Redesigning a Home to Net-Zero Energy: A Comprehensive Report

This report comprehensively analyzes the process of transforming a traditional home into a net-zero energy home (RH) through strategic material selection, innovative construction processes, and the integration of renewable energy systems. It emphasizes the importance of using low-carbon construction materials like timber, rock wool, and aerated concrete, alongside advanced techniques such as thermal insulation, precast construction, and passive solar heating. The report also highlights the significance of managing operative energy consumption by implementing energy-efficient policies and utilizing renewable energy sources like solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and hydropower. Furthermore, it explores the feasibility and challenges of implementing these redesigns, focusing on recycling and reusing materials like timber and metals to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability. The ultimate goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve long-term energy efficiency in residential buildings.

Net-Zero Energy Homes 1
THE NET ZERO ENERGY OF REDESIGNED HOME
Name
Couse
Tutor
University
Date
Department

Net-Zero Energy Homes 2
1. THE NET ZERO ENERGY HOMES
A Net-Zero Energy house is referred to as a house that produces as much energy as it
uses from the grid by utilizing renewable energy sources. Many countries around the world have
started to adopt this kind of a technology so as to improve energy efficiency in the residential
houses. For a building or a house to be considered as zero energy there have to be no emissions
of carbon from the processes that are taking place inside the building (Alhorr, Eliskandarani, &
Elsarrag, 2014). Carbon emission nowadays is always be considered as a threat to the
environment and therefore every precaution should be taken to ensure that carbon emission to the
environment is minimized.
This paper mainly focuses on the upgrade of a house that is not zero-energy into a
redesigned house that fulfills the requirements of a Net zero energy home and to achieve this
serious consideration should be given to the materials, water consumption and using on-site
renewable energy wastes. Therefore while designing a net zero carbon emission house the whole
life cycle should focus on the environment to ensure that little or no carbon is emitted.
1.1 Selection of construction materials that are low in carbon
For the purposes of achieving a Net Zero building, the focus should be directed to the
selection of building materials. The materials may include cement, building blocks, steel and
many others. The materials delivered to the construction site should be checked for carbon
emissions. This should be done both in the production areas and during the delivery of the
materials at the construction site (Giesekam, Barrett, & Taylor, 2015). The designer of the
building should select only the materials that have got little or no emissions of carbon. The

Net-Zero Energy Homes 3
materials selected should also be checked whether they can be recycled. The materials should not
have a negative impact on human health.
There are several requirements that must be met when selecting the materials used for the
construction of the net zero energy buildings. These requirements include;
a. The process of production should be as simple as possible because complex
processes will eventually consume a lot of energy hence the carbon emission will
be more.
b. Minimum waste of the materials during construction.
c. Mechanical properties for structural materials such as stiffness, strength in case
there is a seismic action
d. The distance between the production site and the construction should be as
minimum as possible to ensure there is less carbon emission.
e. The material should be recyclable and should be from a renewable source.
There are various materials that have been known to emit low carbon during their
production. These include;
a. Timber or wood- Timber emits very low carbon and consumes low energy during
its production. Timber is also light to handle and is comprised of several layers
therefore making it more stable. Due to these factors, timber is ideal for
constructing buildings that are Net zero energy (Brady, 2016).
b. Rock wool; This is an insulation product that is preferred because of its durability,
thermal performance and fire protection. The rock wool is produced from mineral
wool and contains fine fiber. It is produced from renewable rocks from volcanic

Net-Zero Energy Homes 4
and it saves a lot of energy. Changes in temperature and humidity do not affect
the rock wool because it doesn’t corrode.
c. Aerated concrete- These are porous materials which are light in weight. Its light
weight makes it resistant to high temperatures.
1.2 Innovative Process during construction
There have been numerous advanced and innovative construction techniques that have been
developed to reduce the amount of carbon emitted during construction of buildings. These
techniques have been developed with an idea of net-zero energy buildings in mind. Some of
these techniques include;
a. Thermal insulation materials- According to Attia et al., (2015), better materials have been
developed which are able to minimize the heating and cooling of the house. Double
glazed and triple glazed windows have now replaced the single glazed windows. This
helps to save energy consumption by use of active ventilation and heat recovery process.
b. Precast construction methods- This has been done by reducing the onsite construction
waste and carbon emissions. The waste is casted and later relocated
c. Passive solar and radiant heating- This involves diverting the sunlight in the different
areas of a building to increase the temperature in the winter season and in the summer
season the breeze is diverted into internal areas so as to lower the internal temperature.
d. Installation of solar energy- This involves the installation of solar energy by installing the
solar panels and solar water heaters ("Net zero energy building design fundamentals,"
2017).
Other approaches include lowering the demand for building energy through enabling the
sealing and insulation capabilities by incorporating the use of enhanced construction materials

Net-Zero Energy Homes 5
such as shading and thermal insulation among others. During the sustainable passive designing,
the aspect of site and layout planning, natural ventilation and lighting should be considered and
incorporated. These reduce the energy consumption (Attia, 2018).
1.3 Management of operative energy consumption and consumption behavior
In the management of energy consumption, the main aim is to reduce the energy
consumed and at the same time improve energy efficiency. This will involve checking regularly
and controlling the energy consumption. This is normally done by recording and implementing
policies that meet the energy efficiency goals in the construction sector. Considerable
administration of policies needs to employ tactics that will lower the amount of energy consumed
so as to make the environment efficient (Gram-Hanssen, 2012). In the construction sector, the
materials requiring high capital should be used last. Renewable sources of energy should be used
and the equipment used should be energy efficient.
There are other ways that can be used to manage energy consumption such as designing a
house with enough natural lighting during the day. There should be some trees surrounding the
building because they can absorb the carbon dioxide that is emitted when appliances are used
inside the buildings.
1.4 Choice of renewable energy systems
Renewable energy is obtained from sources which are replenished naturally. The energy
sources are explained below;
1.4.1 Solar energy
During construction, the solar energy is converted into heat energy by use of a solar water heater.
This heat energy then converts into electric energy by using photo voltaic cells. The cells acquire
the sunlight transferring electrons and finally forming a charge which is stored as electricity.

Net-Zero Energy Homes 6
This technology is efficient because it doesn’t involve the burning of the fuel. Solar energy is
until now the biggest form of renewable energy and its use is all over the world (Newton, 2017).
1.4.2 Wind energy
Wind energy is converted into electrical energy through the use of wind turbines and
batteries which store the energy produced. Turbines get rotated by the wind energy which is
converted into a torque on rotor blades. In farming, wind energy is used for water pumping and
in residential areas it is used to charge batteries.
1.4.3 Biomass
Biomass is the mixer of organic material that is obtained from animals and plants. This
produces a bio-fuel known as biogas and the waste is dry or wet and can be utilized as fertilizer
for the plants.
1.4.4 Geothermal Energy
This is the energy that is produced by the warmth of the earth. The sources for this energy
include hot water and hot rocks located down the earth’s surface (McNabb, 2013). It is known to
produce electrical energy.
1.4.5 Hydro power
Flow of water is used to produce the hydro energy which then produces electricity.
1.5 Recycle and re-use
Natural resources are normally recycled to limit contamination, reduce usage of water and
energy and decrease temperature modification. Some of the materials that are recycled include;
1.5.1 Timber
Timber recovered from demolition waste can be re-utilized and be of much help in
another construction site or to manufacture some other products

Net-Zero Energy Homes 7
1.5.2 Metals
In cases of buildings demolitions, used metals are produced and can be reused and it has
been discovered that the reused steel generates less carbon compared to new manufacturing of
steel.
1.6 The feasibility and challenges of implementing RH
We have debated the benefits achieved by converting our traditional home into a “Net
Zero Energy” home. The procedure is easy to implement as it lowers the carbon emissions as
well and the home will be energy efficient (Fong & Lee, 2012).The same procedure should be
used for the construction of all new building structures so that they will be energy efficient, cost
effective and sustainable to the environment as well.
The process of implementing low carbon emission materials and net zero energy process
has a high initial investment and people tend to avoid the high initial cost processes.
Conclusion
In order to lower the energy consumption, changes are made in the selection of materials
and appliances used and adopt the use of materials and construction process that are emitting
carbon (Albadry, Sewilam, & Tarabieh, 2016). The net-zero energy homes usually combine the
construction design that is efficient, appliances that are energy efficient, passive solar energy that
is integrated with commercially available renewable energy systems with the goal of achieving a
net-zero energy use on an annual basis. The RH that incorporate net-zero energy use
considerably reduce the greenhouse gas production (Loftness, 2013). By using the energy
efficient concept integrated with renewable energy technology, homeowners are therefore able to
reduce their energy costs and requirements. They are therefore able to bring a sustainable

Net-Zero Energy Homes 8
solution for the long-run towards the reduction of greenhouse gas and other emissions that are
responsible for global warming.
References
Albadry, S., Sewilam, H. and Tarabieh, K. 2016. Feasibility of Converting Existing Residential
Buildings to Net Zero-Energy Buildings in Egypt.
Alhorr, Y., Eliskandarani, E. & Elsarrag, E. 2014. Approaches to reducing carbon dioxide
emissions in the built environment: Low carbon cities. International Journal of
Sustainable Built Environment, 3(2), 167-178.
Attia, S., 2018. Net Zero Energy Buildings Performance Indicators and Thresholds. Net Zero
Energy Buildings (NZEB), 53-85.
Attia, S., Hamdy, M., Carlucci, S., Pagliano, L., Bucking, S., & Hasan, A. 2015. Building
performance optimization of net zero-energy buildings. Modeling, Design, and
Optimization of Net-Zero Energy Buildings, 175-206.
Brady, L. 2016. Low- and Zero-Carbon Technologies in Buildings. The Sustainable Built
Environment, 90-105.
Fong, K., & Lee, C. 2012. Towards net zero energy design for low-rise residential buildings in
subtropical Hong Kong. Applied Energy, 93, 686-694.
Giesekam, J., Barrett, J. R., & Taylor, P. 2015. Construction sector views on low carbon
building materials. Building Research & Information, 44(4), 423-444.
Gram-Hanssen, K. 2012. Efficient technologies or user behaviour, which is the more important
when reducing households’ energy consumption? Energy Efficiency, 6(3), 447-457.
Loftness, V. 2013. Sustainable Built Environment sustainability/sustainable built environment,
Introduction. Sustainable Built Environments, 620-633.

Net-Zero Energy Homes 9
McNabb, N. A. 2013. Strategies to Achieve Net-Zero Energy Homes: A Framework for Future
Guidelines Workshop Summary Report.
Net zero energy building design fundamentals. 2017. Solution Sets for Net-Zero Energy
Buildings, 7-38.
Newton, P. W. 2017. Innovation for a Sustainable Low Carbon Built Environment. Procedia
Engineering, 180, 16-32.