Using an Energy Performance Based Design-Build Process to Procure a Large Scale Replicable Zero Energy Building (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL) mission is to advance the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) and the nation's goals in the areas of energy security, environmental quality, and economic vitality. Today, buildings use roughly 39% of total U.S. energy consumption (22% residential, 18% non-residential), with energy consumption in this sector projected to grow by almost 30% in the next two decades. While energy efficiency and renewable energy integration in buildings are increasing over time, new buildings are being built and energy use in existing buildings is increasing at a high enough rate to outweigh the replacement of the building stock over time. In response to this need, the Federal government is beginning to increase the requirements for federal high performance buildings. In an October 5, 2009, executive order, President Obama instructed the Federal government to "implement high performance sustainable Federal building design, construction, operation and management, maintenance, and deconstruction [by,] ... beginning in 2020 and thereafter, ensuring that all new Federal buildings that enter the planning process are designed to achieve zero-net-energy by 2030." (Obama, 2009)