We are excited to share that our office has been officially certified Net Zero Energy and Net Zero Carbon by the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globes Journey to Net Zero Energy (NZE) & Net Zero Carbon (NZC) for New Construction!
The Net Zero Energy (NZE) certification recognizes major renovations and new construction projects that focus on significantly reducing energy requirements in building operations and promoting the use of renewable energy sources. Its goal is to achieve a balance between the energy consumed by building operations and the energy generated from low to zero-emission sources, such as solar PV.
Initially, solar installers estimated that the office’s 8kW rooftop solar array would only cover 60% of our energy consumption, while our in-house energy modeling estimated we would be net zero. In March 2024, we completed one year of energy data, and we exceeded even our energy modeling assumptions.
Harka’s HQ went above and beyond to generate more renewable energy than it consumed. Our team also procured additional Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) from verified off-site renewable energy sources, which were in excess due to the PV grid offsetting the entire energy consumption. The onsite renewable energy system provided 123.6% of the proposed design site energy consumption.
So, producing more energy than you use is always good, but how much energy did it take to achieve that? How do we know the energy we save in building operations by installing more insulation and solar panels isn’t offset by the energy and emissions produced in manufacturing those products? This is why we took it a step further and looked at our overall carbon consumption.
Similar to Net Zero Energy, the Net Zero Carbon (NZC) certification recognizes major renovations and new construction projects that reduce emissions from energy consumption used to operate the building. However, it also verifies that significant efforts were made to lower the embodied emissions of the building products and methods used in construction, ensuring that all emissions are eventually neutralized. The Zero Carbon certification is a comprehensive approach to net zero that accounts for all emissions produced by a built project throughout the building’s projected life (60 years). Harka’s HQ reduced over 91% of all their building emissions through sustainability and energy efficiency measures. The remaining emissions were neutralized with carbon offsets, making Harka’s HQ office renovation carbon zero.
Check out our office’s journey to net-zero
Here at Harka Architecture, we are committed to uplifting everything we do. We strive to embody these ideals in our own office renovation. We focus on creating resilient and sustainable architecture, considering every decision through a life cycle approach and keeping your health and wellness at the forefront.