Best Practices for Achieving Zero Over Time for Building Portfolios

Existing commercial buildings in the United States account for 36% of electricity consumption and over $190 billion in annual energy costs. Globally, the current energy retrofit rate of approximately 1% per year is insufficient to meet the 3.2% annual rate required to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius by 2040. The Zero Over Time (ZOT) approach is proposed to help managers synchronize energy efficiency and renewable energy projects with building life-cycle events.

• Commercial buildings in the United States consume 36% of the country's total electricity and incur annual energy costs exceeding $190 billion.
• To meet the two degree Celsius increase target by 2040 established at COP21, the global annual rate of energy retrofits for existing buildings must increase from approximately 1% to around 3.2%.
• The Zero Over Time (ZOT) approach enables portfolio managers to coordinate investments in energy storage, renewable energy, and deep energy efficiency with specific life-cycle event triggers.

APA

RMI (2018). Best Practices for Achieving Zero Over Time for Building Portfolios. https://rmi.org/resources/zero-over-time-for-building-portfolios/

Chicago

RMI. Best Practices for Achieving Zero Over Time for Building Portfolios. 2018. https://rmi.org/resources/zero-over-time-for-building-portfolios/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Best Practices for Achieving Zero Over Time for Building Portfolios |date=12 September 2018 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/zero-over-time-for-building-portfolios/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2018best, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Best Practices for Achieving Zero Over Time for Building Portfolios}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2018}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/zero-over-time-for-building-portfolios/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }