Countries worldwide have pledged to reduce their energy usage and reach net-zero energy targets by 2050. To get there, they will need to find clever ways to decarbonize especially dirty businesses, including the buildings sector. The push to clean up the built environment has spawned a lot of policy, as well as overlapping acronyms, including net-zero energy buildings (nZEBs) and zero-emission buildings (ZEBs).
In the EU, a ZEB requirement is expected to start in January 2030 for all new buildings. Likewise, the U.S. Department of Energy said it will retrofit new federal buildings that are greater than 5,000 square feet by 2030. South Korea is also taking measures to reduce emissions in the building sector by retrofitting buildings and strengthening ZEB requirements for new buildings through 2030.
Buildings are a major source of air, water and noise pollution. The built environment’s whole process — including materials manufacturing, construction, heating and electricity, maintenance and demolition, drives an estimated 40% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. The steep environmental cost and looming deadlines inspired Energy X, a Seoul-based startup and marketplace that “enables the construction of zero-energy buildings,” from architectural design to completion of construction.
Energy X was founded in 2019 by co-CEOs Sean Park and Tom Hong. That …
