2019 was a great year for the ZERO coalition! A special thank you to all of our members that make this work possible. Read on to see what specific committees have been up to and keep up the good work (or join us) to make 2020 even better.

Governance and Steering Committee

ZERO’s Governance and Steering Committee functions as the coalition’s board. In 2019, this committee approved and welcomed 12 new members, developed and approved the new membership dues structure, and developed and approved a plan for ZERO coalition activities that will be supported by membership dues. This committee also approved a funding proposal that received Phase 1 funding from Portland Energy Conservation Inc. (PECI). The steering committee reviewed a funding proposal to the Bullitt Foundation for 2020 that is pending approval.

Technical Committee

In 2019, the Technical Committee created a 7 Cost-Effective Steps to Reach Zero Energy infographic with help from the Communications team. The 7 steps graphic can be used all across new building types and the goal is to provide more in-depth information related to all of the 7 steps per building typology in 2020. The infographic will be finished and released soon! This committee also laid out a roadmap of tasks and goals for 2020 that includes supporting the policy team with their goal of advocating that Oregon reach it's Zero Energy Ready equivalency goals in single-family residential new construction projects by 2023.

JEDI Team

In April 2019, the Justice Equity Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Team hosted the Center for Diversity & The Environment’s Building the Foundation course for twenty ZERO Coalition members. Participants in this 2½-day training deepened their understanding of equity, diversity, and inclusion. This course laid the groundwork for building relationships with racial justice communities, while also providing an opportunity for ZERO Coalition members to learn and grow with one another. Following the training, many participants joined the JEDI Team to continue advancing racial equity both personally and professionally. 2019 wrapped up with planning an equity training for a broader audience from the building architecture, engineering and construction industries in Spring 2020. Keep your eyes peeled for an invitation soon!

Communications Committee

In 2019, the Communications Committee developed the Communications Toolkit, a resource for Oregonians working to increase adoption of zero energy and zero energy ready buildings – policymakers, designers, builders, nonprofits, code writers, and climate justice advocates. The toolkit includes a resource hub with 6 fact sheets for different audiences. One of the fact sheets addresses the cost of new residential zero energy homes with a graphic to show the financial returns of zero energy homes. This committee also collaborated with the Technical Committee on the design of the 7 Cost-Effective Steps to Reach Zero Energy infographic. This committee sent out several newsletters to keep members informed about events, webinars, and other opportunities for coalition members. Committee members also hosted ZERO’s Sustainable Building Week Event “Zero Energy – A Foundation of Resilient Communities” at The Oaks Zero Energy Community at Rose Villa Senior Living. The Communications Committee is looking for new members so please let Ashley know if you would like to join.

Policy Committee

Local government action: Many local governments in Oregon are striving to achieve local climate action goals and buildings are a key action area in these efforts. Three ZERO Coalition members - Climate Solutions, Earth Advantage and New Buildings Institute – are working together to provide information and resources to local governments throughout the state on local actions that can be taken to decarbonize buildings as well as how to participate in the 2020 residential energy code update process at the state level to ensure the state code meets the needs of local governments. For more information, contact Zach Baker.

2021 IECC success! Local governments and related agencies vote resoundingly in favor of improved efficiency in national energy codes with an estimated increase of at least 10%. Learn more on the ICC website and on NBI’s blog.

Oregon State Code update: Energy codes are a cost-effective way to achieve energy and carbon savings. The Oregon Building Codes Division (BCD) updated the Oregon commercial energy code in the state for the first time in six years in October 2019. BCD ran a robust and lengthy process that engaged stakeholders and considered over 100 proposed amendments to the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code that would have significantly improved the stringency beyond the national model code, BCD switched the model code under consideration from IECC to ASHRAE 90.1-2016. Late in the process, BCD approved both the ASHRAE 90.1-2016 standard and the 2018 IECC as code anyway, only this time the 2018 IECC was adopted without the energy-savings amendments.

While we are pleased to see improved commercial codes in Oregon, the ZERO Coalition is concerned about the title of the new commercial code. Calling it the “2019 Oregon Zero Energy Ready Commercial Code” is misleading. No evidence supports the idea that ASHRAE 90.1-2016 is even close to zero energy ready. In fact, ASHRAE itself has published two more stringent energy codes – 90.1-2019 and 189.1-2017– neither of which are considered zero-ready.

The ZERO Policy Committee will continue to track code development in Oregon. We expect that the residential code and another commercial update will be happening in 2020. Contact Amy Cortese or David Heslam with questions and comments.

Membership and Outreach Committee

We’ve added 12 new ZERO members in 2019 and we’re still growing! Please let Ashley know if you have organizations to recommend and/or if you want to be part of this committee.

Welcome new members!

10 Full Members:

City of Milwaukie, Community Energy Project, Ankrom Moisan Architects, R-Stud, SERA Architects, BlueGreen Alliance, The Environmental Center, Dream Home Building and Design, NorthWest AeroBarrier, Elemental Energy

2 Associate Members:

Elevate Energy, Solar Oregon

Check out all of our members and their websites.

Do you have a 2019 highlight to share? Post it below!