Skip to Content
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Streetsblog San Francisco home
Log In
Events

SPUR Lunchtime Forum: ZNE vs VMT

From SPUR:

Event image

Image Credit: Flickr user hadsie

Someday soon California’s building energy codes may require all buildings to achieve zero net energy (ZNE), meaning they make as much energy as they use and have no carbon emissions. But this anticipated push does not recognize the difficulty — if not impossibility — of achieving ZNE in very dense urban housing. Nor does it take into account the value of urban buildings in lowering vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from driving. Should VMT be included in ZNE calculations in order to help encourage the development of dense, infill housing that California so desperately needs? Patrick Siegman of Nelson Nygaard, Abhijeet Pandeof HMG, and Larry Mayers of Mayers Architecture will discuss the issue and possible solutions.

Co-sponsored by the San Francisco AIA.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog San Francisco

Op-Ed: It’s Time to Extend the Central Subway to North Beach

There are abandoned tunnels under Stockton Street: here’s how they could transform San Francisco’s subway system.

May 8, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: ‘Normal’ is Not Correct, Someone Died Here

After a crash, the debris is quickly cleaned up and everyone moves on (usually too quickly). But these two experts are asking us to all slow down.

May 8, 2025

LA Metro Names Former SFPD Chief Bill Scott as Chief of Police

Chief Scott and Metro leadership emphasized that keeping Metro transit safe would require a multi-faceted approach that included the deployment of officers as well as collaboration with the community, ambassadors, and service providers. "Sometimes enforcement is the answer," Scott said. "Sometimes it's not."

May 7, 2025
See all posts