WASHINGTON – Feb. 8, 2019 – The American Institute of Architects 2019 President William Bates, FAIA, issued the following statement today in response to the proposed Green New Deal:

“We applaud the efforts of Congress and its committees this week to find new ways to support achieving a carbon neutral future by 2030, which is critical to our global future. By investing in infrastructure, upgrading the existing building stock, and improving resilience in the built environment, we can make progress towards AIA’s 2030 Commitment goals. However, there’s a great deal of work that needs to be done. AIA encourages Congress to swiftly enact public policies today that will address the dire consequences we’re facing.”

AIA members are scheduled to visit Congress on Wednesday, March 6 to advocate for their action on issues of climate change, resilience and incentivizing energy efficient technologies. The AIA will engage with House and Senate committees, including Energy & Commerce, Transportation & Infrastructure, Energy & Natural Resource, Environment and Public Works, and the Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, to achieve measurable outcomes.

To combat the lack of uniform public policy, AIA adopted the 2030 Commitment. As part of the program, AIA architecture firms and engineers share predicted energy-use data from all projects in an interface to aggregate design-energy use year to year.

Nearly 40 percent of U.S. energy is consumed by buildings. AIA’s 2030 Commitment works to eliminate the consumption by adopting key energy targets in addition to providing a framework of metrics and a comprehensive data tool that allows signatories to the commitment to track progress towards net zero carbon by 2030.