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Energy Generation - Energy Conservation Debate |
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One of the key areas of debate in zero energy building is over the balance between energy conservation and the use of renewable energy.
To the majority of zero energy designers, the aim of zero energy building is not only to design a building that, on balance, uses zero energy or produces zero emissions, but one that also minimises all energy use, irrespective of the fact that the energy may come from renewable resources. This approach can perhaps best be seen in the German Passivhaus standard.
However, while recognising that energy conservation has a part to play, a significant body of designers (perhaps encouraged by the HVAC sector) consider that it is of lower importance and instead rely to a greater extent on 'active' techniques (solar power, wind turbines, etc.) to make up the energy / heat shortfall.
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