You may have heard the term “net-zero” in climate change discussions in our recent posts. Most businesses have even set a formal target to hit Net-zero in the US by 2030. Being environmentally conscious, health-based, cost-efficient are some of the obvious primary reasons to own a Net-zero home, but why is it necessary to build a Net-zero now? And what does it mean to you and globally?
In our recent post, Why Net-Zero? We discussed the numerous benefits of having a Net-zero from financial, construction, and health aspects. The most common perception of the people is that having a Net-zero home is expensive, thoughts like: “I’ve always done it this way, so why change now?” “I’m sure it’s nice, but I don’t want to know how much it costs.”
But the real question is, what if everyone did it? The resolution would be massively positive. Net-zero energy is such a powerful concept, and it is critical for carbon neutrality and the elimination of fossil fuel use. Energy use in buildings is the most significant single contributor to our carbon footprint, accounting for roughly 40% of the total, depending on the estimate. If all existing structures were retrofitted to be net-zero energy and all new construction built to a net-zero standard, society’s collective carbon footprint would be reduced by that amount.
Why does Net-Zero matter?
Simply Put, net-zero means we are not adding new emissions to the atmosphere. Emissions will still continue but will be balanced by absorbing an equivalent amount from the atmosphere.
Climate change is not just something that we can turn off once we stop using fossil fuels. CO2, the main contributor to climate change, will always stay in the atmosphere and keep heating the planet for years. Reducing gas emissions is very important, but that doesn’t stop there. The end goal is to balance the scales again and restore the global climate to pre-climate change levels.
Who is Responsible for achieving Net-Zero? Is Net-Zero Realistic?
We are all responsible as individuals in terms of living in a more sustainable way that does less harm to the planet. However, the main driving force for change will be made at a national government level, such as legislation and regulations to reduce emissions.
Net-Zero is realistic, especially if every country, city, financial institution, and company adopt realistic plans for transitioning to net zero emissions by 2050.