In 2013, the U.S. Department of Energy launched its Zero Energy Ready Home (ZERH) program. The goal? To design a home to reduce its energy demand as much as possible, making it zero energy ready. In turn, very little solar is necessary to achieve zero energy compared with homes built to code minimum. A recent report by the Rocky Mountain Institute makes the case for zero energy ready homes, citing that it increases costs by as little as 1%.

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