Zero energy buildings are a key strategy for meeting long-term energy and climate objectives. Schools are a great place to start as there are many good examples and they can be a great teaching tool for today’s youth who will become the leaders of tomorrow. The Inevitable Solar School provides a road map on why and how to build these schools, including extensive case studies that school administrators and designers can learn from.
Steven Nadel, Executive Director, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE)
Mark Hanson has authored a visionary, timely and practical book on the implementation of zero net energy solar schools and buildings. As a professional resource economist, with extensive experience in the building industry, Dr. Hanson provides a motivating hands-on “how-to” book, with a wealth of technical, financial, and institutional guidelines as well as extensive case studies covering a wide range of school types and locations. This book should be mandatory reading today for school administrators, facility managers, business managers, board members, community members, teachers, students and building professionals who have the opportunity to evaluate and build a zero net energy school, including new buildings and retrofits.
Wesley K. Foell, National Advisory Board of the Union of Concerned Scientists; past director, Ecology/Environment Project – International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (Vienna); Professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Founder and President, Resource Management Associates of Madison (RMA)
Schools touch the lives of many on a daily basis and nearly everyone has been reached at some time through a school. These buildings are a perfect transition point of shifting buildings from “taking” to buildings that can give back—through producing more energy than then consume. There is no reason for schools to be anything but zero energy moving forward, and this book provides the motivation and rationale to help make zero energy schools commonplace.
Paul Torcellini, Principal Engineer, Commercial Buildings Research Group, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)