C O U N T D OW N TO Z E R O :
THE PROMISE OF ZERO NET
E N E R GY B U I L D I N G S A N D A
CA R B O N N E U T R A L F U T U R E
Q&A with P2S Vice-President and COO: Kent Peterson
The building sector’s energy consumption accounts for a
significant amount of the carbon and other greenhouse
gas emissions released into the earth’s atmosphere.
This presents a clear opportunity for cities, business
owners and other stakeholders to decrease energy use
and reduce their energy costs and carbon emissions.
Highly efficient buildings can use carbon-free renewable
energy, either produced onsite and/or sourced offsite, to
become Zero Net Energy (ZNE). While challenges remain,
the financial and technical barriers to build and retrofit
highly efficient, energy neutral buildings continue to fall.
Kent Peterson is a leader in hyper-energy efficient
building design and helped to develop the US
Department of Energy’s common definition for Zero
Energy Buildings. It was through his leadership as P2S
COO, that P2S became one of the leading providers
of energy-efficient design solutions. We spoke to him
about the challenges facing the design and construction
industries as they seek to reduce the built environment’s
energy consumption through Zero Net Energy buildings.
Have there been any recent developments in California’s
energy landscape?
KP: Just last month, California passed two new laws
targeting energy consumption and emissions. SB 100 sets
three different targets for renewable resources, aiming
to reach 100% fossil-free electricity by the year 2045. AB
3232 sets targets for Zero Emission Buildings, requiring all
new buildings built after 2030 to be zero emission and it
also mandates reducing emissions from existing buildings
to 50% below 1990 levels. These new laws join the earlier
state mandate to make all new residential buildings Zero
Net Energy by 2020.
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