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Conservation

When a renewable energy professional visits your home, school, or business, he or she will ask to see a year’s-worth of utility bills to determine how much energy and water you use in order to properly size a renewable energy system. The more efficient you are, the more effective your renewable energy system will be […]

When a renewable energy professional visits your home, school, or business, he or she will ask to see a year’s-worth of utility bills to determine how much energy and water you use in order to properly size a renewable energy system. The more efficient you are, the more effective your renewable energy system will be - and potentially less expensive too! It is easy to conserve and use energy and water efficiently when you design and construct high-performance buildings and purchase high-performance products. The result is lower utility bills, increased building comfort and durability, higher building resale value, reduced pollution, and a more effective purchase of renewable energy systems that can produce a higher percentage or even all of your energy needs.

Conservation entails a behavior. You conserve energy when you turn off your computer at the end of the day. Buildings, fixtures, appliances, and vehicles use water and energy at different levels of efficiency. Use the resources below to find out more about how to conserve energy at home:

Additional Information

  • ENERGY STAR certified products exceed the minimum federal standards for efficiency and quality
  • WaterSense products, similar to EnergyStar, use water wisely and efficiently. This can reduce your overall energy use, especially on water pumping and heating.

Residential specific resources

Commercial specific resources

Net Zero Building

Conservation, Efficiency, and Renewable Energy Systems provide the foundation for Net Zero Energy (NZE) buildings and communities. There is a movement to design high-performance buildings that are so energy- and water-efficient that renewable energy systems can easily provide all or most of the buildings’ energy on a yearly basis. New construction provides the most efficient and cost-effective opportunity to achieve NZE. If you are designing a new building, ask your architect and builder if they have participated in the integrated, whole systems-approach programs below that provide a process, training, and third- party certifications:

Additional Resources: