How AIA 2030 + SE 2050 + MEP 2040 Help Decarbonize the Building Sector

"You can't improve what you don't measure."

Often attributed to Austrian American management consultant, educator, and author Peter Drucker, this has become the mantra for green building advocates. And for good reason. Feedback loops are an essential for substantiating and improving upon key performance indicators within any enterprise.

However, baselines and benchmarking are also essential for charting progress—and both require broader datasets for validation.

With regard to climate action in the building design and construction industry, establishing a useful and relative sense of progress necessitates data sharing and collective action toward common goals. Most building design firms are private enterprises and jurisdictional requirements for public disclosure of building design data are relatively rare. Therefore, success in creating a platform to gauge progress will hinge on voluntary efforts. 

Perhaps you have heard of the AIA 2030 or SE 2050 or MEP 2040 and were curious how they all fit together? The following is a brief chronicle of the efforts underway by leading building design professionals to support and galvanize action toward decarbonizing the built environment. 

AIA 2030 Commitment

Any description of the AIA 20230 Commitment should start with Ed Mazria, FAIA, the Santa Fe-based architect, author and educator who issued the 2030 Challenge in 2006 and founded the non-profit Architecture 2030 to advance the effort.

As defined by Architecture 2030, the 2030 Challenge asks the building design and construction industry to adopt the following goals:

• All new buildings, developments and major renovations shall be designed to meet a fossil fuel, greenhouse gas (GHG)-emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 70 percent below the regional (or country) average/median for that building type.
• At a minimum, an equal amount of existing building area shall be renovated annually to meet a fossil fuel, GHG-emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 70 percent of the regional (or country) average/median for that building type.
• The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings and major renovations shall be increased over time such that carbon-neutrality is achieved in 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG emitting energy to operate). The reductions may be met by implementing innovative sustainable design strategies, generating on-site renewable energy, and/or purchasing (20 percent maximum) off-site renewable energy.

Shortly after it was issued, the 2030 Challenge was endorsed by the American Institute of Architects (AIA), which used it as an impetus to establish new task forces and continuing-education requirements. In 2009, the organization issued the complementary AIA 2030 Commitment, a program that offers architecture firms a framework to track their progress towards meeting the incrementally-increasing targets set by the 2030 Challenge.

The AIA 2030 Commitment is voluntary. Architecture firm who wish to engage the program must formally sign the commitment and develop and submit a Sustainability Action Plan (SAP). Then every year, firms are encouraged to report project data relative to energy performance, operational carbon, and embodied carbon to the AIA's Design Data Exchange (DDx) platform. The DDx will aggregate firm-wide data and offer summaries by which firms can track and improve upon their own progress. AIA also offers annual reports regarding the overall progress of the program based on the signatory firms who reported data during the most recent reporting cycle. 

(Full disclosure: I am currently serving as the Co-Chair of the AIA 2030 Working Group and my firm is a signatory firm who has reported data for nearly a decade.)

SE 2050 Challenge

Shortly after the 2030 Challenge was issued, the concept of embodied carbon was coming into focus across the building design and construction industry. In 2009 the Carbon Leadership Forum (CFL) was founded by a group of professionals in San Fransisco concerned about the carbon emissions contributions of the building sector. Initially hosted by the University of Washington's College of Built Environments, CFL became dedicated to eliminating embodied carbon in buildings and infrastructure by facilitating collective action.

By 2016, a compelling body of emerging research was revealing that the structural systems of buildings are perhaps the largest contributor to the overall embodied carbon intensity of a building. In response, CLF convened a working group to develop a data-driven commitment specifically for structural engineering (SE) firms aimed at pursing zero embodied carbon buildings. This initiative, which became known as "The SE 2050 Challenge," was formally issued by CLF in 2019 to the Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) — a constituent body within the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) established in 1996 with a focus on advancing structural engineering through technical resources, standards, education programs, along with other support functions.

Subsequently, the SEI Board of Governors unanimously endorsed the SE 2050 Challenge, leading to the development of the SE 2050 Commitment Program by the end of 2019. The program was officially launched to the public in 2020 during the Greenbuild International Conference and Expo. 

The ultimate goal of SE 2050 is to achieve net zero embodied carbon structures by 2050 through providing the structural engineering community with the resources and support. Similar to the AIA 2030 Commitment, structural engineering firms may voluntarily join the SE 2050 Commitment Program, which will afford the firm access to the SE 2050 Database, where global warming potential (GWP) and structural material quality (SMQ) data may be reported for annual reporting cycles. SEI aggregates the data and produces an annual summary report. Signatory firms are also required to submit an Embodied Carbon Action Plan (ECAP).

It is also notable that the CLF transitioned into an independent nonprofit organization in 2024 to expand its influence and impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with building materials and construction practices.

MEP 2040 Challenge

Shortly after the the launch of the SE 2050 Commitment Program, a group of mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) professionals convened with CLF staff in 2021 to form a working group by which a data-driven commitment for MEP systems could be established. 

The result was the MEP 2040 Challenge, which calls for all systems engineers to advocate for and achieve net zero carbon in MEP systems by 2040. The challenge has four components:

• Establish a company plan to reduce operational and embodied carbon across MEP systems on all projects, targeting zero by 2040. Measure and report progress against that plan annually.
• Request low-GWP refrigerant availability when designing systems to reduce or eliminate GHG emissions from refrigerants.
• Request Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) in project specifications for MEP system components.
• Participate in a quarterly MEP 2040 Forum and a CLF Community discussion group to share lessons learned and contribute to a growing body of knowledge.

Other Efforts Underway

While the collective thrust of AIA 2030 + SE 2050 + MEP 2040 is changing how professionals design buildings, other notable efforts are afoot that are enhancing efforts to decarbonize the built environment:

ASLA 2040 Goal

It is becoming clear that building sites play a pivotal role in building sector carbon impacts. Our site hardscapes are significant contributors to sector-wide embodied carbon emissions; our softscapes have the potential to sequester carbon; and ongoing operations and maintenance contribute operational carbon emissions.

In recognition of the carbon intensity of our landscapes, the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) have made several recent moves toward deeper climate action, including the release of ASLA Climate Action Plan (2022-2025) in 2022. Among other aspect of the plan's vision and goals, it calls for ASLA to lead efforts toward meeting the 1.5°C COP26 Communiqué and achieving zero embodied and operational emissions by 2040.

Contractor's Commitment

In recognition of their role in regarding procurement and on-site construction activities, a peer network of sustainable construction leaders, facilitated by Green Commons, LLC, created Contractor's Commitment in order to develop a framework to establish best practices and sustainability-focused performance metrics for contractors. Piloted in 2021 and recently updated for the 2023 reporting year, the Contractor's Commitment guidelines cover five categories: carbon, jobsite wellness, waste management, water management, and materials. The intent is that information reported through the Contractor's Commitment will establish a sustainability benchmark specific to the construction industry.

Building Performance Simulation Tools

Tracking and optimizing building projects for lower carbon impacts can be a daunting undertaking. However, there are a range of emerging software platforms that are helping design professionals go beyond rules-of-thumb toward better-informed design decision making. See the following resources for several examples of what the market currently has to offer:

Tools to Help You Assess Energy Performance and/or Operational Carbon

Tools to Help You Assess Embodied Carbon