By: Jesse Walton, AIA and Daniel Overbey, AIA
As Co-Chairs of the AIA 2030 Working Group, we are hitting the ground running in 2025. Through our collective work, the AIA 2030 Commitment continues to serve as a vehicle for high impact climate action in the building sector.
The latest edition of the 2030 By The Numbers attests to the impact of our collective action. In the last reporting period, 490 signatory companies reported a little over 3.9 billion gross square footage across 24,742 projects and 116 countries through the DDx. These projects accounted for an overall 50% predicted energy usage intensity (pEUI) reduction among whole-building projects and an overall 36% predicted lighting power density (pLPD) reduction among interior-only projects. The effect of such collective action is staggering. In 2023, 2030 Commitment projects accounted for an annual overall energy savings equivalent to avoiding 38.5 million MT of CO2e in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – roughly the equivalent of taking more than 5% of our country’s coal-fired power plants offline.
Leverage the DDx to track operational carbon and embodied carbon.
Assessing GHGs and reporting carbon emissions. This is where we are going. As our community of AIA 2030 Commitment Signatories prepare to report project data this Spring, please consider reporting both operational carbon and embodied carbon data. This can be accomplished in the following ways:
Did you catch the first published summary of the AIA Materials Pledge? Originating in 2018, the AIA Architecture & Design (A&D) Materials Pledge stands as the second AIA climate action pledge program, alongside the AIA 2030 Commitment. After years of clarifying intent and directionality, Signatories now have a framework to report on their work. The AIA Materials Pledge measures annual performance of the architecture and design community toward its goal of holistic materials section. If you have not yet signed up for the AIA Materials Pledge, there has never been a better time. In 2025, the AIA 2030 Working Group will be considering pathways for alignment between the two climate action pledge programs.
A Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) is a critical component of the AIA 2030 Commitment. SAPs outline how a firm and its projects add value and gets our industry closer to achieving our shared goal of carbon-neutral buildings.
As your firm’s SAP been sitting on the shelf for a few years? Don’t worry, you’re not the only one. In 2025, the AIA 2030 Working Group will revise our core SAP guidance document and expand on resources that can serve firms of any size – particularly, we will focus on deliverables that can add value for small firms.
Disclosure comes before optimization. Reporting projects to the DDx is the one of the most important ways in which your firm can deliver on climate action – and it is something that is completely within the control of your company.
On behalf of the AIA 2030 Working Group, we would like to extend a heartfelt appreciation to all of the AIA 2030 Commitment Signatories. Your work is vital, and it inspires us. Please make sure to submit your data to the DDx by the reporting deadline on March 31st, 2025.
Our team is here to help. Please take advantage of the following opportunities and resources:
We have two final OOHs this March! Full RY24 Open Office Hour schedule and recordings can be found here.
How to submit your portfolio (March 11 @ 3pm ET) Register now >
Last minute questions (March 26 @ 2pm ET) Register now >
Creating a Sustainability Action Plan (SAP): To help your firm on their journey to create their SAP to address sustainability, resilience, and climate in firm culture and operations, AIA offers the following resource. Our Dropbox of sample SAPs can be found here.
DDx Help Pages can be found here and contain a wealth of information on how to navigate the platform and input projects.
Join the 2030 Peer to Peer Network and leverage the wisdom of the 2030 Commitment community.
If our team can help in any way, please reach out to us at 2030commitment@aia.org