With some recent developments, the zero energy building and near zero energy building has gained a worldwide attention and now it is seen as the future building concept. Since such buildings are now the center of attraction, various advancements in this area are being reported. This paper is a detailed review of the literature on the zero (or near zero) energy building (ZEB) envelope components...

Buildings are energy-intensive and a primary source of US end-use sector carbon emissions. Although building emissions today 25% below their 2005 peak, far deeper reductions needed to reach the 2050 net-zero goal. However, plausible decarbonization pathways that consider both buildings interactions with power grid remain poorly understood. Here, we couple detailed modeling energy use quantify p...

This paper aims to define the energy and economic performance of a district heating (i.e., DH) considering the impact of cost-optimal refurbishment solutions of the connected buildings. The possibility to shift to a lowtemperature DH is considered a feasible solution to reduce thermal losses and hence increasing the network efficiency that is connected with a systematic approach to the refurbis...

As established by the recast of the European Union (EU) Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD), all new buildings have to be nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) by the end of 2020. However, reaching this result considering cost-optimality is still an open challenge. Balancing renewable power generation with energy efficiency to reach the nZEB target is a key goal of all EU Member ...

Buildings impact multiple United Nations (UN) Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). Net-positive energy buildings (NPEBs) present an opportunity for the built sector to offer climate solutions and habitable environments with improved efficiency, responsible consumption, sustainable production, communities. Case study analysis of a multi-tenant office NPEB demonstrates decisions made realize ...

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) was one 16 collegiate teams from around the world that participated in U.S. Department Energy Solar Decathlon 2017 competition. An interdisciplinary team students across university engaged a 2-year long process to design and build house is powered completely by solar power. equipped run all typical appliances an average modern similar levels on conv...

Summary Buildings account for 30% of global energy use. The architectural trend across building sectors is toward more glass despite higher use and carbon emissions than opaque cladding alternatives. Numerous window technologies—low-emissivity coatings, triple glazing, dynamic tinting, the recently developed photovoltaic glass—have emerged in last two decades as approaches to reduce en...