NZE Intelligence

Know the year your building reaches net zero.

Most net zero claims ignore the energy it takes to make a building. NZE Intelligence balances embodied energy, operational energy and on-site renewables, and tells you, at the design stage, when the energy debt is repaid.

Open the prototype Read the research
Cumulative energy balance over 50 years Three low-embodied-energy houses start with an energy debt and repay it through renewable surplus: timber after 32 years, reinforced concrete after 44, steel after 49. Net zero Energy debt Year 0 Year 50 Timber, 32 yrs Concrete, 44 yrs Steel, 49 yrs
Case study: the same two-storey London house built in three structural systems with low-embodied-energy materials, heat pump, PV and wind. Source: Ercal & Shafique, Sustainable Horizons (2026).

From the first design model to a net zero year

  1. Measure what it takes to build

    Upload a Revit material take-off. Embodied energy is calculated for every material from established cradle-to-gate factors.

  2. Add how it will run

    Heating, cooling, lighting and appliances are set against the solar and wind energy the building can generate on site.

  3. See the year and what to change

    Get the year the building reaches realistic net zero, plus lower-energy material, design and renewable options that bring it forward.

84%lower annual operational energy in the case-study house
up to 34%less embodied energy through material choice alone
17 yearsbetween the fastest and slowest structural system to reach net zero

Built on peer-reviewed research

NZE Intelligence turns the Realistic Net Zero Energy Building (RNZEB) method into a design tool. The method was developed in a Master’s dissertation awarded the Dean’s Prize for Innovation and Impact at Brunel University London.

Founder

Orhan Ercal is an architect and sustainability researcher with ten years of design and construction experience in the UK and Türkiye. He founded NZE Intelligence to give architects and developers a clear, early answer to the question that matters: when does this building actually reach net zero?

Talk to us

We are working with a small number of UK architects and housing developers on early pilots.

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