AIA Report’s Mixed Results Energy Reduction Efforts
November 8th, 2016 by Fiedler Group
A recent report from The American Institute of Architects (AIA) assessing the industry’s progress in meeting AIA’s 2030 Commitment goals suggests that greater effort is needed by the architectural community.
Launched in 2009, the AIA 2030 Commitment is an initiative for the architecture profession to bring a reporting framework and level of accountability to the 2030 energy reduction goals.
Each signatory to the 2030 Commitment program has pledged to reach the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, however only 4% of projects so far have met the 70% energy savings target for 2015 building performance.
Commenting on the industry’s performance to date, Greg Mella, FAIA, Director of Sustainable Design at SmithGroupJJR and co-chair of the AIA 2030 Working Group states “We have made some progress in the overall program, with a noteworthy jump in the amount of buildings included in the report,” said.
“But we are simply not making significant strides in crucial metrics that predict building performance. These findings should serve as a wake-up call to architects that there needs to be greater urgency to drive improved energy efficiency across their project portfolios if we are going to reach our ultimate carbon reduction goals.”
The AIA reports that buildings consume 48% of the nation’s energy and suggests that this represents both an opportunity and responsibility for architects.
However the reports poor findings on architects meeting the energy savings targets may indicate the early AIA concerns regarding smaller firm participation, and the industry relying on code and regulation to lead the way – rather than the AIA community leading the energy reduction effort may still need further attention.
Other report highlights include:
- 152 firms submitted reports – a 9% increase from 2014
- 2.6 billion gross square feet (GSF) represented in this data – a 8% increase
- 5,982 whole building projects have been accounted for in this report – a 37% increase
- 4,461 interiors only projects reported – a 16% increase
- 614 design projects are meeting the 60% energy reduction target – a 42% increase
- 38% average Predicted Energy Use Intensity reduction reported by firms – an increase of 1%
- 10% of total GSF meeting the previous 60% carbon reduction target – a decrease of 4%
- 59% of total GSF using energy modeling to predict operational energy consumption – a 9% increase
To learn more about AIA’s progress towards goal of carbon-neutral building design can be found in the AIA 2030 Commitment: 2015 Progress Report.
