REALIZE is combining demand aggregation, using a "zero over time" approach, and supply chain coordination to deploy high-quality, prefabricated mass-scale retrofit packages that are easy to install and are financed through utility cost savings. Our vision is a future where buildings are heated, cooled, and powered using renewable, non-greenhouse gas emitting resources and where historically disenfranchised communities are fully included in the benefits and can take part in the new workforce it will take to get there.
REALIZE is inspired by Energiesprong, an innovative model from the Netherlands. A public-private partnership, Energiesprong has implemented zero energy retrofits to the tune of almost 5,000 units over the past five years, with another 100,000 planned across Europe.
Image courtesy of PHIUS
Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) is a core partner of REALIZE and is focused on optimizing performance standards and establishing design guidelines for more industrialized approaches to implementing retrofit technologies. PHIUS has modeled energy efficiency opportunities on concept multifamily buildings to determine how to increase energy performance, improve construction processes, and reduce overall project costs. As demonstration projects are completed, PHIUS will provide formal design guides for industrialized, zero energy retrofit projects.
America’s 125 million residential units account for approximately 20% of the country’s total carbon emissions, but less than a tenth of a percent are operating at net zero energy, according to the Net Zero Energy Coalition’s 2017 inventory. Progress continues to be hindered in large part by the disaggregation of both supply and demand―today, every retrofit is a custom job, involving significant time, complexity and cost. At the same time, nearly 50 million Americans are living at or below the federal poverty line, with many struggling to pay for their utilities versus other basic needs. While low-income families stand to benefit the most from high-performing buildings, they also face the greatest barriers in accessing them, spending up to 20% of their income on energy, compared to just 4% for the average US household.
We are working with leading partners and innovators on the supply and demand sides of multifamily home retrofits, including municipalities and government housing agencies, building owners and developers, manufacturers, and financiers.
Supported by awards from the US Department of Energy and the California Energy Commission, REALIZE is launching several pilots to demonstrate Energiesprong like retrofit packages. These projects seek to test the efficacy of solutions while organizing the supply chain to develop more integrated retrofit systems for deployment across the multifamily housing market.
Supported by a California Energy Commission award, REALIZE will organize the market in California to provide zero-net-energy retrofits at scale for disadvantaged communities across the state. The team will look to streamline everything from financing, to permitting, to the installation process for sets of turnkey net-zero retrofit solutions.
Robot is welding metal part in automotive industrial
RetrofitNY, an Energiesprong program in the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and REALIZE are collaborating to work with manufacturers to accelerate the development of a robust supply chain for net-zero retrofit packages. The team is especially focused on bundled solutions consisting of components such as envelope panelization systems and modular, prefabricated, integrated mechanical system units. These pre-designed and prefabricated packages will result in enhanced quality assurance, and will streamline production and installation, making high performance building design and construction more efficient and cost competitive.
REALIZE is partnering with the Emerald Cities Collaborative and local entities to recruit and train minority, veteran, and women contractors, connecting them to project opportunities and readying them for taking on bigger and more complex projects.
Department of Energy
Partner
California Energy Commission
Partner
Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance
Partner
Noorda Foundation
Partner
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority
Partner
Energiesprong
Partner
Net Zero Energy Coalition
Partner
Passive House Institute US
Partner
Prospect Silicon Valley
Partner
Association for Energy Affordability
Partner
University of California Davis
Partner
California Housing Partnership Corporation
Partner
San Francisco Department of Environment
Partner
The Levy Partnership
Partner
Re:Vision Architecture
Partner
Staengl Engineering
Partner
Integral Group
Partner
David Baker Architects
Partner
Stone Energy Associates
Partner
Pembina Institute
Partner
Natural Resources Canada
Partner
Mitsubishi Electric
Partner
Goodman Manufacturing
Partner
RenewAire
Partner
PowerWise
Partner
James Mandel
Managing Director
Cara Carmichael
Principal
Martha Campbell
Principal
Rebecca Cole
Program Marketing Director
Madeline Cook
Market Consultant
Adam Parker
Market Consultant
Brett Webster
Senior Associate
Maggie Huang
Associate
Factory Zero tells us more about their monitoring systems and performance monitoring to manage maintenance needs, tenant behavior, and to ensure savings in retrofit buildings.
REALIZE observations from an August 2018 field trip to Energiesprong projects in the Netherlands
Sizing the market for integrated, all-electric mechanical systems, 2018
Social Equity, Affordable Housing, and the Net-Zero Energy Opportunity, 2018
REALIZE New York Supply-Side Convening—2016
REALIZE San Francisco Demand-Side Convening—2017
San Francisco Techno Economic Study
Techno Economic Study: How To Guide
San Francisco Bay Area Strategy Recommendations
Getting to Net-Zero Carbon in Multifamily Homes, 2016
Net-Zero Housing: The Energiesprong Model
Energiesprong Scaling in Europe—the Guardian
