Every year the American Institute of Architects (AIA) publishes a report which tracks progress on their AIA 2030 Commitment initiative. My First summary on this was back in 2017... here is my latest installment covering the 2020 data, that just came out.
Eleven years of reporting, and while there is still a lot of work to do, we can see progress. With a goal of carbon neutral buildings by 2030, the AIA and its signatory architecture firms are slowly moving the needle of progress in the face of the climate crisis we find ourselves in.
Overall, we see a reduction of 51.3% compared with the 2030 commitment baseline. 15 firms met the 2030 goal of an 80% reduction in their entire portfolio of projects for the year!
On a related note, the founder of Architecture 2030, Edward Mazria, FAIA, recently won the 2021 AIA Gold Medal. Learn more in this ARCHITECT Magazine article: Edward Mazria Wins 2021 AIA Gold Medal.
The report covers a lot of ground. I will touch on these five topics:
- Embodied Carbon
- Energy Modeling
- EHDD Case Study
- Electrification
- Renewable Energy
Embodied Carbon
Traditionally, the AIA 2030 Commitment focused on operational carbon. Now, with the recent updates to the Design Data Exchange (DDx) firms can also report embodied carbon.
"A new feature in the DDx allows you to track whole building life cycle assessment results if you have them. In 2020, 55 companies reported embodied carbon on 291 projects."
Related, Lake|Flato recently published an embodied carbon report with case studies. Check out this 42-page report here (24 MB PDF): Embodied Carbon - Exploring Global Warming Potential Using Life Cycle Assessments.
Energy Modeling
Energy modeling is so important in the design process, if not done on a project being tracked in the DDx, that project can only report as meeting code.
"Energy modeling, the use of specialized software to simulate the energy use of a building, is one of the best design tools we have to help move us toward zero carbon."
In the image below, I highlighted the tools used by architects and those typically used by mechanical engineers. It is worth pointing out that cove.tool and Sefaira use EnergyPlus and Autodesk Insight uses DOE 2.2. (their beta version also uses EnergyPlus) as their energy modeling engines; notice those two engines are listed separately as tools used by engineers.
The report says "Last year, active
users increased by 74% as firms pushed accountability deeper into project teams". I am happy to see this, as I have been working to this end, implementing early energy modeling workflows within the design teams, which reduces their dependence on our Building Performance Group and frees us up for bigger and better things!
EHDD Case Study
Each year, the report features a few firms. Last year, Lake|Flato was highlighted. This year EHDD and Quinn Evans Architects were featured. As it turns out, I will be presenting with EHDD and Centerborook at the AIA'22 Conference on Architecture in Chicago next year! More on that and other LF selected sessions (four total) in a future post.
Electrification
With a goal or reducing fossil fuel consumption and the anticipation of a decarbonized electrical grid is the US, the report highlights the benefits of electrification in buildings.
Besides cost, other influences are helping to ensure electrification willbe an enduring trend:
- As a carbon policy, a number of municipalities are banning new fossil gas hookups.
- Corporations and institutions that have announced carbonneutral goals have switched to all-electric buildings and are singing the praises of technologies like induction cooking.
- Health practitioners are advocating for electrification, citing health risks with combustion-based appliances, including carbon monoxide poisoning and lung or heart problems caused by exposure to particulate matter.
It is also worth pointing out that reducing on-site combustion sources can help with indoor air quality and earns a point in the Well Building v2 standard (A10 Combustion Minimization).
Renewable Energy
On-site or off-site renewable energy is a great way to reduce your pEUI and make projects more resilient.
On a related note, here at Lake|Flato we are currently remodeling our office in San Antonio. To learn more about our off-site renewable and related goals, check out this post: L|F SAN ANTONIO OFFICE GOES ZERO CARBON WITH BIG SUN SOLAR.
Download the 2020 Report
AIA 2030 By the Numbers landing page:
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