Electricity

The electrical needs of your building can be met with clean, renewable energy.

Buildings designed using the whole-building approach and incorporated energy-efficient building components use much less electricity than conventional buildings. To achieve the next level of sustainability, consider buying green power or generating your own clean energy on-site. Generating your own power should only be considered, however, after all energy-saving measures have been implemented. It is cheaper and more efficient to reduce energy use in the first place rather than generate it.

A growing trend in the power industry is towards distributed generation. Distributed generation involves placing small, modular electricity generators close to where the power is used, which helps utilities defer or eliminate costly investments in transmission and distribution system upgrades, and provide customers with better quality, more reliable energy supplies and a cleaner environment.

	Zero Energy Buildings By combining the best energy-efficiency techniques with renewable energy, it is possible to create buildings that use no net non-renewable (i.e. fossil-fueled) energy over the course of the year. Visit Zero Energy Buildings for more information.

Technologies used for distributed electricity generation include wind, solar, bioenergy, fuel cells, gas microturbines, hydrogen, combined heat and power, and hybrid power systems. Visit the DOE Distributed Energy Resources Web site for more information.

This section includes information on the following generation options:

• Green Power



• Building-Integrated Photovoltaics



• Wind Energy



• Fuel Cells

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