HMFH Architects
Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Zero Net Energy Schools
Featured in the Annual Green Supplement of High Profile, HMFH Principal Julia Nugent provides strategies for successfully designing and implementing a Zero Net Energy building— a task that is often considered cost prohibitive and technically challenging.
With an increased demand for sustainable, low-carbon design, many communities are looking for practical, cost-effective ways to apply concepts such as Fossil Fuel Free and Zero Net Energy. HMFH’s new Annie E. Fales Elementary School in Westborough, MA goes a step further, and is on track to be the first Positive Net Energy public school in New England, producing 10% more energy than required to operate the school itself. Using Fales as a precedent, Julia clearly identifies critical steps throughout the planning and design process that allow a Positive Net Energy school to be technically and financially viable.
