If the United States is to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we need new homes and buildings to minimize energy use and emissions. A new ACEEE white paper identifies 22 programs advancing zero-energy, zero-carbon, or zero-energy-ready buildings, including 14 residential and 8 commercial programs. 

A zero-energy building generates at least as much energy as it consumes over a year, often using solar panels. Some aim for net-zero-carbon or -emissions, meaning they emit net zero carbon dioxide annually. The difference between zero-energy and zero-carbon classification is that the latter accounts for the carbon emissions associated with electric power generation, which vary based on when the power is needed and which generating plants are operating at those times.

Short of building to zero-energy or zero-carbon criteria, many programs promote zero-energy-ready buildings, which are efficient enough that they could be operated with onsite energy and be zero energy if a solar energy system were eventually installed. Zero-energy-ready buildings often include floor and roof configurations, conduit or wiring, and electric panel capacity that will make it easy to hook up electric heating and cooking equipment and solar panels in the future. Zero-energy and zero-energy-ready buildings typically use 25–50% less energy than current building code requirements.