by Brianna Crandall — May 22, 2015—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has partnered with the U.S. Department of Energy to create the 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx), an online monitoring, reporting and research tool for architecture firms participating in the AIA 2030 Commitment program.
The AIA 2030 Commitment is a growing national initiative that provides a consistent, national framework with simple metrics and a standardized reporting format to help firms evaluate the impact design decisions have on an individual project’s energy performance.
The new online 2030 Design Data Exchange (DDx) portal will provide committed firms with access to their own unique database where they can submit yearly project data, compare projects with similar submissions from other committed firms, and track energy performance across their organization with ease.
“Being able to access the data and see immediate results on how our projects are performing created a bit of a ‘wow factor’ that has gotten people within the firm excited and more engaged in a larger discussion of how all of our projects can reduce their energy consumption,” said Melissa DeStout, project architect with Perkins Eastman. “The graphics in the DDx tool certainly helped spark conversations that have opened our eyes even more to the different types of projects and results we have been producing across both our domestic and international offices.”
The DDx comes with numerous functionality enhancements to the previous reporting method, such as continuity in tracking projects across multiple years and improvements in firm portfolio analysis. An improved user interface will make it easier to enter data and navigate through the tool, and previously reported data on projects submitted in 2013 and 2014 will carry over to the new database. The interface now allows firms to anonymously research how their projects are predicted to perform compared to similar projects across the AIA 2030 Portfolio.
The AIA 2030 DDx will eliminate the need for local spreadsheet files by providing a centralized hosted location for data entry and portfolio analysis. The new online reporting platform is designed to interface with the DOE’s Standard Energy Efficiency Data (SEED) database.
Practitioners say the DDx will allow architecture firms to benchmark their projects against other projects and be inspired to some “friendly competition” with their energy performance goals, and will help them quickly plot a roadmap for a client’s performance targets, whether the client wants a LEED certified building, to meet the 2030 Challenge, or to be completely carbon neutral.
The total number of AIA 2030 Commitment firms that have reported their data has risen from 99 in 2013 to 132 in 2014, an increase of 33 percent, notes the AIA. A full report detailing the gross square footage represented in the data, the number of design firms that are meeting certain carbon reduction targets, and the average Predicted Energy Use Intensity reduction reported by firms will be issued later this summer.
