O n e Y e a r M i n e r g i e
277
ONE YEAR MINERGIE - A - SWITZERLANDS BIG STEP
TOWARDS NET ZEB
Monika Hall
1
1
University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Northwestern Switzerland, Institut Energy in Building, St. Jakobs
Strasse 84, 4132 Muttenz, Switzerland
Abstract
The worldwide discussion concerning the reduction of energy consumption and of
greenhouse gas emission in the building sector has led to the design of low (Passive
house), nearly or net zero energy buildings. The first available label standardizing a
zero-balanced type of building is the Swiss standard Minergie-A. This standard was
implemented by the Swiss association MINERGIE
®
in March 2011. The standard
prescribes an annual net zero primary energy balance for heating, domestic hot water
and ventilation. Electricity consumption for appliances and lighting is excluded.
Additionally, Minergie-A is the first standard worldwide which includes a requirement in
regard to embodied energy.
Due to these unique features, the Minergie-A standard leads to very important feedback
for the implementation of a nearly or net zero energy building standard. Based on a
analysis of 39 Minergie-A buildings this paper shows that a wide range of different
energy concepts and embodied energy strategies are possible in the scope of the label.
The basis of all Minergie-A buildings is a well-insulated building envelope, however. On-
site energy generation is typically covered by the installation of a sufficient amount of
photovoltaic collector modules. The requirement in regard to embodied energy is
generally accepted by architects and designers.
The step from the Swiss standard Minergie-A to a net zero energy building standard (Net
ZEB) which includes electricity consumption for appliances and lighting is not a very big
one. Increasing the size of the photovoltaic system is sufficient in most cases. Some of
the Minergie-A buildings evaluated are also Net ZEBs, anyway. In this paper, it is also
shown that the net zero balance during the operational phase of Net ZEBs clearly
outweighs the increased embodied energy for additional materials in a life cycle energy
analysis.
Keywords:
net zero energy building, net zero energy balance, embodied energy, life
cycle energy, primary energy
1. Background
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive [EU 2010] aims to achieve that by the
end of 2010 all new buildings shall be “nearly zero energy buildings”. In this context, two
questions arise: Which metric should be nearly zero? And what does “nearly zero”
mean? Although not a member of the European Union, the discussion about nearly and
net zero energy buildings is also very lively in Switzerland. “Until 2020, all new buildings
ideally cover their needs for heating and hot water with locally self-produced renewable
energies and partly cover the electricity demand on an annual balance.” This was
announced by the Swiss conference of the cantonal energy directors in September 2011
[EnDK 2011]. Based on this target, a recast of the Swiss building energy code is under
development.
