Question ideas for dissertation on Zero carbon buildings!?

Question

Hi i want to do a dissertation on a topic related to zero carbon buildings etc. Can someone suggest any questions?

maybe about build quality of zero carbon homes?

can zero carbon be achieved?

governemnets attitude towards it?

your ideas will be much appriciated.. thanks

Answer 1

Are plants the answer to zero carbon homes?

"NASA research has consistently shown that living, green and flowering plants can remove several toxic chemicals from the air in building interiors. You can use plants in your home or office to improve the quality of the air to make it a more pleasant place to live and work - where people feel better, perform better, any enjoy life more."

TOP 10 plants most effective in removing:

formaldehyde, benzene, and carbon monoxide from the air.

Common Name  Scientific Name  

Bamboo Palm  Chamaedorea Seifritzii  

Chinese Evergreen  Aglaonema Modestum  

English Ivy  Hedera Helix

Gerbera Daisy  Gerbera Jamesonii

Janet Craig  Dracaena "Janet Craig"  

Marginata  Dracaena Marginata  

Mass cane/Corn Plant  Dracaena Massangeana  

Mother-in-Law's Tongue  Sansevieria Laurentii  

Pot Mum  Chrysantheium morifolium  

Peace Lily  Spathiphyllum "Mauna Loa"  

Warneckii  Dracaena "Warneckii"

Answer 2

sigh.  I'm getting sick of this c**p.  It's unnecessary

Answer 3

is regulation the way forward?

can zero carbon really be achieved without the use of offsets?

costs compared to normal housing and "green" housing?

how much carbon is released to make the average home?

will people realy be prepared to pay more for zero carbon buildings?you could do this with some sort of survey.

Answer 4

Before I knew what a "zero carbon building" was, it first sounded like a building that had no emissions, solid, gas or otherwise, that containined carbon and it was not made of materials containing carbon.

But now I know, that this is a building that does not consume (burn) hydrocarbons on site.  However, I don't consider external power sources that burn hydrocarbons as counting.  So here are my questions:

What about the solid and liquid waste that's produced?  

Why should a carbon-free house or "green" living only consider the natural gas/propane/kerosine emissions?

Zero-carbon buildings may also call upon the inhabitants to grow and harvest their own food.  This basically makes us into farmers and most people have day-time jobs or are parents, both of which don't leave time to tending a garden.

The costs of current building materials may be significantly less than some the proposed materials to make these zero-carbon buildings.  What incentive is there to fiancially bring the bottom line to these houses in competition with current building costs?

Also consider the costs of consuming hydrocarbons for heating.  It may be less (depending on the area) than consuming straight electricity for everything and people might find saving money now more important than going zero-carbon.  Not to mention when electric rate hikes are going into full swing in some parts of the country, a totally electric home will shoot the bill to the sky no matter what season.

Also some people work in trades and there's a reason for having the large 4x4 pick-up.  Many parents are crash-phobes and demand a large vehicle short of a tank, and some of the current SUV hybrids are still rather expensive compared to their gasoline counterparts.

For commercial buidings, how much savings is there for having electric boilers than natural gas boilers?