IECC, a model code used by the vast majority of the country (including every state in NEEP’s region).

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