Scalable Climate Action

Sustainable building with vertical garden protecting from the sun and controlling inside temperature.

Engage in daily climate action through their practice, client work, and communities

This report represents the work of the Scalable Climate Action Group (“the Group”) of the AIA Strategic Council. The report includes a summary of the research and observations from a four-month effort based on the following charge:

The Scalable Climate Action Group will focus on identifying how to catalyze a longterm “snowball effect” so that all practitioners are motivated and able to engage in daily climate action through their practice, client work, and communities. This aggregating effect should have a measurable impact on the climate impact of the built environment in the next 10 years.

Goals

  • All practitioners: Changes shall be so fundamental that every architect inside and outside AIA will transition to a climate-responsive practice no matter the location, size, or type of practice.
  • Measurable impact: An intentional focus on applications will yield measurable results both in architectural practice adoption and in climate mitigation and adaptation.
  • Timeframe: The rate of change must occur within a 10-year timeframe. It is understood that there are urgent milestones to address in the next few decades in order to meet both regional and global climate mitigation targets.

Process

The Group initially identified what it believed were the levers of change (LOC) that addressed the Group’s charge, followed by an examination of these levers within and outside AIA’s sphere of influence. Interviews were conducted with key AIA staff, AIA members, committee leaders, and leaders in the insurance, government, investment, and public service sectors.

  • Given this initial research, the LOC were prioritized using two parameters:
  • the potential overall climate impact; and the achievability of the AIA’s role in effecting change. Each LOC in the report describes the specific challenge, proposed premise, pertinent background information and/or definitions, current state of relevant AIA actionable strategies, and specific proposed actionable AIA strategies spread over a 10-year timeline.

Each LOC is accompanied by a detailed road map that graphically describes a “backcasting” scenario with specific milestones across time and scale, identifying measurable impacts encompassing the individual practitioner, the firm, and the component.

Image credits

Sustainable building with vertical garden protecting from the sun and controlling inside temperature.