Creating a Better World Together: Financing and Building Regenerative Design

Getting regenerative projects built

AIA defines regenerative design as a holistic approach to enhancing and restoring buildings, communities, and nature. It integrates buildings within their natural and social environments to actively restore ecosystems, strengthen communities, and create a net-positive environmental impact.

Architects are leading project teams that put this approach into practice, and the funding and policy tools to support them are growing. This report gives architects a practical guide to assembling the right team, securing financing, and expanding their role on regenerative projects. It also gives policymakers a framework to help these projects reach the market at scale.

The report includes:

• An introduction to regenerative design and its roots in Indigenous and traditional building practices around the world.
• AIA’s Five Pillars of Regenerative Design, a framework for architects and policymakers.
• A how-to guide for assembling a project team, funding and financing a project, and expanding the architect’s core services.
• An overview of local, state, federal, and international policies and financing tools that make regenerative projects bankable.
• Six case studies that span project type, geography, climate zone, and culture.
• A Policy Action Framework and a Practice Action Agenda for advancing regenerative design. 

AIA’s five pillars of regenerative design

Five interconnected pillars guide the practice of regenerative design:

• Whole systems thinking: Planet, ecosystems, and communities are interconnected.
• Optimize carrying capacity: Decisions align with a place’s ecological limits and opportunities.
• Spirit of place: Design emerges from ecological and cultural context.
• Active renewal: Design restores water cycles, enriches biodiversity, and generates more energy than it consumes.
• Design evolution: Design for adaptability so performance improves over time.

Download the report