CubeSmart, a national self-storage company with 20 Austin area locations, is set to open on April 1 a location at 6130 E. Ben White Blvd. that aims to be a zero-energy facility. The U.S. Department of Energy defines a zero-energy, or “net zero,” facility as one that generates more renewable energy than it consumes. Property developer Farragut Investments Inc. worked with Austin Energy and achieved a four-star Green Building rating on March 30, said Liana Kallivoka, manager of Commercial Green Building at Austin Energy. Bob Ruggles, Farragut’s vice president of development, said net zero is a difficult status to reach particularly for a facility with intensive energy demands, such as a self-storage building. “There’s only 10 buildings on the U.S. national registry in terms of net zero right now; I expect this will be [No.] 11,” Ruggles said. The 77,000-square-foot climate-controlled self-storage facility incorporates water and energy conservation techniques with solar panels, three rainwater storage tanks, geothermal heating and cooling and an elevator that generates electricity from its own movement, according to a Marketwired news release. “This new state-of-the-art facility allows us to serve environmentally conscious Austin customers with a convenient location that is easily accessible to most downtown and South and East Austin residents,” said Guy Middlebrooks, vice president of third-party management for CubeSmart. The facility features a gated entrance and a 24-hour digital security monitoring system, as well as high-definition security cameras. Customers interested in tracking the building's energy usage will be able to do so on monitors that will display its green energy metrics, Ruggles said. Leasing costs at the facility will be comparable to other self-storage services in the area. Although initial infrastructure costs are much higher to build a net-zero facility than one that is not powered by renewable energy sources, Ruggles said it is expected the self-storage facility will recover costs over time through energy savings. He said the Ben White Boulevard CubeSmart location will consume about 68 percent less energy than the average storage facility. Free and open to the public, a grand opening celebration will take place April 9 from 12-3 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony beginning at 11:45 a.m. Live music, barbecue and refreshments will be available at the event, and attendees can take part in a scavenger hunt. CubeSmart is awaiting approval of a city of Austin permit to proceed with Phase 2 of the facility’s construction, which includes additional self-storage units.