Aiming for Net Zero

Hotel Nieu is aiming to achieve a Net Zero Carbon Rating through the Green Building Council of South Africa.

Currently producing 1/3 of the worlds CO2, the built environment needs to be at the forefront of attempting to drastically reduce the amount of CO2 generated.

A Net Zero/Net Positive Carbon building is defined as: A building that is highly energy-efficient, and where the remaining energy use is from renewable energy, so that there are zero net carbon emissions on an annual basis (Net Zero); or if the energy from renewable energy results in more energy being produced than what is used on site (Net Positive).

Net Zero/Net Positive is not about slowly pushing the built environment industry towards betterment, but rather about inspiring the end goal now.

Hotel Nieu will aim to produce more energy on site than what it uses. This will be done by applying good passive design principles, and through a rational design process including high performance materials and active energy producing systems, like solar PV with battery backup, to achieve this.

The Sustainability consultants on the project are Solid Green Consulting http://www.solidgreen.co.za/.

For further information about Net Zero, see the GBCSA website https://gbcsa.org.za/certify/green-star-sa/net-zero/.