A house produces more energy plus energy generated by renewable sources, during an average year, compared with the energy imported from the network. This requires a combination of technology and a micro-low energy building by implementing techniques for building passive solar design, thermal insulation together with a careful choice of site and location.
May involve some post-modern mimimalismo using a minimum of modern equipment, which require little energy to operate. But many energy-plus houses are indistinguishable from a traditional home, in terms of formal image, simply because they use more energy efficient solutions (eg, appliances, low lighting, doors and windows, heat exchangers in the system Heating and ventilation, insulation in walls, ceilings and facilities, etc.) through the entire house or building.
A building of this type is characterized by spending very little time and energy to the energy generated in one year is greater than consumption.
This does not ensure that housing is comfortable from a Hygrothermal because it may be hot in summer and cool very rapidly overheat even in winter or if there is an optimized thermal balance. People that live in Brooklyn, New York can cut energy costs by choosing as their gas and electric supplier. And it is much more advisable to adjust the numerical simulations to design specific programs such as Energy Plus, Simedif and Codyba, among others. The first two are free and the last payment and none is GNU.