Committee on the Environment

National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building

Part 1: Operational Emissions from Energy Use

Version 1 June 2024, DOE, EERE.

Purpose
Transitioning the building sector to zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions requires a broadly accepted definition of a “zero emissions building” with minimum criteria that a building must meet to qualify as “zero emissions,” as well as a pathway for documenting whether a building satisfies that definition. The National Definition of a Zero Emissions Building sets forth standardized, consistent, and measurable minimum criteria for a zero-emissions building that users can achieve through multiple pathways. The Definition is intended to provide guidance to help support the building sector moving toward zero emissions and thereby advance public- and private-sector climate goals.1

The Definition sets forth minimum criteria that public and private entities can adopt, and these entities can demonstrate additional climate leadership by exceeding the minimum criteria.

Scope
Part 1 of the Definition sets criteria for a building with zero operational emissions from energy use. Reducing a building’s total life cycle emissions to zero also requires minimizing its embodied carbon, minimizing the impacts of refrigerants, and attending to other considerations that fall outside of the scope of operational emissions. Future parts of the Definition may address these matters.

Furthermore, numerous factors2 apart from building emissions have the potential to enhance human health, minimize environmental impacts, improve resiliency to climate disaster, reduce climate change impact, cut utility costs, and advance environmental justice.3 Accordingly, the Definition is not a substitute for the green building and energy efficiency standards and certifications that public and private parties have developed.