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.