The NZ and Australian building technology market is falling behind the rest of the world. Under EU directive; all new buildings are to be energy neutral i.e. they produce as much energy as they consume by 2020.
Amsterdam's 'The Edge' is hyper-green and hyper-connected - and holds the title of the world's smartest building. Photo; http://www.archdaily.com
This post is inspired by a great piece of journalism. Green offices need government nudge
It asks an important question; are market forces enough to drive technology change in buildings, or do the regulators need to intervene.?
All buildings in the future will be energy neutral. The fundamental market drivers on how fast it gets there are energy resource costs and technology advancement/cost.
Our experience is that the NZ building industry is a way from producing energy neutral buildings, the technology is available, however the cost plus education/experience of this technology in the market are inhibitors. We would like to see the industry leading the world, or at least catch up!