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Energy Generation - Sustainable Living |
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In the case of individual houses, various microgeneration technologies may be used to provide heat and electricity to the building, perhaps using solar cells or wind turbines for electricity, and biofuels, or solar collectors linked to seasonal thermal stores, for space heating. To cope with fluctuations in demand, zero energy buildings are frequently connected to the electricity grid, and may export electricity to it when there is a surplus. Others may be fully autonomous (off-grid) buildings.
Efficiency measures such as daylighting or energy conversion like combined heat and power (CHP) devices cannot be considered on-site production in the ZEB context. Fuel cells and microturbines do not generate energy; rather they typically transform purchased fossil fuels into heat and electricity. Passive solar heating and daylighting are demand-side technologies and are considered efficiency measures (Torcellini et al. 2006).
Zero-energy neighborhoods, such as the BedZED development in the United Kingdom, may use distributed generation schemes combined with district heating. There are currently plans to use similar technologies to build entire zero-energy cities, such as Dongtan near Shanghai.
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