The American Institute of Architects initiated a program it calls the 2030 Commitment Program approximately 5 years ago. Designed as voluntary initiative, its goal is to have member firms and other entitites in design and construction, including those in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, promise to work towards a goal of carbon nuetral buildings by 2030. The ultimate objective is to make buildings more environmentally friendly.
Among the things to be accompished as part of the program are multi-year action plans and implementation of those plans. To measure this, the AIA asked participating firms to assess and report on their progress for calendar year 2012 using a tool developed by the AIA. That data now forms the basis of the AIA’s report entitled “Measuring Industry Progress Towards 2030“.
Some of the highlights for the report are as follows:
– 110 firms reported data for 2012.
– 1.4 billion gross square feet were represented in the data, with 57% using energy modeling to predict operational energy consumption.
– 14% of total gross square footage meetig the current 60% carbon reduction target.
While the initiative has a ways to go, it is showing some promise. It also has some limitations. In the end, designers can only design what owners want. For green and zero carbon buildings to become more prominent, owners have to be willing to move forward with that design. The environment is only one of the parameters owners consider when making design decisions. The largest and most common one has always been, and will likely always remain, cost. As green building becomes more cost effective, it’s chances of further growth will increase.
