Jargon Buster
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Net Zero Carbon.
Where offsetting is allowed for any residual energy
There are many definitions of net zero carbon. We believe the following should be adopted as the industry standard:
A net zero carbon home is one where, after minimising the energy use of the building itself and providing as much as possible of the remaining energy requirement from zero carbon sources on-site or via private wire/pipeline, there is still a residual energy requirement.
The corresponding residual amount of carbon must be eliminated by offsetting, in order for the home to qualify as net zero carbon.
As with the definition of zero carbon, in the context of housing policy net zero carbon normally only refers to the regulated components of operational carbon.
(Definition taken from “Carbon Jargon”, an NHBC Foundation report, researched and written by Neil Cutland of Sava).
