Net Zero Energy

The Riverdale NetZero Project in Alberta, one of Canada's first net zero energy houses (and it's a duplex, too), has a website. And on this website, there's a large (10MB), 98-slide presentation chock full of enlightening and thought-provoking stuff ranging from what "net zero energy" means, to how they did it. A very good introduction for people not entirely familiar with all of the concepts involved, and a nice case study for those who are.

For greater detail, they also offer the project's technical proposal. For a straightforward exposition on the subject of net zero energy, see the Environmental Building News feature, Getting to Zero: The Frontier of Low-Energy Buildings, which explores the concept of zero-energy — what it means, why it matters, and how to get there. And find more on net zero energy in the BuildingGreen Suite. Passive survivability is something else to keep in mind as well...