Positive Energy Buildings (PEBs) – buildings that generate more energy than they use -- is the pinnacle of green building design, according to Andrew Solberg, Coy Miller, and Keith Kibbee, authors of an article at Consulting-Specifying Engineer. The idea is to create buildings designing these buildings is to design buildings that create and store enough energy to offset what is used in the building and even the energy consumed by working commuting to the facility.
The additional costs of meeting this higher standard of design and construction are repaid over the lifetime of the facility by the savings from the operation of the building. Companies that are aiming for carbon-neutrality include Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Procter & Gamble and Google. The cost of such projects is higher than traditional construction processes but the payback greater over time.
The first PEB on the east costs is being built by Arts for Humanity in Boston. A year or more of work is slated to begin next month, according to Bisnow.
