Net Zero Energy Buildings

The SEE Institute is a flagship for net zero buildings in Dubai Sustainable City, an environmentally responsible mixed-use and residential district in the desert. The 50,000 square foot net zero commercial building will be dedicated to the advancement of sustainability knowledge, technology, and innovations through research, training, events and incubation of tech startups working on […]

In this Research Note, we examine UrbanVolt, a clean energy partner for small to medium-sized commercial and industrial businesses that specialises in the provision of energy-efficient lighting and solar panels, without the burden of upfront costs. Founded in 2015 in Dublin, Irish Republic, UrbanVolt gained an early foothold in the LED Lighting-as-a-Service sector. Instead of […]

National climate pledges are inherently ambitious; they appear to represent the educated hopes of governments striving to meet the demands of more conscious citizens and the international community. While few would scrutinize such ambition, not many would expect nations to meet such lofty goals either, with most satisfied to set the bar high and achieve […]

Completed in 2017, the Freiburg City Hall was one of the world’s first public net zero buildings. It generates more energy than it consumes. Designed by the Düsseldorf-based architectural practice Ingenhoven architects and constructed over a period of 33 months, the 24,215 m² new city hall accommodates 840 employees over six floors. It is characterized […]

This Research Note examines what’s behind the Dalkia UK rebranding of several businesses owned by Electricite de France (EDF). Dalkia, a leading technical and energy services company in the UK, is aligning the Imtech Engineering Services, Inviron, Breathe Energy and SPIE UK activities as Dalkia UK. With approximately 4,000 employees, the group reports over £600 […]

Often the most obvious things are the hardest to see, and that could be said of the building envelope in our quest for climate-friendly real estate. Architectural trends over the past few decades have favored glass, prioritizing the facade’s aesthetic appeal and leaving the envelope’s functional aspects to take a backseat. Double or triple-pane glass […]

The Bullitt Center in Seattle, WA, is one of the net zero buildings known as a pioneer of “deep green” architectural design. Completed in March 2013, the $32.5 million dollar project was considered an “audacious and provocative experiment and living proof of the economic and technical viability of sustainable buildings” in a 2014 paper by […]

In the UK, an April update to the minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) regulations for non-domestic buildings means large swathes of commercial real estate will have to improve their energy performance or face closure. As climate change dominates the headlines once again, building regulators will double down on environmental commitments, and commercial real estate owners […]