ROLE OF NET ZERO ENERGY BUILDING IN ENERGY SECURITY

Buildings have significant impact on energy use and the environment which in turn affects the development of country. Buildings are significant cause of climate change and energy security. In India , Buildings consumes more than 40% of country’s energy and responsible for almost 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. Many initiatives taken by Government of India to increase the efficiency of buildings such as Bachat Lamp Yojna, Use of Energy Efficient Lamps. Such improvements save substantial amount of energy and reduce environmental impact. But they do not guarantee energy security and sustainability. Because, even using enrgy efficient techniques can still burn fossil fuels which then produces excessive greenhouse gases far into the future. In the pursuit of energy security and sustainability, Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) can play a vital role. NZEB are so energy efficient that they can rely mainly on renewable energy generated on site. They only use nonrenewable enrgy such as utility electricity and natural gas at times of year when renewable energy does not meet the demand.This paper discusses the net zero energy building concept and briefly reviews the policy context that will make them common.