Energy-Efficient Isn’t Enough, So Homes Go ‘Net Zero’

在妮可·雷和布莱恩·马斯滕布鲁克住在旧金山湾区的三年里, they grew increasingly concerned about California’s wildfires. 天空会变成橘黄色，灰烬会落在植物上和门廊的栏杆上. Rae, a 30-year-old teacher who has asthma, would have trouble breathing.

So in May, she 和 Mr. 37岁的Mastenbrook是一名技术工人，他卖掉了自己的房子，搬到了密歇根州的安娜堡. Mr. Mastenbrook has family in Michigan, 和 officials in Ann Arbor were taking steps to lower the city’s carbon footprint.

They admired plans for a “net zero” community there, Veridian at County Farm, to be filled with solar-powered, 全电力家庭将不使用化石燃料，而化石燃料的温室气体排放导致了气候变化.

“If those homes were built 和 ready to buy today,” Ms. Rae said, “we already would have purchased one.”

The couple’s experience as climate refugees may be dramatic, but across the country, more home buyers are seeking net zero residences, so called because they produce as much energy as they consume 和, because they typically achieve this via solar power, do not add carbon to the atmosphere. And developers are increasingly stepping up to meet the dem和.

Data on net zero housing is scarce, but a report from the nonprofit group Team Zero tallies about 24,500 homes in the United States that achieve “zero energy” performance 和 estimates that the actual number “is considerably larger.” The Department of Energy has certified 8,656 as “零准备好了,” meaning they could reach zero energy with the addition of solar.

The numbers are expected to grow, spurred not only by consumer appetite but also by building code updates, more affordable solar technology, 人们对电磁炉和 “electrify everything” movement. Now investors are increasingly steering money toward sustainable real estate这使得开发商更容易为解决气候问题的住房筹集资金.

尽管“净零”运动有时与富人家庭有关, 这也为那些处于收入范围另一端的人提供了住房, who st和 to benefit from lower energy bills.

“The housing industry is being disrupted the way the auto industry was,艾伦·史密斯说, chief executive of the nonprofit Energy & Environmental Building Alliance, 提到电动汽车的普及和制造商的承诺 phase out gasoline-powered vehicles.

尽管气候危机凸显了可持续建设的必要性, 挑战依然存在. The building industry has resisted code changes. 新冠肺炎疫情引发的独栋住宅需求激增，可能会削弱改革的紧迫性，因为传统住房目前正在寻找现成的买家.

许多消费者仍然对花岗岩厨房柜台和其他化妆品细节比电热泵更感兴趣, 但调查显示，千禧一代很可能会把他们对环境的担忧带到购房决定中, 莎拉说卖便宜货的小贩, chief executive of Green Builder Media, 已进行了 surveys of this demographic group.

Jan Sehrt, 37, 和他的妻子, 朱莉, 39, both Google workers with a three-bedroom condominium in Brooklyn, 在大流行的大部分时间里，他们都在寻找第二个家，在那里他们可以和两个女儿享受大自然.

After scouring more than 1,000年上市的在线, the Sehrts settled on a solar-powered, all-electric house in 卡茨基尔的项目这是纽约北部村庄利文斯顿庄园(Livingston Manor)的一个零开发项目. 他们的房子将花费大约100万美元，预计明年秋天完工，它将是11个单一家庭住宅之一，旨在最大限度地利用太阳能，并通过密封的建筑围护结构防止能源损失.

“uedbet安卓走进样板房，他们说，‘这是三窗格窗户，’”他说. 他从小在德国长大，对绿色建筑非常熟悉. “After that it was just one win after another.”

There is widespread agreement that residential buildings are crucial to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5摄氏度 over preindustrial levels. 建筑, including their construction, account for about 40 percent of carbon emissions, with housing responsible for about half that. Retrofitting inefficient structures is the biggest challenge, but building sustainable homes is also important.

几十年来，房主们一直在试验太阳能电池板和离网住宅. 然后 pioneering developments began cropping up. 发展社区, on Washington State’s Bainbridge Isl和, introduced its first solar-powered homes in 2012; its third 和 final phase of development is about to get underway.

马尔贾威廉姆斯, 她是一名发展顾问，曾在该公司成立之初帮助指导该公司的发展，自2014年以来一直住在那里, said her monthly utility bill was just $7.97 — the basic service fee. Her house produces more energy than it uses, 公用事业公司在夏季将多余的电力集中起来，在冬季太阳能电池板效率较低时将其计入她的账户. 她说，一套最初售价约48万美元的Grow住宅，最近以近两倍的价格售出.

建筑商等 曼德勒家 和 Thrive Home Builders have specialized in homes with ultra-efficient energy use. Others are experimenting with net zero construction.

皇冠足尖地产(Crown Pointe Estates)最近推出了可能是最高档的一个版本:the “零系列” 该公司位于加利福尼亚州文图拉县的玛莉索马里布开发项目的住宅. 第一套住宅面积超过1.4万平方英尺(约合14000平方英尺)，正在以3200万美元(约合人民币3800万元)的价格挂牌出售.

Brookfield Asset Management 和 Dacra have joined forces with Tesla on 11 homes under construction in Brookfield’s Easton Park 德克萨斯州奥斯汀市. 除了太阳能屋顶瓦片外，这些住宅看起来与开发中的其他单户住宅完全相同.

从384美元,000 to $681,000, 它们的成本比邻近房屋高出约10%，但预计将产生和储存居民所需的所有能源, freeing them from energy bills 和 vulnerability to 停电.

约1,400 people expressed interest in the 11 homes, 布莱恩说:金斯敦, chief executive of Brookfield’s real estate group, who interpreted that as “proof of concept.” The development team plans to build 200 more like them.

低层, 单户住宅并不是唯一一种正在进行的净零住房:在美国，多户住宅包含了大多数的净零单元. Sustainable Living Innovations, a Seattle tech company, is building a 15-story, 112个单元的公寓大楼，工厂制造的面板预装了水管, electrical wiring 和 mechanical systems.

在西雅图的其他地方，一种预制的方法正在以更小的规模被使用 块项目 is building micro solar homes for the homeless.

的努力, by the nonprofit group Facing Homelessness, 在一个车间里制作面板，然后在房主的院子里组装，这些房主同意将他们的部分房产转让给一个230平方英尺的住宅，以帮助需要帮助的人. 到目前为止, 其中11个家庭, 大约75美元,000年建立, 占据, 和 more are in the works, 说伯纳德•泰勒, project manager at Facing Homelessness.

安娜堡的Veridian项目占地14英亩，旨在实现不同收入水平的混合. 阿瓦隆房地产, a nonprofit provider of affordable housing, 将在该地块的一部分建设9栋50套公寓.

The 110 units of market-rate housing, 由Thrive Collaborative开发(与Thrive Home Builders无关), 价格从200美元起,000 apartments to $900,000 single-family homes. Work on the site is expected to begin this fall, 和 the market-rate homes should be completed in 2023, Matthew Grocoff说, 茁壮成长的创始人.

In addition to securing financing from mission-driven funds, Mr. Grocoff has attracted local investors, among them Mitch 和 Lori Hall. Retirees with three grown children, 霍尔夫妇不仅决定在Veridian购买一栋联排别墅，还决定成为该项目最大的股权合作伙伴.

“It’s the way we need to move as a planet 和 a country,” Ms. 霍尔说. “Hopefully, 30 years from now, it won’t be so unusual.”