Net zero energy buildings in New Zealand: Challenges and potentials reviewed against legislative, climatic, technological, and economic factors

Abstract

A net zero energy building (NZEB) is a highly energy efficient building that can generate energy through renewable sources that is sufficient to meet its own needs. While NZEBs are being realized in many countries, its emergence in New Zealand remains slow. This study investigates several factors that may cause this issue, namely: legislative, geographical and climatic, technological, and economic factors. The investigation is carried out by secondary data collection and a systematic review of the literature. For the legislative factor, different government statutes, policies, and programs are critically reviewed. For the geographical and climatic factor, the conditions of New Zealand are compared with those of Italy and Japan. For the energy efficiency technological factor, the existing top-rated Green Buildings in the country are analyzed, and the most recurring energy efficient features are discussed. For the renewable energy generation and distribution technological factor, various potential options for on-site and off-site building power sources are discussed, as well as energy storage systems and load matching and grid interaction. For the economic factor, the cost and payoffs of NZEBs are investigated, including the different investment schemes available for potential NZEB developers and how constructing NZEBs can still be feasible post-COVID-19. The study found that New Zealand's climate is suitable for NZEBs and the required technology and economic resources are available. However, more focused and intentional legislations and policies are required to both encourage and incentivize the wider adoption of the NZEB concept in the country.