First Net-Zero Certifications Awarded

Two West Coast projects are the first to achieve Net Zero Energy Building Certification in a program launched by the International Living Future Institute in late 2011 (see “Net-Zero Certification Spins Off from Living Building Challenge,” EBN Nov. 2011).

Both of the certified projects are retrofits: Painters Hall, in the Pringle Creek community near Salem, Oregon, is an 80-year-old building converted into a community center; Integrated Design Associates’ IDeAs Z² Design Facility in San Jose, California, is a bright office space in a formerly windowless bank. Both buildings utilize rooftop solar arrays to produce enough energy for the buildings’ needs; at Painters Hall, excess generation offsets the energy used for the neighborhood’s ground-source heat system, and at IDeAs Z², the PV system is integrated with the roofing membrane. Find out more at www.living-future.org/netzero.