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Net Zero Buildings

Buildings and Cities

A net zero building is one that has zero net energy consumption, producing as much energy, through onsite renewables, as it uses in a year.

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Rank and results by 2050 #79

Net Zero Buildings

What do these numbers mean?

TOTAL CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)

Total CO2-equivalent reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2050 (gigatons)

NET COST (billions US $)

Net cost to implement

SAVINGS (billions US $)

Net savings by 2050

Impact:

There are no numbers on this page because net zero buildings are a mosaic of separate solutions. They draw on smart windows; green roofs; efficient heating, cooling, and water systems; better insulation; distributed energy and storage; and advanced automation. All are treated individually in our analysis. If net zero buildings are calculated as a single solution, assuming 9.7 percent of new buildings will be net zero by 2050, the integrated opportunity is 7.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide.

Net Zero Buildings

Buildings and Cities

A net zero building is one that has zero net energy consumption, producing as much energy, through onsite renewables, as it uses in a year.

A net zero building is one that has zero net energy consumption, producing as much energy as it uses in a year. In some months it may generate excess electricity through distributed renewables; at other times it may require electricity from the grid. On balance, it is self-supporting. Net zero buildings are more resilient during disasters and blackouts, are more carefully designed by necessity, and generally have reduced operating costs.

Designing a net zero building means seeing a building as a system and addressing the sources of energy use. There are multiple ways to reduce a building’s energy loads, including:

Daylighting,
Maximum insulation,
Electrochromic glass,
Passive solar design, and
Advanced heating and cooling.

Net zero buildings were once a novelty, but are becoming more commonplace, as architects roll out extraordinary buildings across the world. There is now a Walgreens drugstore in Chicago that is a net zero building. Net zero neighborhoods, districts, and communities are also being designed and constructed. Newer net zero buildings push the margins further: zero water and zero waste. They harvest rainwater and process sewage on-site into compostable forms.

Vs

Nuclear

Electricity Generation

Nuclear power is complex, expensive, and risky, but it has the potential to avoid emissions from fossil fuel electricity. Project Drawdown considers it a "regrets solution."

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Rank and results by 2050 #20

Nuclear

Reduced CO2: 16 gigatons
Net cost (Billions US$): $0.88
Net operational savings: $1,713.40 billion
What do these numbers mean?

TOTAL CO2-EQ REDUCTION (GT)

Total CO2-equivalent reduction in atmospheric greenhouse gases by 2050 (gigatons)

NET COST (billions US $)

Net cost to implement

SAVINGS (billions US $)

Net savings by 2050

Impact:

Nuclear’s complicated dynamics around safety and public acceptance will influence its future direction—of expansion or contraction. We assume its share of global electricity generation will grow to 13.6 percent by 2030, but slowly decline to 12 percent by 2050. With a longer lifetime than fossil fuel plants resulting in fewer facilities overall, installation of nuclear power plants could cost an additional $900 million, despite the high implementation cost of $4,457 per kilowatt. Net operating savings over thirty years could reach $1.7 trillion. This scenario could result in 16.1 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions avoided.

Nuclear

Electricity Generation

Nuclear power is complex, expensive, and risky, but it has the potential to avoid emissions from fossil fuel electricity. Project Drawdown considers it a "regrets solution."

Nuclear plants use fission to split atomic nuclei and release the energy that binds protons and neutrons together. It is the most complex process ever invented to boil water, which powers steam turbines that generate electricity. Greenhouse gas emissions are calculated to be ten to a hundred times higher for coal-fired plants than for nuclear.

Currently, 29 countries have operative nuclear plants; they produce about 11 percent of the world’s electricity. Nuclear is expensive, and the highly regulated industry is often over-budget and slow. While the cost of virtually every other form of energy has gone down over time, nuclear is four to eight times higher than it was four decades ago.

With nuclear power, there is a climate dilemma: Is an increase in the number of nuclear power plants, with all their flaws and inherent risks, worth the gamble? Or, as some proponents insist, will there be a total meltdown of climate by limiting their use?

At Project Drawdown, we consider nuclear a regrets solution. It has potential to avoid emissions, but there are many reasons for concern: deadly meltdowns, tritium releases, abandoned uranium mines, mine-tailings pollution, radioactive waste, illicit plutonium trafficking, and thefts of missile material, among them.

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