by jbs061310c3 — June 16, 2010—The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has unveiled a tool that generates a report on predicted energy use and project modeling, as part of its voluntary 2030 Commitment program, in which architecture firms and other entities in the built environment pledge to develop multi-year action plans and implement steps that can advance the AIA’s goal of carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030.
The Excel-based reporting tool asks the user to enter project use type, gross square, yes/no questions (Is project interior only? Is project modeled?), and predicted energy use intensity.
Based on that information, for modeled projects the tool will automatically calculate the national average site energy use intensity (EUI) for that project type and the project’s percent reduction from the national average EUI toward meeting the firm’s 2030 goal for the current year (currently 60 percent). For non-modeled projects, users will enter in the design standard or code and the sheet will calculate the project’s contribution toward the firm’s 2030 commitment.
The Excel tool will generate three easy-to-decipher graphs that aggregate the individually listed active projects within the Excel sheet. These graphs represent the report that firms will forward to the AIA. The three charts will show a snapshot of the firm portfolio including: the percentage of GSF of active projects meeting the current reduction goal, the percentage of GSF being modeled and percentage of GSF for which the firm will gather actual energy performance.
Firms are asked to track all active design projects for the reporting year, not just ones that are seeking green building certification, and the reports developed through the tool are meant to provide a year-to-year look of a firm’s work. Firms of all sizes and building type expertise will use the same tool and report in the same manner.
