Energy Performance Sensitivity of a Net-Zero Energy Home to Design and Use Specifications Joshua Kneifel, William Healy, James Filliben & Matthew Boyd The purpose of this report is to test the sensitivity of the energy performance of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Net Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) design to variation in the assumed specifications of occupant behavior and building design characteristics using whole building energy simulations. The analysis includes a total of 128 EnergyPlus (E+) simulations considering two levels for each of the seven factors that could impact the energy performance of the NZERTF: building design, air leakage, occupant behavior (i.e. different levels of usage of appliances and hot water), weather, building orientation, and heating and cooling setpoint temperatures. The results for each combination of the seven factors are analyzed to determine the magnitude and significance of changing these factors and for interaction effects between the factors. There is particular focus on the building design results to determine if the energy performance of the NZERTF is more or less stable than typical residential construction in Maryland. Keywords: net zero energy construction; energy efficiency; residential building; whole building energy simulation Published in the Journal of Building Performance Simulation, February 2015. Citation: Joshua Kneifel, William Healy, James Filliben & Matthew Boyd (2015): Energy performance sensitivity of a net-zero energy home to design and use specifications, Journal of Building Performance Simulation, DOI: 10.1080/19401493.2014.995708