Posted by Mark Piepkorn via BuildingGreen.com

From the website of The Carbon Neutral Curriculum Materials Project:

The Carbon Neutral Curriculum Materials Project is a joint research effort between members of the Society of Building Science Educators, the American Institute of Architects, and a private donor, the purpose of which is to provide practitioners, faculty and students with the means to meet the 2030 Challenge — that is, to be able to design and construct buildings to a state of carbon neutrality by the year 2030.

Continue reading the article at BuildingGreen.com LIVE:

Architecture 2030, is a non-profit, non-partisan and independent organization, that was established by architect Edward Mazria in 2002. 2030’s mission is to rapidly transform the US and global Building Sector from the major contributor of greenhouse gas emissions to a central part of the solution to the global-warming crisis. Our goal is straightforward: to achieve a dramatic reduction in the global-warming-causing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the Building Sector by changing the way buildings and developments are planned, designed and constructed.

As an adopter of the program, it becomes my mission to continue the work I have been doing on the past few projects to drastically reduce the overall energy usage and apply that to all of my future projects and to hit specified benchmarks.  With the first being an overall reduction in energy consumption by 50% of the regional (or country) average for that project’s buildings type.  However it is not only the projects that I work on, but to also encourage that every project that comes into the office to hit the same benchmarks.

If you would like to learn more about Architecture 2030, visit the website and see who else has adopted challenge.  www.architecture2030.org

The video that I have selected for this week features Ed Mazria and the Architecture 2030 challenge.  The challenge is to the global architecture and building community to design and construction buildings that are carbon neutral by the year 2030.  To learn more, watch the video and visit the Architecture 2030 website (architecture2030.org).

The report, released this week by the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, found that a 50 percent energy improvement beyond federal standards is technically impossible. A 30 percent target is achievable, but only by adding a million-dollar solar system that could take up to 100 years to pay for itself.

Experts say it is one of the first efforts they have seen to question whether the green building’s economic foundation is as solid as advocates claim.

Read the entire article here.

However since it’s release two organizations have stood up against this claim and have argued that this study was generated to discredit organizations that have been pushing for more energy efficient commercial buildings while directly benefiting Real Estate Developers that turn over their building stock within a short amount of time once the project is complete, therefore never truly experiencing the payback for energy efficiency.

Architecture 2030 had this to say in their response to NAIOP:

It is clear from a simple analysis of the study that NAIOP commissioned a building energy efficiency analysis to support predetermined results. They contracted with ConSol, an energy-modeling firm, and asked them to analyze five (yes, only five) efficiency measures for an imaginary, square-shaped, four-story office building with completely sealed windows and an equal amount of un-shaded glass on all four sides of the building. In other words, analyze an energy Hog.

Read the full article here.

BetterBricks took a more personal approach their response:

Those who have been designing, building and promoting high performance buildings for a long time are finding the study very difficult to swallow. But let’s all use it as a learning opportunity. Energy efficiency advocates now can see where the commercial real estate mainstream is in their thinking and efficiency experts can take this opportunity to inform NAIOP and others that these buildings are being achieved today – and they are financially feasible.

Read the full article here.

As a professional in the building industry, I can also speak to experience and agree with John Jennings from BetterBricks, that meeting these energy efficiency targets are financially feasible and can be done with standard off the shelf products.  My latest commercial project that is currently under construction is designed to exceed today’s energy efficiency standard by 31%.  Even my latest residential project is designed to be 45% more energy efficient by today’s standards.  So I ask you to read the articles and determine who you think the credible source is.

-Josh

What is amazing about our rating is that we have more than doubled the size of the home, but we have reduced the projected energy bills by half in comparison to the existing cottage.  So the client is going to save approximately $1,000 a year in utility costs by renovating the little shack.  So I am now challenged to make some modifications that can bring our rating down to a 52 while cutting some cost.

-Josh