More Wall, Less Passive Solar Makes Net-Zero Homes Affordable

“Identifying Affordable Net Zero Energy Housing Solutions” highlights current best practices, identifies technologies that “currently do not exist but which would be very useful,” and proposes “technology suites” for future NZE construction. Manitoba engineer Gary Proskiw, who prepared the report for Natural Resources Canada, defines the lowest-cost technology suite as the one yielding “the most affordable NZE house possible while emphasizing reliability and durability.” He adds that “maintenance concerns are minimized since off-the-shelf products are used.”

After gathering input from designers of a dozen NZE homes in Canada, Proskiw advocates: