CALIF’S ZERO NET ENERGY PLAN

CPUC and business leaders launch Zero Net Energy Action Plan; Goal of efficient, clean energy powered buildings by 2030
September 1, 2010 (California Public Utilities Commission)

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) joined California business leaders to launch a 2010-2012 Zero Net Energy Action Plan designed to help California commercial building owners take advantage of the latest technologies and financial incentives to help reduce building energy use to `net-zero' through greater efficiency and on-site clean energy production...

click to enlarge

Zero net energy (ZNE) buildings have a net energy consumption of zero over a typical year. On-site solar, wind, and other renewable energy resources generate the amount of energy used by the building. To date, California has more ZNE buildings than any other state in the nation. Technologies needed to achieve ZNE - including high performance lighting and distributed generation such as rooftop solar - are widely available and incentivized.

Energy is one of the biggest expenses of building ownership, yet it is the one cost that owners have the most control over. Moving toward ZNE will help building owners better manage energy costs and become more energy independent, and at the same time help the state take a big bite out of overall energy consumption. Buildings consume more electricity than any other sector in California. About five billion square feet of commercial building space accounts for 38 percent of the state's power use and more than 25 percent of the state's natural gas consumption.

click to enlarge

"The Zero Net Energy Action Plan was developed...[over 11 months with] more than 150 stakeholders in commercial building, architecture, finance, clean energy, technology, and various state agencies. The action plan lays out a path to implement California's Long-Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan for the commercial sector, published in 2008, which identified ZNE as one of the Big Bold Energy Efficiency Strategies (BBEES). Altogether, the Strategic Plan's BBEES will save an estimated 2,056 MW, avoiding the need for four new 500 MW power plants...