AIA Brings 2030 Targets Down to Earth

The LEED Gold Boston office is one of nine Gensler locations certified through LEED for Commercial Interiors. Certifying offices is one of the steps the firm is taking to fulfill AIA 2030 Commitment requirements.

Since its first public backing of the 2030 Challenge over three years ago (see EBN Jan. 2006), The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has set an example for its members. A number of architectural firms have signed on to the challenge to eliminate fossil-fuel consumption in buildings by 2030, even though both those signing and some choosing not to have expressed concern that the path to that goal is murky. Now, AIA is promoting a more nuts-and-bolts approach to the goal through its AIA 2030 Commitment, and close to 50 firms have already signed on. The commitment offers firms step-by-step guidance for achieving carbon-neutrality in building design and lowering their own environmental footprints through operational changes.

The 2030 Challenge, promoted by the organization Architecture 2030 and Ed Mazria, FAIA, comes with an implementation plan, but it is somewhat vague. “Establish energy efficiency as a central tenet of your firm’s design philosophy,” one suggestion reads. By contrast, the AIA 2030 Commitment requires firms to choose at least four operational action items from a list to implement within six months of signing the commitment.

Designed to tide firms over until they have long-range sustainability plans in place, these items range from tracking and reporting energy use in offices to purchasing guidelines for furniture and office supplies. According to Nellie Reid, AIA, director of sustainable design for Gensler, this pragmatism is what drew her firm to AIA’s approach, rather than taking on the 2030 Challenge. “We believe signing on to the 2030 Challenge is an empty promise in the absence of a client commitment, whereas the components of the 2030 Commitment are ones we can implement now,” she told EBN.

Within a year of signing the commitment, firms must pull together a sustainability action plan designed to help them achieve the 2030 Challenge benchmarks. Suggestions for the plans are concrete: “Reduce the amount of potable water used in all projects,” for example. The action plan must address not only design goals for projects but also staff education, design processes, office operations, and business strategies that support sustainability goals. Firms must assemble a sustainability team to tie the various efforts together. Finally, firms must collect data on their designs so they can see how they are progressing.

As a large firm with over 2,200 employees in 32 offices, Gensler faces a challenge when it comes to ensuring that everyone is on the same page. “It’s a huge task to keep track of the performance of all of the projects we have underway across the firm,” said Reid. Using an internal, online database, the firm is collecting data on energy use intensity, water use in plumbing fixtures, lighting power density, carbon footprint, and other measures of environmental performance. The system allows teams to enter target, design, and actual data so that the firm can track a building’s real performance and compare it to the team’s original goals.

Having the system in place is only half the battle, though, since collecting data “requires an immense amount of input from various project team members,” according to Reid. Firm-wide courses on sustainable design and communicating green goals to clients help spread the word, and sustainable design leaders at every level of the company keep things on track.

– Allyson Wendt

For more information:

The American Institute of Architects 2030 Commitment
www.aia.org/about/initiatives/AIAB079458

September 1, 2009

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