Review of Zero Emission Buildings Edited by Anne Grete Hestnes and Nancy Lea Eik-Nes

Building earth-friendly green buildings, sustainability, and resilience are concepts that have been in the proscenium of the current building industry. Given the data on climate accumulated during recent decades, strong movements that set new guidelines in the way we build are anticipated, responding to the extravagant building methods of the postwar 20th century. Traditional building methods have been researched and methodologies adjusted to contemporary means, and passive climate controls have been studied extensively. The “zero emission building” (ZEB) happens to be one among the multitude of goals set by today’s professionals in the construction industry. Noble is the cause that is based on and presented in this book, and the ZEB is aimed at setting a standard. The reader traces two ways that ZEBs contribute to today’s zeitgeist. One contribution is to be ecologically friendly, to be efficient in the use of the energy, and to have an immediate as well as a lifetime impact on the environment. However, the second and most important goal is to specifically cause or be the result of a sum of zero emissions in the environment. In other words, a ZEB incorporates a particular metric that needs to be met throughout its life span, and through that it amplifies its positive impact in contrast to other buildings that are considered ecologically friendly because they used recycled materials, they are energy efficiency, and so forth.

This book has been compiled toward the holistic aspect of a ZEB project, through the joint effort of 16 authors, with each engaging in one or more of the chapters. It indicates that the goal is to include the entire life span of the building, from the history of the materials that were used throughout the building’s operational life and beyond. After the introduction chapter, which defines the concept of a ZEB, the authors compiled a long second chapter of 11 subchapters, with each one focusing on a specific aspect, such as daylighting, heating and cooling, materials, and so forth. The book examines actual “pilot” buildings that were intended to achieve cumulative zero emissions and reports how they perform through numerical values and graphs. Those buildings are introduced from the early pages of the book, but the third chapter is specifically dedicated to them. The graphic representations are very useful to the reader to visually perceive results that would otherwise be difficult to trace. Comparative studies are presented between different materials that are very representative of each individual point that the authors are addressing, such as “life cycle emissions,” “relative importance of embodied emissions,” and so forth. Nevertheless, there are some aspects of the book that cut its usefulness short for practitioners, such as architects, engineers, and designers.

At the outset, the book is very specifically based on the Norwegian standards and climatic conditions, which is not indicated in the title of the book, but it is evidenced from the very beginning. Although Norwegian standards may provide a good set of general standards based on correct principles, they cannot be applied globally.

Also, some of the arguments presented can be correct in one way but misleading in another. For example, in the “Solar Energy and Building Form” section, it is mentioned that “the optimal incidence angle of solar radiation is perpendicular to the surface facing South.” That would be correct if the goal is to harvest the maximum amount of solar energy through photovoltaic panels that store energy in batteries that can be used at any given time. A designer reading this passage may be misled into thinking that having surfaces, such as windows, aiming directly south, may produce optimal passive energy control at any latitude and climate, which is not always correct. These nuances could have been better addressed by the authors.

As a final point, the title of this book makes it particularly attractive to architects and engineers who would be interested in guidance to apply the ZEB concept. Architects and engineers tend to think schematically and relate visual examples and numerical processes. The reader would expect a number of processes that could be flowcharted, examples of simulations and experiments, and testing of results, followed by proofs that the processes will yield the desired results. Instead, this book is well arranged into a narrative of well-composed and sequenced theme chapters that give a general understanding of the ZEB concept, but it is deficient in presenting a well-defined set of processes using math and hands-on guidance. The conclusion of Chapter 2.3 brings to the forefront the question of whether ZEB can be routinely simplified, mass produced, or automated.

Also, throughout the book there is a series of very well-presented principles that almost can be construed as “catch phrases,” such as “reduce all kinds of demands for energy without jeopardizing the indoor environment;” these are very good guidelines that a designer should keep in mind anyway. Occasionally these phrases seem redundant and eventually reduce the level of interest of a reader who searches the more substantial material in this book. A reader would wonder if this book was composed for practicing specialists or would it be more of a well-compiled composition for a layperson who wants to be familiarized with the practice of designing ZEBs? Certainly, a layperson has a great deal to gain. Considering contemporary politics and trends in current socioeconomics, a politician will have much more to learn from this book. The content and the gist of it make the book an excellent reference for decision makers, such as individuals or bodies in the political arena, or entrepreneurs setting a new orientation for the future of our built environment. Specialists that apply their skills also will certainly find significant benefit in reading this book, particularly by referring to the methods and the results as case studies and proof of the suggested processes instead of anticipating this book to be a fundamental reference in practice, such as a code. It is informative to the extent that it familiarizes the reader with concepts of sustainability that lead to ZEBs. A reader will have a better understanding of the concept of ZEBs and can extract many ideas on different and untraditional ways to design.