The AIA 2030 Challenge Series

Learn how to use an actionable framework for getting to carbon neutral. This series is brought to you for FREE by the AIA Virginia Committee on the Environment (COTE) through a Knowledge Community (KC) grant.

Complete this ten-course series to earn a certificate and 15 LU|HSW.

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  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 1: The 2030 Challenge: Goals and Design Processes
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 2: The Power of Targets and Load Reduction
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 3: Accentuate the Positive: Climate Responsive Design
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 4: Building Skin: The Importance of the Thermal Envelope
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 5: Employing Passive Systems for Load Reduction
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 6: Daylighting and Integrated Lighting Design
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 7: High-Performance Building Systems
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 8: The Role of Renewable Energy
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 9: Staying in Shape: O&M and Commissioning
  • AIA+2030 Online Series Course 10: Putting it Together: Achieving 2030 Goals on the Project and in the Office

Building Science: Systems and Tools to Meet the 2030 Challenge

Posted on by cguske

Contributor: Don Kranbuehl, FAIA

Architects are realizing the 2030 Challenge is no longer just about tracking predicted Energy Use Intensity (pEUI) and operational carbon (the carbon emitted from building mechanical systems). In the next 10 years, it will be critical to also make great strides in reducing embodied carbon (the carbon emitted from the interior and exterior materials that are used to construct buildings). Embodied carbon emissions make up a large amount of greenhouse emissions from the built environment and have greater potential to have an immediate impact on reducing the effects of climate change. Overall, building energy sources and their materials account for nearly 40% of all global emissions. However, over the next 10 years, approximately 72% of the carbon emitted from new construction will be from embodied carbon. Those metrics alone make it undeniable that as designers, we have a role and responsibility to mitigate environmental impacts by working with nature to develop resilient, sustainable, low carbon projects.

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