Overview: Many building projects today have a net-zero benchmark that is set in the project planning stage. Minimum energy targets, specified as energy use intensity (EUI), are increasingly required by local jurisdictions. Net-zero buildings need to have EUI targets lower than code minimum and recommended baselines for typical building types as well as being normalized to the climate zone. Setting EUI targets to estimate the physical area needed for power production prior to beginning design work and energy building modeling provides a means for determining how easy or difficult it will be to allocate enough area for energy production. The estimated area required for the photovoltaic (PV) array can be used as a metric in the evolving design of the building. Presented is a method to estimate power needed based on an EUI target vs. possible PV power production based on climate. The data is produced using a Passive House U.S. certified multifamily project as an example in a spreadsheet. The outcomes support that the method is a viable estimating tool for informing the development of a design.