CMTA Consulting Engineers » Green Design - Net Zero Energy School

Net Zero Energy School

 

 

CMTA currently has a Net Zero Energy Public School in construction.  When opened in 2010, this school will be the first Net Zero Energy PUBLIC School in the United States.  Click here to read more about this exciting project.

 

 

What is a Net Zero Energy School?

 

The building has a renewable energy source on site that produces energy and feeds to the utility grid. On an annual basis, 100 percent of the energy the building consumes from the utility grid is returned. The renewable energy source used for this project is solar photovoltaics.
 
Annual energy use is expressed as Kilo British Thermal Units per square foot per year (kBtus/sf/yr).

 

How is net zero practical for a public school?  Isn’t it expensive?

 

CMTA’s Net Zero Philosophy is to drastically reduce the building’s energy consumption so that the size and cost of the solar photovoltaic system will be minimized.  Our goal is to reduce this building’s energy consumption by 75 percent.

 

Net Zero Energy Strategies

Efficient thermal envelope
Geothermal HVAC
Daylighting
Energy efficient lighting
Reduce energy use in the kitchen
Reduce plug loads for computers
Geothermal/solar domestic water heating
Site produced energy (wind or solar PV)