The United Nation's climate panel has published the third part of its long-awaited report on strategies for greenhouse gases (GHG) mitigation in 2014. The document by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) considers the options for limiting or preventing GHG emissions and enhancing wide ranging activities that remove them from the atmosphere. For the building sector, numerous energy efficiency and GHG reduction market changes, new design and learning algorithms for more efficient simulation tools and benchmarking procedures have been developed. For example, the mandatory E.U. 'nearly Net-Zero-Energy-Building 2018 regulation' for all new public and privately owned buildings is now set up to help minimizing carbon emissions and reverse the negative impact. In the U.S., the American Institute of Architects (AIA) adopted the 2030 Challenge as a voluntary program, where participating buildings aim to achieve a 90% fossil fuel reduction by 2025, and carbon-neutrality by 2030. The following paper presents the outcomes from a funded project by the U.S. Department of Education under the topic of Building Literacy: the Integration of Building Technology and Design in Architectural Education. The funds supported the interdisciplinary development of a hybrid educational platform comprised of software and a hard copy textbook for advancing Net-Zero-Energy Building design. The most significant challenge was to select the best practice design variables for landscape and climate, building orientation and occupancy types, passive-active energy and climate control systems and their dynamic impact on each other. The paper will critically discuss and analyze the project implementation and the diverse feedback of multiple users from the profession and academia for further improvements for the second edition.