Massachusetts Governor: Focus on Zero Net Energy Buildings
A new task force will lead the building industry in sharply reducing energy use and emissions.
April 2008
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has issued a challenge to architects, designers, and construction professionals to help the state and private sector build zero net energy buildings. Such structures use renewable energy sources and energy-efficient design to produce at least as much energy as they consume over the course of a year. They therefore have lower energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions than traditional buildings.
Patrick made the announcement while speaking to the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) Building Energy 08 conference at Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. He said he asked Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles to form a task force to advise the state about raising green building standards so commercial and residential structures would meet most of their energy needs through efficiency and onsite renewable energy by 2030.
"Consider this my challenge to the industry: Help us—as a state government, and a society—get to zero."
− Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick
Patrick called on the task force to report, by NESEA's annual conference next year, with recommendations that would:
- Allow the state to issue specifications for the first state-owned zero net energy building by January 2010.
- Specify an interim standard for state-owned construction that is significantly more stringent than the current Massachusetts Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Plus benchmark.
- Help private developers market zero net energy residential and commercial buildings by 2020, and adopt zero net energy design of all new construction by 2030.
The measures are expected to boost jobs in the Bay State's burgeoning clean energy and green building sectors.
"With integrated planning and design, energy-efficient buildings do not have to cost more to build than the status quo," said Deborah Rivers, senior associate at Perkins+Will, a sustainable design firm based in Boston. "In fact, green buildings save money over time."
For more information, see the governor's March 12 press release.
See more Massachusetts project descriptions published in Conservation Update.
Read recent Massachusetts news stories about state involvement in renewable energy and energy efficiency projects published on the EERE Web site.