The 2030 °Challenge
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The 2030 Challenge is an initiative by Edward Mazria and Architecture 2030 to make all new buildings and renovations
carbon-neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
by the year 2030 to avoid the catastrophic effects of
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
caused by the ''building sector''. Buildings, construction, and operational activities generate nearly 40% of annual
Greenhouse Gas A greenhouse gas (GHG or GhG) is a gas that Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorbs and Emission (electromagnetic radiation), emits radiant energy within the thermal infrared range, causing the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse ...
(GHG) emissions, consequently, there is a larger scope to stabilize and reverse emissions in this sector, in order to avoid increased
global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
to reach a tipping point. Therefore, instead of seeing it as a trying issue, Architecture 2030, a non-profit organization, strives to beat the woes of climate change by implementing energy-efficient planning and design.


Targets defined

The following are the targets set by The 2030 Challenge: *All new buildings, developments and major renovations be designed to meet a fossil fuel, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting,
energy consumption Energy consumption is the amount of energy used. Biology In the body, energy consumption is part of energy homeostasis. It derived from food energy. Energy consumption in the body is a product of the basal metabolic rate and the physical activity ...
performance standard of 70% of the regional (or country) average for that building type. *At a minimum, an amount of existing building area equal to that of new construction be renovated annually to meet a
fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 70% of the regional (or country) average for that building type. *The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings be increased to:
:60% in 2010 :70% in 2015 :80% in 2020 :90% in 2025 :
Carbon-neutral Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "p ...
by 2030 (zero
fossil fuel A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels m ...
, GHG emitting energy to operate).


History

Edward Mazria, a renowned architect, author, researcher and educator brings to light the contribution of ''building sector,'' to the on-going fight against climate change, after his analysis of U.S. energy information data in 2002. The results of the 2002 study conducted by Edward Marzria and his firm were appalling, where buildings came out as dominant source of emissions, accounting for 40% of U.S. Energy use. In response to this discovery, Edward Mazria as a part of his practice in Santa Fe, started and financed a research organization, Architecture 2030, which aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from the built-environment. Later, in 2006 he incorporated Architecture 2030 as a non-profit organization and issued the 2030 Challenge.


Adopters

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
(AIA), is one of the first major industry group to embrace the 2030 Challenge. In addition to this, it launched the AIA 2030 Commitment to support the 2030 Challenge and track the progress of carbon-neutral future. Besides the American Institute of Architects, the challenge has been adopted by other professional organizations like the
U.S. Green Building Council The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), co-founded by Mike Italiano, David Gottfried and Rick Fedrizzi in 1993, is a private 501(c)3, membership-based non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and op ...
; National Governors Association; American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (
ASHRAE The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE ) is an American professional association seeking to advance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) systems design and constructio ...
); and the
Union Internationale des Architectes The International Union of Architects (French: ''Union internationale des Architectes''; UIA) is the only international non-governmental organization that represents the world's architects, now estimated to number some 3.2 million in all. About ...
, among many others, as well as 41 percent of U.S. architecture firms. The 2007
Energy Independence and Security Act The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007Pub.L. 110-140, originally named the Clean Energy Act of 2007, is an Act of Congress concerning the energy policy of the United States. As part of the Democratic Party's 100-Hour Plan during the ...
required all new federal buildings to meet the energy performance standards set forth in the 2030 Challenge. The city of Seattle has created the Seattle 2030 District, an interdisciplinary public-private collaborative working to create high-performance building district downtown to meet the 2030 challenge targets district wide. In Canada, the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the
Ontario Association of Architects The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) is the regulatory body responsible for registering and licensing all architects legally entitled to practice the scope of architecture in the Province of Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1889. Notable ...
and cities such as Vancouver have also adopted the Challenge targets.


Approach

In order to meet the targets set by the 2030 challenge, building's modeled energy performance is compared to the energy use of a median performing building, also known as Baseline Energy Use Intensity (EUI). Formerly, Architecture 2030 organization relied on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) ''Target Finder Tool'' to identify energy information from the database, standardizing for building typology, climate, size, use etc. ''Target Finder'', in turn, accessed energy use data set from Commercial Buildings energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) to set the target EUI. In respond to EPA's latest news on updating its tools from 2003 CBECS to 2012, stemming to a change in all the benchmark EUIs, Architecture 2030 organization introduced their new ''Zero Tool,'' which keeps the designers and owners moving from their baselines as those of CBECS 2012. Architecture 2030's Zero Tool expands on the Target Finder's features, offering a graphic display of baselines, targets, and existing building performance, allowing users to compare data normalized by climate, building size, occupancy and schedule. These target EUIs are achieved by using a set of energy-efficient design strategies which includes low cost or no cost passive design and use of
renewable sources A renewable resource, also known as a flow resource, is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of ti ...
for on-site construction activities. A list of key ideas integrating all the principles, required to create low-carbon and adaptable built-environments worldwide can be found in the 2030 Palette. In addition to this guide, Architecture 2030 also provides an educational program; AIA+2030 Online Series, with a goal to provide design professionals high-performance building knowledge necessary to meet the 2030 Challenge targets.


AIA 2030 Commitment

The mission of AIA 2030 Commitment is to provide a holistic, data-driven platform for all the participating architecture, engineering and consultancy firms of 2030 Challenge and report their progress on meeting the 2030 targets. By signing the commitment, architecture firms agree to: *Create a Sustainable action plan for the entire firm. *Report the annual predicted energy use of every new construction, major renovation and interior-only project in their design portfolio. In 2014, it began a data collection effort called ''Design Data Exchange'' to record the progress of firms that had joined the 2030 Commitment. In 2017, participating firms reported 560 projects that met challenge targets, with nearly a quarter of those already
net zero Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the " ...
.


2030 Palette

The 2030 Palette is a free online tool, serving as a guide for all
sustainable design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...
principles, strategies and resources needed to create carbon-neutral and resilient built environments, at all scales- from regional and city planning to building details.


AIA+2030 Series

The AIA+2030 series is another initiative aiming to increase the uptake of the 2030 commitment. Originally created by AIA Seattle, this educational program is sponsored by Autodesk and delivered through AIAU, the AIA's online educational portal.


Other considerations

In the face of climate change, the 2030 Challenge largely incorporates technical architectural solutions to achieve its carbon neutral goals. In the article "Buildings don’t use energy: people do", author Kathryn B.Janda from Environmental Change Institute of Oxford University talks about how even though the architectural solutions offered by the 2030 challenge are indispensable, they are not enough to fight the negative environmental effects of the building sector. There is a need of a platform or profession, that spreads the knowledge or awareness of building use beyond the circle of architects, designers, engineers and other building science professionals to the general public. Even with the best passive design strategies and on-site renewable resources, a poorly operated building can prove to be a hindrance in mitigating climate change. For example, ‘
green buildings Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from plannin ...
’, when occupied by professional service companies, are often being used by employees over longer daytime occupancy schedules with more weekend working; thus, exceeding energy targets anticipated during their design. The increasing intensity of energy use with a reduction in carbon targets; also referred to as ''divergence problem'', could only be solved by integrating user involvement in the building performance. It can be concluded that the only way to realize a carbon-neutral future is to build on incremental change in each successive phase.


See also

* Zero-Energy Buildings *
Sustainable Design Environmentally sustainable design (also called environmentally conscious design, eco-design, etc.) is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of ecological sustainability ...
* Carbon Offset *
Low Carbon Economy A low-carbon economy (LCE) or decarbonised economy is an economy based on energy sources that produce low levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. GHG emissions due to human activity are the dominant cause of observed climate change since the mi ...


References


External links


Architecture 2030

AIA 2030 Commitment

2030 Palette

AIA+2030 Series
{{DEFAULTSORT:2030 Challenge, The Sustainable building Low-energy building Climate change policy Architectural competitions