Promotion of Zero Energy Building (ZEB) and Zero Energy Houses (ZEH)

Last updated: 5 November 2017
ZEB and ZEH* are recognized as the key energy and electricity saving concepts in national strategic documents such as the 2011 Energy Conservation Technology Strategy and the latest 2014 Basic Energy Plan. The FY 26 budget of METI’s Agency of Natural Resources of Energy includes a large amount of budget for promotional projects (such as the assistance projects for investing in high efficiency equipment and facilities) for energy efficiency technology that can be allied to housing and buildings. The target for ZEB and ZEH are clearly specified as follows:

ZEB target

- Enforce ZEB for newly constructed public buildings, etc., by the year 2020.
- Enforce ZEB for an average of newly constructed buildings by the year 2030.

ZEH target

- Achieve zero emission in standard newly-constructed houses by 2020.
- Achieve average zero emission in newly-constructed houses by 2030.
In order to achieve the above target, the government announced ZEB roadmap and ZEH roadmap in Dec 2015.
In 2016, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has started the “Registration System of ZEH Builder” in order to promote and improve the awareness of ZEH. A home builder who registers this system can receive a grant for the construction of ZEH. Meanwhile, the registered home builders are required to comply with some obligations listed as below:

- To set the annual target number of ZEH on the condition that more than half of the total newly constructed houses would have to satisfy the ZEH standard.
- To publish an annual target on the ZEH builders’ home page.
- To implement measures to achieve the target.
- To report an annual achievement such as implementation of measures, the number of total newly built houses, the number of ZEHs and the percentage of ZEH to total number of newly built house.
*Definition of ZEB and ZEH: ZEB and ZEH is a term to describe a building or house with zero net primary energy consumption annually, usually utilizing a combination of energy producing technologies including renewable energy and energy efficient facilities and systems.

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