AIA announces first year of projected energy use data from firms in 2030 Commitment Program

by Brianna Crandall — May 27, 2011—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has released data on the progress of its 2030 Commitment Program, introduced in 2009. The program is a voluntary initiative for AIA member firms and other entities in the built environment that asks these organizations to make a pledge, develop multi-year action plans, and implement steps that can advance AIA’s goal of carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030.

At the end of the 2010 calendar year, firms were asked to submit an assessment of their 2010 design work using a tool released by AIA last year. AIA says it is encouraging to see the number of participating firms in this program, but the findings are also a wake-up call for the profession to be more steadfast in the prediction of energy usage in design projects, as well as in collecting actual post-occupancy performance data.

The new report, Measuring Industry Progress towards AIA 2030 Carbon Reduction Goal, includes data from 56 firms accounting for nearly 385 million gross square feet (GSF) nationwide. The key findings include:

• Firms reported a combined average 35.1 percent predicted energy use intensity (PEUI) reduction from the national average EUI;
  
• The largest PEUI reduction reported by a firm is 70.6 percent, and the smallest is 11.6 percent ;
  
• The combined firms design portfolio that is meeting the current goal of a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions reduction from the national average is 12.1 percent;
  
• The largest percentage of GSF of active projects meeting goal reported by one firm is 69.8 percent, and the smallest percentage is 0 percent (reported by multiple firms) ;
  
• The GSF of projects currently being energy modeled is 58 percent; and
  
• The percentage of projects that will collect actual data is 38 percent.