How to reduce energy consumption?

    ORNL research in building technologies is performed by the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC) and supports the DOE goals of achieving zero energy homes by 2020 and zero energy buildings of all kinds by 2025. Zero energy implies buildings that annually produce as much energy as they consume. The goals are achieved if components and integration techniques are commercially available at affordable prices by the target years so zero energy is feasible for the private sector to implement.

    Reducing the energy/carbon footprint of the nation's buildings sector is essential for tackling climate change and will be an enormous challenge. Buildings account for 43% of the nation's carbon emissions and the consumption of 39% of our total primary energy, 71% of our electricity, and 55% of our natural gas. The importance of buildings is amplified because some renewable energy applications such as generating power with photovoltaic cells, lighting and heating water with direct sunlight, and geothermal (ground-source) space conditioning and water heating with energy from the ground are most economical when using buildings as their deployment platforms.