Squad goals, California zero net energy 

Zero Net Energy (ZNE) is the hype in California, especially for schools and municipalities.  At the building level, ZNE (also known as grid neutral) means a building harvests as much energy as it consumes yearly.  For public sector organizations, Zero Net Energy can be defined at a portfolio, campus, or community level. It’s the same concept except energy consumption and renewable energy production are aggregated across all relevant sites.
 

Zero Net Energy in California

California is in charge in ZNE due to effective goal-setting and utility programs to stimulate application of on-site renewable energy and efficiency measures. ZNE buildings are not the norm since it’s still in experimental progress. The New Building Institute (NBI) reported 192 ZNE planned projects in California and only 22 ZNE verified projects in their 2018 annual report. Schools are frontrunners with 62 projects across both categories. The California Long Term Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan for 2009 to 2020 provides an action plan to fulfill energy efficiency targets for government, private sector, and utility actions within the state. This plan is called Title 24 which means that ZNE buildings will multiply in the near future. In a 2012 update to Title 24, the Strategic Plan outlined the following ZNE goals for California:

-All new residential construction in California will be Zero Net Energy by 2020. (Title 24, Part 6)
-All new commercial construction in California will be Zero Net Energy by 2030. (Title 24, Part 6)
-Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) will be transformed to ensure that its energy performance is optimal for California‘s climate.
-All eligible low-income customers will be given the opportunity to participate in the low-income energy efficiency program by 2020.
-Within these aims, several methods are used for for new and existing construction that address building codes, lighting, financial tools, incentives, resource labeling, among others. 
 

Renewable Energy Credits (REC)

To receive credit for your ZNE goals for renewable energy generation, your organization needs to retrieve any Renewable Energy Credits (REC).  A Renewable Energy Credit is created for each mega-watt hour (MWh) of renewable energy generation. RECs are valuable and enable renewable energy to be cost-effective. In California, RECs have only a nominal monetary value.  Retaining ownership of RECs in your solar contract is vital if your organization wants to claim to be green. 

There’s two parts with ZNE: energy consumption and energy production.  Energy consumption is to be decreased through energy efficiency measures. On-site clean energy production such as energy storage will need to be assessed. Proposed language for Title 24 regulations gives credit for solar plus energy storage to meet certain energy efficiency requirements. Solar plus energy storage appears like energy efficiency to the electrical grid and addresses plug loads. Its also a method   to shift the way customers use energy thats beneficial to the grid. When evaluating building adjustments to fulfill ZNE regulations, its helps to view your building as a classic scale. The goal is to balance energy consumption with energy production. The best path can begin with energy efficiency improvements to lower the energy consumption side of the scale. Then, on-site clean energy production can be used to balance energy needs with on-site generation. 
 

Budgeting building upgrades

Energy and facility managers have the option to but Zero Net Energy measures or  enter a performance contract arrangement with a contractor. This contract is referred to as a “Energy Savings Performance Contract”, or ESPC. It uses cost savings through energy efficiency measures to repay the upfront cost. On the renewable energy side, this performance contract arrangement is a “Power Purchase Agreement”, or PPA. It permits the customer to engage with a solar or wind developer to build a renewable energy project in return for electricity payments on a kilowatt-hour basis. This transaction is attractive because it does not require any upfront cost on the part of the customer and the kilowatt-hour pricing incorporates a federal investment tax credit from which public agencies would otherwise not be able to benefit. For public entities in California that want to buy energy efficiency and clean energy measures, the   program is Proposition 39 funding.  

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