Zero Energy Building

Best practice guide

Steel application in Zero Energy Buildings

A ZEB is an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual energy delivered is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy.

Professor Yujin Nam of the Department of Architectural Engineering at Pusan National University and an international team of universities and architectural institutes have produced a guide on how steel can help bring about a more sustainable construction sector.

Director, constructsteel

Terrence Busuttil

“Between now and 2050, the world’s population will increase to over 9.5 billion. This means that the buildings and infrastructure industry will continue growing to support these demographic trends. However, with the operation of buildings responsible for 28% of global CO2 emissions, ways must be found to reduce operational energy use in buildings and their contribution to climate change. Indeed, steel products and solutions are an integral part of this process and include for example solar panel mountings, geothermal heat pumps and sandwich panels which contribute to building airtightness.”

Why do we need ZEB?

The energy saving potential with a ZEB is between 60% - 90%.

5 - 12-year Return of Investment (ROI) when using ZEB

$200 Monthly benefit for a Single-family house

Best practice

Swansea Active Office

The Active Office and the Active Classroom at Swansea University’s Bay Campus are designed to be net plus energy buildings. These can generate more energy by renewable energy systems than the energy they use during a year.

Best practice

POSCO Green Building

POSCO completed ‘POSCO Green Building’ construction, a future-oriented and environmental-friendly building with energy reduction technologies, located on the Yonsei University International Campus in Incheon, South Korea.

Best practice

House of Tomorrow Today (HoTT)

The House of Tomorrow Today (HoTT) is an experimental house, built in the municipality of Heeze-Leende (Sterksel) in the Netherlands. It was realized according to relatively new sustainable visions like Smart Building and Active House, but with mostly new, available technology.

Making ZEBs a reality

Read our full report on best practice cases from around the world to discover how Zero Energy Buildings are playing a key role in the fight against climate change.