Buildings account for a large share of global energy use and carbon emissions, and they play a critical role in developing long-term development policies. In recent years, there has been a surge in interest in zero energy buildings (ZEBs). The definition of ZEB highlights demand-side or supply-side tactics, as well as whether fuel switching, and conversion accounting are applicable to fulfill a ZEB's target. ZEBs contain two design strategies: decreasing the need for energy usage in buildings (particularly for heating and cooling) using energy-efficient measures (EEMs) and implementing renewable energy and other technologies (RETs) to cover the remaining energy needs. This paper illustrates the review of ZEBs definition and its consequences for sustainable development related to renewable energy and other technologies to meet the minimum necessary energy requirements. The definition of the zero-energy goal has an impact on the decisions de-signers make in order to reach it. The advantages and disadvantages of four well-documented def-initions of net-zero site energy, net-zero source energy, net-zero energy costs, and net-zero energy emissions are examined. RETs include photovoltaic/building-integrated photovoltaic (PV/BIPV), wind turbines, solar thermal, heat pumps, and district heating and cooling (DHC).