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WASHINGTON, DC, US, January 11, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
Architects in the United States want renewables
to help reduce consumption of fossil fuels by 50% by 2010.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) wants to promote
sustainable design and resource conservation, with a goal of
reducing current consumption level for fossil fuels for construction
and operation of buildings by at least 50% by 2010. An adopted
position statement commits to work with other groups, scientific
researchers and public health officials to “develop and promote the
integration of sustainability into the curriculum for the education
of architects and architecture students, so that this core principle
becomes a guiding mindset for current and future architects.”
“Buildings account for 48% of U.S. energy consumption and generate
far more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector,” says R.K.
Stewart of AIA’s Sustainability Summit Task Force. “As architects,
we must accept responsibility for our role in creating the built
environment.”
“We feel it is incumbent upon the architecture profession to alter
our actions and encourage both our clients and the entire design and
construction industry to join us in plotting a course of measurable
changes that will improve the quality of life for everyone,” he
explains, and the AIA will support development of rating systems and
standards which promote the “design and construction of communities
and buildings that contribute to a more sustainable and
environmentally conscious future.”
The undertaking will require a concentrated effort over the next 10
to 15 years, especially in educating clients about their role in the
effort. “The time has come to require specific goals for significant
reductions in energy use, with enhanced performance assured through
commissioning of building systems.”
“To truly make an impact, there needs to be far greater use of
renewable energy sources and the use of innovative design principles
that will dramatically improve environmental performance in the
built environment,” Stewart adds. “Because energy consumption
reductions will be realized over the entire life of a building, we
need to look beyond the first impacts associated with constructing a
facility and really consider what happens over the many decades that
the facility will be used.”
“The AIA recognizes a growing body of evidence that demonstrates
current planning, design, construction and real estate practices
contribute to patterns of resource consumption that seriously
jeopardize the future of the earth’s population,” the statement
explains. “Altering current practices of design and construction to
realize significant reductions in the use of natural resources,
non-renewable energy sources, and waste production and promote
regeneration of natural resources will require a multiple-year
effort in conjunction with clients, industry partners, and concerned
organizations.”
The goal is to reduce current levels of fossil fuel consumption by
at least 50% for new and renovated buildings by 2010, and to promote
further reductions of remaining fossil fuel consumption by at least
10% in each of the following five years. As part of its support for
rating systems and standards, the AIA wants such systems to require
“specific goals for significant reductions in energy use, especially
non-renewable energy sources, with enhanced performance assured
through commissioning of building systems,” and to “promote the use
of renewable energy sources.”
It wants the systems to require reduced use of non-renewable natural
resources through the reuse of existing structures and materials,
reductions in construction waste, promotion of recycled content
materials, and use of materials independently certified as from
sustainable sources, and to require specific goals for improved
indoor environmental quality through enhanced indoor air quality,
thermal comfort, acoustics, daylighting, and pollutant source
control and use low emission materials and building system controls.
Standards should promote development and application of innovative
designs to improve environmental performance, and recognize the
lifecycle value of a project in addition to construction first
costs, including assessment of impact on climate change. The data on
lifecycle assessment should be used as the basis for design and
construction decision making.
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