1. Running head: ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES
Renewable Energy Resources Applied to Zero Energy Houses and Buildings
Lucas Gimenes de Almeida
ESL Academy
ESL Academy
Ms. Marissa Michael
08/11/2014

2. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 2
Introduction
Renewable energy resources (RER) have become popular in the last few years due to
environmental problems that have been developed since the Industrial Revolution, and
worldwide policies also have been stated to decrease the emission of pollutants. Since then,
people have been thinking about how to reduce the amount of pollutants in a large scale and
what can be innovative in the RER usage. Thus, the Zero Energy Houses (ZEH) and Zero Energy
Buildings (ZEB) were created to be that innovation since many countries, such as China and US
use fossil fuel to generate energy. This is a good way to contribute to the clean energy
generation.
As RER popularity has grown, their technology has followed it as well. The efficiency of
each resource developed has increased with improvements that new technology can offer to it.
Some of these improvements are, for example, gear’s transmission for wind generators and solar
panels sun rays extraction and storage. Additionally, a few communities spread all of the world
showed that ZEH and ZEB can supply these communities during a period of a year. For instance,
the Kaupuni community in Hawaii which had a 99% clean energy consumption generated by
their ZEH. (Norton, Kiatreungwatanna and Kelly, 2013, p.)
Therefore, this paper will address the investment and payback time of RER systems in
ZEH and ZEB projects, new RER technologies that have been developed and how much energy
can be saved with ZEH and ZEB.
Zero Energy Houses and Buildings in cities and countries
Because of popularity growth and worldwide policies, countries and cities have already
implemented RER and ZEH and ZEB to generate clean energy. For instance, nineteen, 1-story

3. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 3
and 2-story houses in a Hawaii community have a photovoltaic panels system and these were
studied with the intention to analyze how much energy clean could be generated in a year as well
as how much of this energy would supply the houses’ needs. Moreover, 99% out of a 100% of
the energy consumption by the houses’ was clean energy generated by the solar panels. Thus, it
is possible to verify how Zero Energy Houses and Buildings can be crucial if applied in
neighborhoods and communities.
Furthermore, countries have been adopting these houses and buildings to increase their
clean energy generation potential. China has invested into many projects related to ZEH & ZEB
in the last few years in which the varieties of buildings encompass hotels, residential area, office,
factory building, resort, market, school and hospital building (Fig 1).
Depending on the house’s or building’s design, its energy needs, the number of people
living there and their consumption habit, the renewable energy’s project size and energy
generation will be directly affected by them. The design will directly affect the potential
available space for renewable energy project application, such as water heater, small wind power
generators and extended solar panels. In addition, if the house or building has this available
space engaged and its energy need is quite high, so the energy generation by the RER might not
cover all its energy need and will be affected as well. Thus, the best option should be chosen

4. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 4
during the house project or, if the house or building already exists, according to its blueprint. For
instance, if the right project was not chosen for a house with 4 people living and their energy
consumption habit is moderate, the renewable energy system (RES) maybe not be sufficient or it
can be over projected to the house’s needs, and if is not sufficient so the house will keep
consuming energy from the grid. Moreover, if it is over projected, the city policies may not want
or can buy the exceeded energy because it does not have technical support for it.
Types of ZEB
The ZEB have some definitions which depending of the chosen one for a project, it will
influence in the economic aspects. Each kind of ZEB has its advantages and disadvantages as
shown on table 1.
New technologies

5. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 5
As the renewable energy resources have been developed, the implemented technology
over them has been improved as well, such as a sun tracking system and the use of graphene with
other chemical compounds to enhance the efficiency of solar panels. The sun tracking concept is
that the solar panels can be capable to track the sun as it moves. Therefore, a microprocessor will
run an algorithm that will interpret the voltage difference in each photo sensor which one will be
attached in the center and other four on the corners of the panel. With the reading of the voltage
difference, the microprocessor will orientate the panels to Sun’s position with the help of stepper
motors. (Cellatoglu and Balasubramanian, 2010, p. 341)
In other words, the solar tracking system will be a better, efficient, and accurate way to collect
sun rays instead the fixed panels which only absorb the energy during a part of the day because
they are not always targeted a 100% to the sun.
A solar panel’s prototype using nanoparticles of graphene and titanium dioxide was
proposed to reduce costs and increase the solar energy conversion efficiency which reached
15.6%. (Tse-Wei Wang et al, 2013, p. A) This efficiency increase reflects the power generated
by the solar panels because it has a more powerful conversion system. Thus it will be capable to
generate more energy from the sun rays collect.
Examples of Zero Energy Buildings and Houses

6. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 6
Many ZEH and ZEB projects have been implemented during the last years for future
research focusing the DOE’s goal with the intention to facilitate ZEB market, such as (Torcellini
et al. 2004):
 “Oberlin”—The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies, Oberlin College.
 “Zion”—The Visitor Center at Zion National Park, Springdale, Utah.
 “Cambria”—The Cambria Department of Environmental Protection Office Building,
Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.
 “CBF”—The Philip Merrill Environmental Center, Chesapeake Bay Foundation,
Annapolis, Maryland.
 “TTF”—The Thermal Test Facility, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden,
Colorado.
 “BigHorn”—The BigHorn Home Improvement Center, Silverthorne, Colorado.
(Torcellini, Pless, Deru and Crawley, 2006, p. 5)
Projects and Costs
Every ZEH and ZEB has its projects costs which will depend the project’s size and the
sector that it will be applied. The tables below show details of a solar and wind project for a
general residential and commercial area as well as the specific areas of New York City and Long
Island.
Long Island NYC
Project Size (kW) 6.16 6.9
Total System Fully Installed $32,435 $55,269
Net Cost of System After All Incentives $10,159 $16,597
Estimated Life of System 30 years 30 years
Greenhouse Gases Saved Over Life of System (lbs) 430,923 482,690
Greenhouse Gases Saved Per Year (lbs) 14,364.1 16,089.67
Annual Return on Investment (IRR): (after tax!) 20% 16%
Solar electric residential project for NYC and Long Island

7. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 7
Long Island NYC
Project Size (kW) 30 50
Total System Fully Installed $119,226 $311,738
Net Cost of System After All Incentives $22,638 $23,752
Estimated Life of System 30 years 30 years
Greenhouse Gases Saved Over Life of System (lbs) 2,098,652 3,052,784
Greenhouse Gases Saved Per Year (lbs) 69,955.07 101,759.5
Annual Return on Investment (IRR): (after tax!) 28% 52%
Solar electric commercial project for NYC and Long Island
Small
Commercial
Large
Commercial
Project Size (kW) 10 100
Total System Fully Installed $ 85,000 $ 556,000
Net Cost of System After All Incentives $ 5,726 $ 139,706
Estimated Life of System 20 years 20 years
Greenhouse Gases Saved Over Life of System (lbs) 500,840 6,925,520
Greenhouse Gases Saved Per Year (lbs) 25,042 346,276
Annual Return on Investment (IRR): (after tax!) 45% 21%
Wind power project for small and large commercial
As is possible to see on the tables above, the bigger a project is, it will result in a higher cost. If
compared the costs between the commercial sectors (table 4) is possible to verify that the energy
generation difference is 10 times greater, and the cost is $133,980 higher.
Considering the amount emitted of SO2 and NOx by coal power plants in the first quarter
of 2014 which was 244,092.80 tons [488,185,600 lbs.] (United States environmental Protection
Agency, 2014) and this production is linear for the whole year, the final estimated amount would
reach 732,278.4 tons [1,464,556,000 lbs.]. Comparing this amount to the Greenhouse gases
saved per year of each project mentioned above it is a considerable value over a solar or wind
power project, but analyzing this data into a broader way of course will be easier to reach annual
amount of SO2 and NOx. Applying the solar electric projects data of the residential area in NYC
and Long Island into a larger number of houses, the minimum number of houses to achieve the
SO2 and NOx varies from 91,000 - 102,000 houses. That means roughly 91,000 houses, based in

8. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 8
the yearly saving of Greenhouse gases for NYC, let to emit 1,464,556,000 lbs. of pollutants per
year, and this concept is also applied to the 102,000 houses in Long Island. Furthermore, for the
wind power project data for the commercial sector, the minimum number of buildings varies
from 4,500 – 59,000 .Thus, increasing the number of ZEH and ZEB, this will result in less
pollution of atmosphere since the usage of fossil fuel is reduced and maybe try to do this usage
just when it will be really necessary.
Interpreting the data of project’s annual return on investment, is possible to assert that the
payback time is not that much long. For example, let’s use the longest and the shortest payback
time for every presented project. The NYC residential solar project is the longest one and will
have 6 years and 3 months of payback time, and shortest one is the NYC commercial solar
project which will have a payback time of 2 years. The longest payback time represents 20.8% of
the project’s lifetime, thus for the other 79.2% [23 years and 9 months] will not be paid a single
dime for it. On the other hand, for the shortest payback time project, this time will decrease
greatly to 6.67% and the non-paid time will be 93.33% [28 years]. As a result, both projects
show a great cost benefit since 80% or above of the project life will be non-paid time which
means saved money.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the renewable energy resources mixed with the concept of Zero Energy
Buildings and Houses have shown that are a great kick starter to make the world become cleaner
with low-medium projects costs. Obviously as all things in the world, it has pros and cons, such
as the payback time which is considerable short, but the projects will directly depend if the
available site’s space will be suitable for them. On the other hand, new studies for improvement

9. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 9
of the renewable energy resources have been developed to increase its efficiency of energy
conversion and collect.
In a general vision, is necessary to put on the balance and weight what is the most
important thing. On the one hand we have the concerns related to the costs, payback time and if
this would be a waste of money instead of a great investment. On the other hand we have our
comfortable zone where we just sit and turn on every electronic which consumes non-renewable
energy coming from the coal or thermoelectric power plants that are polluting more and more to
attend the consumption of energy. Thus, is necessary to think if we want to turn Earth in a
chamber of pollutants or make a better place for us and the next generations and the ZEB and
ZEH are a better way to turn the world into a self-sufficient clean energy generator.

10. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 10
References
Cellatoglu, Akin and Balasubramanian, Karuppanan (2010). Renewable energy resources for
residential applications in coastal areas: A modular approach. DOI:
10.1109/SSST.2010.5442813.
Norton, Paul, Kiatreungwatanna, Kosol and Kelly, Kenneth J. (2013). Evaluation of Model
Results and Measured Performance of Net-Zero Energy Homes in Hawaii.
http://tb4cz3en3e.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-
8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journ
al&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Evaluation+of+Model+Results+and+Measured+Performa
nce+of+Net-
Zero+Energy+Homes+in+Hawaii&rft.jtitle=ASHRAE+Transactions&rft.au=Paul+Norto
n&rft.au=Kosol+Kiatreungwattana&rft.au=Kenneth+J+Kelly&rft.date=2013-01-
01&rft.pub=American+Society+of+Heating%2C+Refrigeration+and+Air+Conditioning+
Engineers%2C+Inc&rft.issn=0001-
2505&rft.volume=119&rft.spage=1S&rft.externalDocID=3339595411&paramdict=en-
US
Torcellini, P.; Pless, S.; Deru, M.; Crawley, D. (2006). Zero Energy Buildings: A critical look at
the definition; Preprint. http://www.osti.gov/scitech/biblio/883663.

11. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 11
United States environmental Protection Agency. (2014, June 17th). Emission tracking highlights:
Quarterly Data: 2013 vs. 2014 (Quarter 1). Retrieved from
http://www.epa.gov/airmarkt/quarterlytracking.html.
Xueliang Yuan, Xujiang Wang, Jian Zuo (2013). Renewable energy in buildings in China – A
review. Elsevier, 24, 1-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2013.03.022.

12. ZEH, ZEB AND RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES 12