It may not seem like it, but the sustainability movement is alive and well. And there are facility executives and other constituencies who want their institutional and commercial facilities to not just check the boxes but be the trendsetters. So, it remains worthwhile to talk about the ambitious goal of net zero and how to attain it.
Net zero energy in the facilities context means that your building or complex uses less energy than the clean energy it produces or procures. Net zero carbon is a stricter standard, meaning that your facility and its operations overall emit fewer greenhouse (GHG) gases, or carbon, than they displace. Since the primary direct contributor to GHGs is energy use, net zero energy and net zero carbon are closely related. This column focuses on net zero energy, a tough challenge all by itself.
The best way to approach this issue is to think about your facilities as a series of overlapping, interconnected systems – by which I mean both physical systems, like HVAC, lighting, process and plug loads, as well as operational and maintenance systems, from custodial operations to repair and replacement schedules.
But it is also essential to consider the physics of your buildings, how air, light, heat, cooling and pollutants flow through them and how you can properly harness or control these flows to maximum advantage. This includes:
A 2025 study by the engineering association ASHRAE, Analysis of 50 Net Zero Energy Buildings, summarized the synthesis of these strategies as follows:
“The fundamental design principles in these buildings are [to] conserve energy through well-insulated buildings with good natural lighting. Then design systems to be turned off as much as possible through decentralized HVAC systems, occupancy sensors for lighting, equipment with automatic sleep modes and plugs that automatically de-energize when rooms are unoccupied. Finally, when electricity needs to be used, it is conserved with efficient electric lighting and HVAC systems.”
The key to achieving net zero is to maximize energy efficiency through every means possible before even thinking about the addition of renewable energy resources – because downsizing building energy loads will allow you to use lower volume HVAC systems and smaller solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, saving money and energy all the way down the line. In other words, eat as much of the efficiency spinach as you can before digging into your clean energy dessert.
Many energy efficiency achievements depend on the work of building and facility managers and engineers. While most successful net zero energy buildings to date have been new construction – as the blank slate of a new building allows for maximum creativity and holistic strategies – the role of building managers and staff in achieving net zero is essential. The Energy Star program has long documented this reality, as it reiterated in a recent report:
“…Our program participants cite operations and maintenance practices as the single most important reason for achieving Energy Star. This aligns with a common theme that we’ve continually seen over the past 20 years: Despite the physical characteristics of or technologies employed by a building, how it is operated remains an essential component of energy efficiency.”
Understanding how your building works – better than you already do – is key to success. This means both starting with rigorous audits and analyses and employing the best building automation systems you can afford, to give you a continual view of operations, problems and challenges. Here is one area in which artificial intelligence (AI) may enhance your operations, as effective AI programs can predict and synthesize large amounts of information and respond with continual building system adjustments.
Continuous commissioning and building retuning offer rigorous methods to ensure that HVAC, lighting and other systems keep operating at optimal levels – often with attractive paybacks. Proper training of staff and regular communication and partnership with tenants are also key to squeezing every last bit of energy waste out of the system.
Many facilities have replaced their old lighting fixtures with the latest highly efficient LED technologies. Lighting controls are critical too, to ensure systems automatically dim as appropriate when daylight is sufficient and go on and off in response to occupancy sensors and/or regular schedules. Whether your window and shading systems are optimal for providing daylight, without producing excessive glare or heat gain, is also worth evaluating and improving.
Attention to equipment replacement schedules, using them to plan to take full advantage of repair and renovation opportunities to enhance efficiency gains, is another recommended strategy. This heads-up can provide more time to prepare for budgeting and financing, to allow for such big-ticket items as investing in a more efficient HVAC system. Moving to heat pumps, thereby eliminating on-site fuel combustion, is often the biggest win for both energy efficiency and carbon reductions. This remains a major expense, however, so if you wait for equipment to fail and are faced with an emergency decision for immediate replacement, you might not be in a strong position to push for a major upgrade.
Window replacements present another opportunity for major efficiency gains. While this can be another major expense, prices for high efficiency windows have come down and cheaper options like snap-on window inserts are increasingly available.
If you are ready to become a sustainability leader, then consider taking the plunge to develop a full-blown net zero energy building or campus. For case studies of buildings that have gone net zero, check out the New Buildings Institute’s Getting to Zero Database.
Short of going all the way right now, there are plenty of options on the menu here to look into, to try now or start planning for the near future. And as energy prices increasingly head for the stratosphere, zero will look like an increasingly attractive number.
Ken Sandler, Ph.D., is a clean energy and sustainability analyst and thought leader who spent 35 years advancing green building and sustainability policies and programs across the federal government. In addition to being a Facility Influencer, he writes his own newsletter, Regenerative Insights, available on LinkedIn and Substack.
