The AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community (HCD) is a network of architects and allied stakeholders that promotes equity in housing, excellence in residential design, and sustainable, vibrant communities for all, through education, research, awards, and advocacy.
This webinar is part of a series sponsored by the Housing Knowledge Community on AIA KnowledgeNet.
Data gathered in 2003 by the commercial building energy consumption survey estimated total fuel consumption at 6.523 quatrillion Btus. Another way to look at this is the 1.4 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity that goes to power both residential and commercial. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Building Sector consumes nearly half (48.7%) of all energy produced in the United States. Seventy-six percent (75.7%) of all the electricity produced in the U.S. is used just to operate buildings. In order to have meaningful impact and reduce our energy use, architecture design, specifically residential, should play a physical, social, scientific, environmental and meaningful role in shaping our energy future. This presentation reviews a variety of housing projects in Nebraska that have re-defined the use of energy in design, construction and operations. Zero-net energy housing (ZNEH) is an ambitious agenda establishing a goal of zero energy use in the residential market.