The 2030 °Challenge
Encyclopedia
The 2030 °Challenge is an initiative by Edward Mazria
and Architecture 2030
asking the global architect
ure and construction
community to adopt a series of greenhouse gas
reduction targets for new and renovated buildings.
In many developed countries
the construction and use of buildings is the leading consumer of energy
and producer of greenhouse gas
emissions. Stabilizing and reversing emissions in this sector is key to keeping future global warming under one degree celsius
(°C) above today’s level, in order to avoid increased global warming
, potentially to reach a tipping point
.
Achieving the targets may be accomplished through innovative design strategies, application of renewable technologies and/or the purchase (maximum 20%) of renewable energy
.
Edward Mazria
Edward Mazria is an architect, author and educator. After receiving his Bachelors of Architecture Degree from Pratt Institute in 1963 he spent two years as an architect in the Peace Corps in Arequipa, Perú...
and Architecture 2030
Architecture 2030
Architecture 2030 is a U.S. based, non-traditional and flexible environmental advocacy group focused on protecting the global environment by using innovation and common sense to develop, and quickly implement, bold solutions to global warming. The organization was founded by Edward Mazria in 2003...
asking the global architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
ure and construction
Construction
In the fields of architecture and civil engineering, construction is a process that consists of the building or assembling of infrastructure. Far from being a single activity, large scale construction is a feat of human multitasking...
community to adopt a series of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
reduction targets for new and renovated buildings.
In many developed countries
Developed country
A developed country is a country that has a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue...
the construction and use of buildings is the leading consumer of energy
Energy
In physics, energy is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems...
and producer of greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
emissions. Stabilizing and reversing emissions in this sector is key to keeping future global warming under one degree celsius
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(°C) above today’s level, in order to avoid increased global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, potentially to reach a tipping point
Tipping point (climatology)
A climate tipping point is a point when global climate changes from one stable state to another stable state, in a similar manner to a wine glass tipping over. After the tipping point has been passed, a transition to a new state occurs...
.
The targets
The following are the targets set by The 2030 Challenge:
- All new buildings, developments and major renovations be designed to meet a fossil fuel, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting, energy consumption
Energy consumptionEnergy consumption is the consumption of energy or power. It is covered in the following articles and categories:* World energy consumption* Domestic energy consumption* Fuel efficiency in transportation* Electric energy consumption* Electricity generation...
performance standard of 50% of the regional (or country) average for that building type.
- At a minimum, an amount of existing building area equal to that of new construction be renovated annually to meet a fossil fuel
Fossil fuelFossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting, energy consumption performance standard of 50% of the regional (or country) average for that building type.
- The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings be increased to:
- 60% in 2010
- 70% in 2015
- 80% in 2020
- 90% in 2025
- Carbon-neutral by 2030 (zero fossil fuel
Fossil fuelFossil fuels are fuels formed by natural processes such as anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms. The age of the organisms and their resulting fossil fuels is typically millions of years, and sometimes exceeds 650 million years...
, GHG emitting energy to operate).
Achieving the targets may be accomplished through innovative design strategies, application of renewable technologies and/or the purchase (maximum 20%) of renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
.
See also
- Architecture 2030Architecture 2030Architecture 2030 is a U.S. based, non-traditional and flexible environmental advocacy group focused on protecting the global environment by using innovation and common sense to develop, and quickly implement, bold solutions to global warming. The organization was founded by Edward Mazria in 2003...
- The 2010 ImperativeThe 2010 ImperativeThe 2010 Imperative is an initiative issued by Architecture 2030 that requires ecological literacy, largely missing from the curriculum in the United States, to become a key element of design education by 2010, in order to combat global warming and world resource depletion.-The initiative:The 2010...
- Avoiding dangerous climate changeAvoiding Dangerous Climate ChangeThe related terms "avoiding dangerous climate change" and "preventing dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system" date to 1995 and earlier, in the Second Assesment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change and previous science it cites.In 2002, the United Nations...
- Sustainable architectureSustainable architectureSustainable architecture is a general term that describes environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Sustainable architecture is framed by the larger discussion of sustainability and the pressing economic and political issues of our world...
- Green buildingGreen buildingGreen building refers to a structure and using process that is environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition...
- Low-energy building
- Low-carbon economyLow-carbon economyA Low-Carbon Economy or Low-Fossil-Fuel Economy is an economy that has a minimal output of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment biosphere, but specifically refers to the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide...