Thank you for showing people that it can be done

They had this in the '50's, again in the 70's and now again, the Energy industry will lean on builders again until it goes away again.

Excellent video build for the next generation

Every house I have built. (Many). that were energy efficient, (My passion), have resulted in the buyers not giving a hoot about the energy efficiency. Only my engineer buyers cared and were happy with the efficiency of their new homes.

i love it....

What a wonderful idea, sales ads for ten companies under the auspices of energy savings!

Love, love, LOVE this! Zero Carbon is a blessing to everyone on earth.

what happens if an elbow on the plumbing leaks? what do you do?

the low hanging fruit is air infiltration. Next is insulation to a point. Orientation and shading help. These are easy and don't cost too much.

The "light concreet" is called a fibo block, and yeah i have built a house with it(in a cold climate that has -22C every winter and +28 in shade in summers and the first building i did was about 6 years ago, but has been on the local market for allmoast few decades now), it's easy to use/build with and handle, also not hard to drill to place things to it. Fibo is quite common here most of the homes are built with it(not that cheep tho, even tho they manufacture it right here and export to the other countries).

To design and build a normal home that would be classed as a zero or green home the costs of the initial building cost would be quite much higher than "normal". So, this brings to mind the below ground home. Below ground temps of the high 50's would take so much LESS energy to bring the living area up to 72 Degrees. I work at a R/V Dealership and have thought about what it would take to bury a completely functional "Park Model". Water, in, via well, water out, to drain field, electric power with Solar cells and batteries. Add in Wind and Hydro if possible. Dig a really big south facing hole, build a fully insulated, spray foamed inside and out, Pole Barn in the depression, then Back Fill. I said it was a really big hole. Roll in and set up the R/V. Close the door and back fill. Just a thought.

Take a look at some of the Canadian Net Zero housing sites....the approach is so different

I have the opposite problem. I want a Passive House, Super energy efficient with fresh filtered, tempered fresh air, but not an architecturally fancy house. Only in Canada can you get close to to Passive House (0.7 or 0.8 ACH @ 50 pa.) standards that is not fancy, for a median price of $400,000 for 1200 square feet. Most builders don't even know what Passive House is, let alone how to accomplish it. It does require special training and certification.

The first ever steps towards post-scarcity!

At the 42 minute mark when they talk about changing laws....in order to pass electricity from the complex to a private home, best of luck. The utility companies spend millions, via lobbyists in order to keep the consumer attached to them.

Net zero homes is like any other product. Cost is the number one consideration when consumers buy any product. If it’s appealing, cost efficient, and there’s a demand consumers would buy it. They need to bring the cost down in order to be competitive. Conventional construction is already high. If you have two homes that cost the same but one is net zero which home do you think consumers will buy? It’s a no brainer. I don’t understand why alternative construction materials are so high. If anything it should cost less but like any other business it’s all about the money.

when are you guys coming to the philippines? our housing units here costs millions but very hot and are mostly built for the benefit of developers

hi im from indonesia what foam called to insulating home from dust and wind even sound?..

if it is sustainable, then it must be sustainable under constitution, under free market.... if its made possible by legislation by special interest by lobbying, then it will be destroyed when policy changes, when some wall street bank fails etc...

So basically returning to old time European villages which sustained themselves, where people didn't travel for more than 10-20 minutes to get to work on the "other side of town" or it's direct vicinity, not the next town over ... But with all the technology and comfort of today.

I'm not an environmentalist by any means, but I kind of like the concept of zero energy home that is air tight and air coming from outside is temp controlled and filtered. I don't think solar is there yet, but maybe in 10 to 20 years it will be. The big problem here would be the oil companies do not want you off their grid. There are many technologies that actually make sense and are practical. I remember the environmentalist went after a solar panel company building in the middle of the Mohave desert because of some bug or something. The biggest enemy will be the environmentalist as they are just miserable human beings no matter what goes on.

Thumbs up. Too bad this wasn't done 50 years ago when it might have made a difference.

hemp is the way to go. 90%

To quote from the video: One London-based company, BioRegional, is driving development worldwide with sustainable message of a one planet lifestyle: Only consume what the planet can support. It's interesting (and depressing) that no one ever mentions "overpopulation" or "Achieving Zero Population Growth". This is because the Roman Catholic Church would jump into the discussion if anyone even suggests artificial birth control or abortion. So as to not offend, we don't see the pink elephant in the room. -- But I do, and I will continue to remind everyone that when we talk about saving Earth's resources, population growth must be factored in. --Proud to be an atheist. 27 Jan 2018

mmmmmm...i love living off-grid in an earthship. I agree. Most homes are built like glorified cardboard boxes and only for looks. Function is key.

My wife and I purchased the Marc Rutenberg Homes zero energy home featured in this Zero Energy America video. While it is a beautiful home and our energy cost is very low, the biggest disappointment is the poor quality of the LG HVAC system. 4 of the 5 air handlers in the home have failed, each costing well over $2,500 with associated labor, and over $5,150.00 just to repair parts in the outdoor unit. LG has a very short warranty, and does not want to admit the problems, which mostly involve leaking coils. When a coil leaks in one unit, it drains the refrigerant from all units and none work. The indoor temperature can quickly rise to 85 degrees, and it takes weeks to get replacement parts. I have been told that similar LG units installed in Marc Rutenberg Homes in our Tampa Bay area also have experienced failures.

Commercial alert! This started out as a good informative film about sustainable community and passive housing. But then it end as an commercial for LG products and how other products is designed to fail after 10 years.

Well uk houses are built insulated soooo

Heres the problem The energy companies will just increase their prices as demand falls and they will always stay ahead of the efficiencies that the goverment demands. If the housing becomes so efficient the costs will be passed onto the very companies that manufacture the energy efficient materials. They will always get their pound of flesh, Always

How about turn off the AC during the summer if the environment is so important... How about dress in shorts and t-shirts and use fans during the summer. Use blinds and windows to regulate the temperatures during the night and day. How about lower the thermostat during the winter and dress warmer. No money needed... just actions can cut your energy use by 30% easy.

the most logical way for us to cut energy use is to bring back the multigenerational family home we can't all afford this crap

Can someone tell me what houses and practices these promoters are living in. Are they truly practicing what they preach or are they selling something everyone else should do. I agree with making the most efficient use of what we have but I find in my area , the people preaching the use of all the new technology and environmental practice are not spending their own hard earned dollars but want others to do it.

Keeping up with the Joneses had kept us away from keeping up with the Flinstones and the Jetsons. Free energy needs some work. People refuses to work for a better future life. People tends to live in the moment. Following shallow fads and costumes. We are degrading as a human race. If one offers something cheap and practicable, one will get lots of consumers. If one offers them to work thru it. One will be alone. There's good income for green builders. It will only take time.

How toxic is this icylene foam? Does it out-gas? And how is a wood chip incinerator sustainable? In an apt building, couldnt someone design a boiler that runs totally or partially on human solid waste?They do make incinerating toilets for places like cabins that don't have water access. Also get some cows in the green community and use "cow power" (cow manure) to generate energy.

we need housing bad I feel bed cause my own birthday is tomorrow

As a country it is never long term. Short term only.

Biotecture-0 energy+food production is the only truly sustainability system.

How do the power companies make money if every1 goes net zero?

All of this is NICE-and-ALL.. Let's see if the Military can accept this Concept.. Let's see if the Transportation Industry can accept this Concept.. Tell us when we are forced to ride Bicycles..Do you know that when the throttle is opened up on an Airplane that It can run my car for at least a year on the the energy it takes to get that plane into the air? Does anyone know how much energy it takes to get a Fighter Plane off the Deck of an Aircraft Carrier? OR.. An Aircraft Carrier up-to-speed? When you figure that out, come back here and tell me how much energy it takes to charge the Batteries of an Electric Car.. AND.. What will happen to Car Batteries of an Electric Car when they need to be replaced? Look Everyone.. We live on a part of the planet that if we don't have heat we don't survive.. SO.. Tell me just where ZERO ENERGY fits into that scheme?

Only mandatory Building Codes and Financial Tax Credit’s will drive this to mainstream as the sheekness (bragging rights), eco-desire and guilt to push/shove this forward has limitations. There was a time in the 70’s where fuel cost soared and homes were built so air tight, the odors from building material and wall coverings caused a caustic home. Care for regulation of fresh air swap and other engineering factors really do count. A relatives’ husband at Thanksgiving who is a naturalist indicated he was not going to allow cross ventilation in his attic saying it saved energy. His solution was to place an Ultraviolet light in the attic to kill bacteria. Coming from a family of Ph.D and engineers, we knew this rather fly by the seat of the pants DYI idea was bogus. We were honest to suggest proper air cross ventilation air flow and that the UV light was probably a waste of money and energy. The morale is use proven technologies for the purpose when it comes to construction best practices.

*cough* hempcrete *cough*

hhmm........the way I see it is houses these days are built way too air tight. An electrician friend of mine mentioned that most of the reported carbon monoxide related deaths are the result of over-kill insulation, spray foam, and the like when it comes to air-flow or lack there of.

I wish those people talking get a job applying that stinky polyurethane insulation.

Capitalism meets sustainability and efficiency, the only obstacle is capitalism...

5 minutes in and I can watch no more. These builders lament the fact that consumers still want to think the same way they've always thought, but then they proudly time-lapse the construction of a "net zero" , stick framed palace wrapped in Styrofoam. This is not really thinking very differently. The construction industry, is by many accounts the third or fourth most destructive human practice on Planet Earth, right up there with Agribusiness, (incl. deforestation) and fossil fuel use. (I wonder if they mention this in the remaining 51:33?) Thinking differently means so many things without meaning austerity! Small, creatively built, affordable homes almost always hold more aesthetic appeal than the painted stucco McMansion shown at 2:54.

Afghanistan is not rich in energy resources.

I'm for this tech but why is it assumed we have been at war in the middle east for oil um no we havnt we were attacked as a nation were over there to fight raidical terrorist groups

Anything that has Bill Nye in it ...automatic thumbsdown

Searl seg generator salves most these problems not meterable run your car house plane on electric doesn't need fuel at all produces electric power the only bill buying it hand it down to the next generation.makes most these arguments go away mostly.look it up on utube.

The europeans had a reason to use energy that we all benefited from, so stop talking about the europeans energy as if it was meant for entertainment. All of it is for us. Japan korea china saudi arabia what have they produced with the energy they have been using?

this was so credible until bill nye was used.

They lost credibility with using the traud bill Nye the lier

zero energy is just builders spending lots of money on lobbying to get tax money to build expensive houses for people that can not afford it. passive solar is only way to go, low tech low cost, no need for gov help, no foreclosures after 5 years..

I was interested until I saw Bill Nye ..... No thanks . I prefer my experts to be experts not just think they are experts .