Take a look inside a $1.1 million 'zero emissions' home

cnbc.com:

Real estate is a key puzzle piece in achieving the U.S.' climate goals, according to federal officials.

Residential and commercial buildings account for 31% of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions, after accounting for «indirect» emissions like electricity use, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That's more than other economic sectors like transportation and agriculture.

The Biden administration has adopted various policies to cut residential emissions.

The Inflation Reduction Act, enacted in 2022, offers financial benefits includingtax breaks and rebates to homeowners who make their homes more energy-efficient, for example. The White House also recently issued guidelines for buildings in order to be considered "zero emissions," meaning they are «energy efficient, free of onsite emissions from energy use and powered solely from clean energy,» according to the Department of Energy.

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Morgan Wojciechowski, 33, is among the first homeowners to get that federal «zero emissions» label. (That assessment was bestowed by the third-party firm Pearl Certification.)

Wojciechowski, her husband Casey, and their three dogs — Dixie, Bo and Charlie — moved into the newly built residence in Williamsburg, Virginia, in August 2023.

Wojciechowski, who is also the president of Healthy Communities, a local real-estate developer focused on sustainable construction, spoke with CNBC about her new home, its financial benefits and how consumers can best upgrade their homes to be more efficient.

The conversation has been edited and condensed