NewswireToday - /newswire/ - Columbia, MD, United States, 2012/06/12 - Energetics played a key role in assisting the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) with the development of a strategic framework for guidelines for the design and construction of net-zero energy (NZE) homes - Energetics.com.

The framework, Strategies for Achieving Net-Zero Energy Homes: A Framework for Future Guidelines, is the result of a workshop held at NIST’s Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus in September 2011.

Energetics designed and facilitated the workshop, which was attended by a broad segment of the residential building stakeholder community, including those with interests in architecture and design, technology and equipment, real estate, and consumer behavior. A number of important topics were considered for achieving NZE in new and existing homes, including future guidelines for design, technology, and installation; elements needed to assist consumers in evaluating NZE options during home construction and purchase decisions; and factors of human behavior that will influence the successful use of guidelines.

Energetics (energetics.com) guided the diverse set of stakeholders from the home-building community through a series of key questions designed to identify where guidelines would be most effective and which challenges and important elements to include in the report. The result of these efforts is a visionary framework that will aid in developing a set of future guidelines for the residential building community and homeowners as they design, construct, and operate NZE homes.

Unlike many other parts of the world where regulations are mandated from the top down, model building codes and standards development in the United States is a grassroots effort, generally requiring consensus from many diverse stakeholders. Building code adoption, administration, and enforcement are achieved at the state and local levels. Diminishing budgets have hampered the consideration of anything beyond the essential health and safety mandates. Training and guidance to better inform all sectors and levels of stakeholders are necessary to move residential building design, construction, and operation to the NZE goal.

Written by / Agency / Source: Energetics, Inc.

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