Energy conservation is one of the most important concerns at the present day. A number of technological innovations have been introduced to somehow reduce the dependency on fossil fuels, as their increased usage has taken a severe toll on the environment and led to their rapidly declining resources. Since buildings are among the major consumers of energy, reducing their power consumption can contribute significantly to achieving energy efficiency goals. The building sector can considerably decrease its power usage by using energy-efficient strategies in construction, design, and operation of new buildings and retrofitting the existing buildings to better their efficicency.

One of the technologies that have recently emerged for conserving energy is net zero energy buildings (NZEB). In theory, these buildings are capable of producing as much energy as they use, over the course of a year. Attributed to such advantages of NZEBs, their development is predicted to increase all over the world, in the coming years. According to a P&S Intelligence report, in 2018, the global net zero energy buildings market attained a value of $896.6 million, and it is projected to generate revenue of $2,106.6 million by 2024, advancing at a 15.6% CAGR during the forecast period (2019–2024).

A range of equipment is used in NZEBs, including solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, insulation panels, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, and lighting systems. Solar PV panels are being utilized the most in these buildings, as commercial floor spaces need a considerable amount of energy for providing electricity to appliances, which is fulfilled by solar PV panels. Solar units are of great importance in a NZEB, owing to the fact they provide clean energy to the buildings, without which the building won’t really be called self-sustained; therefore, their demand will grow with the rise in the development of NZEBs in the near future.

When the geographical scenario is taken into consideration, North America has been focusing on the development of NZEBs most strongly. The primary reasons for this are the stiff targets for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and, as mentioned above, decreasing energy consumption in the region. Canada and the U.S. have been involved in several programs for attaining sustainable energy consumption. Apart from North America, Europe has also been witnessing major advancements in the domain. The regulations about the adoption of renewable energy sources for generating power are quite strict in Europe, which is why it is also a important net zero energy buildings market.

The reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is of great importance when it comes to achieving sustainable means of living. The burning of fossil fuels, whether it is for industrial usage or for running a vehicle, results in the emission of greenhouse gases, which affects the atmosphere in a negative way. These emissions have led to the depletion of the ozone layer and degraded the air quality severely. Therefore, almost all the countries across the world are implementing solutions which can help deal with this problem, one of them being NZEBs.

Hence, the development of NZEBs is increasing due to the growing need for curbing pollution levels across the world.