Why Are Architects and Green Buildings So Important?
Energy issues have been everywhere in the news lately, and concerns about rising gasoline costs and utility rates are two of the most pressing issues for American voters. Policymakers, the media, and the public seem to be focused on revamping our automobiles as the key to solving our energy and climate change problems. It might surprise them to know that achieving real reductions in energy usage and greenhouse gas emissions requires looking beyond cars, trucks, and SUVs, and that architects and architecture are central to the solution.
Buildings are the largest source of both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in America as well as around the world. Buildings account for as much as 48 percent of all greenhouse emissions and 68 percent of electricity consumption. Furthermore, according to the National Institute of Building Sciences' Whole Building Design Guide, buildings generate 35 percent of the carbon dioxide (the primary greenhouse gas associated with climate change), 49 percent of the sulfur dioxide, and 25 percent of the nitrogen oxide found in the air.
Currently, the vast majority of this energy is produced from nonrenewable, fossil-fuel resources, and the amount of energy used to erect and operate buildings has been increasing dramatically. If current trends continue, U.S. annual energy consumption is projected to increase by 37 percent and greenhouse gas emissions by 36 percent in the next 20 years. Utility costs have also been on an upward trajectory, with electricity costs rising throughout the country. The Pew Center on Global Climate Change report entitled Towards A Climate Friendly Built Environment provides an excellent overview of the current environmental impact of building and construction and the profound effect that green buildings can have on the future health of our communities and planet.
In December 2005, the American Institute of Architects' Board of Directors passed a Sustainable Practice Position Statement that sets incremental goals for energy reduction in the built environment, starting with a 50 percent reduction by the year 2010. In June, the United States Conference of Mayors unanimously endorsed Resolution #50, which closely mirrors the AIA's reduction goals regarding energy in the built environment.
This situation must change, and, with architects and mayors leading the way, it can. To help explain the problem to your constituencies, the AIA has created an Introduction to Green Buildings PowerPoint® to provide an overview of green buildings and sustainable design.