Developers and owners can now join AIA 2030 Commitment

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) now welcomes developers and owners to join its 2030 Commitment with the goal of creating carbon neutral buildings, developments, and major renovations by 2030.

National Community Renaissance (National CORE), a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, is the first developer to sign the AIA 2030 Commitment. “We look forward to accelerating progress toward our net-zero goals in partnership with National CORE and other real estate leaders in the future,” said AIA executive vice president and chief executive officer Robert Ivy, FAIA.

National CORE will work with their design teams to report energy performance data for their full portfolio of housing communities. “If we can meet the 2030 Commitment goals in our affordable housing communities, so can any owner-developer,” said Steve PonTell, president and CEO of National CORE.

AIA’s 2030 Commitment provides architects, engineers—and now developers and owners—with the tools and resources necessary to change how communities design and develop with the goal of combating the effects of climate change. In June 2018, engineers were invited to participate in the 2030 Commitment.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.