ZeroCitiesProject
Urbanareasaregroundzerointurningthetideagainstclimatechange.Tovaryingdegrees,citiesare
leadingthewaytoacarbon-neutraleconomy.Somehavepassedorcommittedtoaggressive
greenhousegas(GHG)emissionsreductiontargetsandclimateactionplans;manyhaveadopted
buildingbenchmarkingpolicies.
Unfortunately,thepolicymakersandpoliticiansspearheadingtheseeffortsoftendon’tknowhowto
translatetheirvisionintomeasurableGHGreductions.Insomecases,thewayforwardistechnicallyor
politicallydifficult.Withbenchmarking,citieslackastandardizedwaytocomparebuildingperformance,
limitingtheimpactoftheordinancesinthemarketplace.
NewBuildingsInstitute,Architecture2030andResourceMediaarelaunchinganambitiousprojectto
helpcitiestranslateclimatethinkingintoon-the-groundprogress.TheZeroCitiesProjectfeaturesa
roadmapandsuiteoftoolscitiescanusetotranslatevision
intomeasurableprogress.
THEFACTS
THESTRATEGY
• Ninehundredbillionsquarefeet
Benchmarkingisakeystrategyforcitiesseekingto
ofbuildingswillbenewlyaccelerateenergyefficiencyinbuildings.TheZeroCities
constructedorrebuiltbetween
Projecthelpscitieschartapathbeyondbenchmarkingtoan
nowand2030.
endpointofcarbon-neutral,zeronetenergybuildings.
• Thevastmajorityofpopulation
Thesebuildingsusenomoreenergythancanbeproduced
growthandbuilding
onsite(ornearby)throughrenewableenergyresources
developmentwillhappenin
suchasphotovoltaics(PVs)orwind.TheZeroCitiesProject
urbanareas.
isbuiltonthreecorestrategiesandanoverallframework
• Citiesandurbanareasare
capturedinanadaptableAchievingZeroroadmap.
responsibleforapproximately75
percentofglobalCO2emissions,
I.zEPI–ChartingthePathtoZero
mostlyfrombuildingsand
OveradozenU.S.citieshaveadoptedbenchmarking,with
transportation.
moreontheway.Citiesareworkingtoleveragebuilding
• Inthenexttwodecades,an
datatodriveenergyefficiencyimprovements,butbecause
equivalentof60percentofthe
thereisnouniversalstandardforcomparingbuilding
world’scurrentbuildingstock
performance,thedatadonotyettellacompellingstory.
willbebuiltandlockinemission
Buildingperformanceistypicallymeasuredas“percentagepatternsfor80to120years.
savings-better-than-code,”arelativemeasurementunlikely
totriggerthecatalyticchangesneeded.zEPIisasimple,
easy-to-understandscalethatcanbeapplieduniversally
ZeroEnergyPerformanceIndex(zEPI)
torepresentprogresstowardlargerperformancegoals
UnlikeEnergyStar,whichratesbuildings
andzeronetenergy.
onacurverelativetothecurrent
buildingstock,zEPIisanabsolutescale
II.ReachCodes–InnovatingtoZero
withtwoend-points:
Reachcodesareaprovenstrategytodrivemarket
Ontheonehand,withascoreof
capacityandacceptanceforhigherefficiencyenergy
100,isabuildingorpolicyequalto
codes.DemonstratedinVermont,Massachusetts,
theenergyuseofanaverage
Oregon,Californiaandelsewhere,reachcodesprime
buildingintheyear2000(as
themarketforfutureadoptionofmorestringent
establishedbythefederalCBECS
energyefficiencycodes.Theyofferanopportunityto
2003database).
trainthebuildinganddevelopmentcommunitieson
Ontheother,withascoreofzero,is
measuresbeforetheunderlyingenergycodeis
abuildingorpolicywithazeronet
improved.Reachcodesarevoluntaryandoftenworkin
energyrating.
tandemwithutilityandotherincentiveprograms.
III.Point-of-SaleCodes–RenovatingtoZero
Pioneeringcitieshavedemonstratedthatthepoint-of-saleorleaseisanidealtimetorequireenergy
efficiencyupgradesinexistingbuildings.TomeetGHGreductioncommitmentsandtargetsbytheyear
2050,mostexistingbuildingsinurbanareasmustberenovatedtohigh-performancestandardsoverthe
next35years.Withpoint-of-salecoderequirements,responsibilityforrenovationlieswiththenew
buildingowner,anidealtargetgiventhatmanynewownersrenovatebuildingspriortooccupancy.
ACHIEVINGZERO – EmissionsReductionsandResiliencyintheBuiltEnvironment
AchievingZeroisaroadmapforgovernmententitiestoenactincrementalactionsoverafifteen-year
timespantophaseoutCO2emissionsinthebuiltenvironmentbymid-century.ItwillutilizethezEPI
scale,fundamentalbuildingconstructioninterventionpoints,buildingenergyconservationandreach
codes,andrenewableenergyapplicationsasprimaryimplementationtools.Actionsoutlinedinthe
roadmapwillsavepropertyownersandbuildingoccupantsenergyandmoney,aswellascreate
thousandsoflocalcleanenergyandconstructionjobs.
OURAPPROACH
Architecture2030,NewBuildingsInstituteandResourceMediawillprovidemodelpolicylanguage,
technicalguidanceandhands-onsupporttohelpcitiesandalliesmakethecaseforZeroCitiesProject
Strategies.
CONTACT
RalphDiNola
EdwardMazria
AmyFrykman
NewBuildingsInstitute
Architecture2030
ResourceMedia
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
August 2015
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