Glossary

Terms for Architecture, Green Building & Energy

This glossary includes more than 300 solar terms, as well as hundreds of additional sustainable design and construction terms.

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Zero Energy Home (ZEH)

Definition 1: A residential building with greatly reduced needs for energy through efficiency gains, with the balance of energy needs supplied by renewable sources

Definition 2: A zero energy home combines state-of-the-art, highly energy-efficient designs and equipment with on-site renewable energy generation (which typically includes a solar hot water production system and a rooftop photovoltaic (PV) system) to return as much energy to the utility as it takes on an annual basis.