April 1, 2009

Ontario Association of Architects adopts 2030 Challenge

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) has demonstrated its support for going green by adopting the 2030 Challenge.

“This is just the beginning,” says Sean O’Reilly, chair of the OAA’s sustainable built environments committee and the association’s immediate past president.

“This is just one of the many initiatives the OAA is planning to implement over the next few years to support and promote green and sustainable building activities.”

Buildings are a major source of demand for energy and materials that produce by-product greenhouse gases.

The challenge, issued by the Architecture 2030 organization, calls on the global architectural and building community to adopt a series of targets for reduction in fossil fuel consumption in new buildings and major renovations.

These targets can be accomplished by implementing innovative sustainable design strategies, generating on-site renewable power and/or purchasing renewable energy and/or certified renewable energy credits.

By 2030, the intent is for buildings to be carbon-neutral, using no fossil-fuel, greenhouse gas-emitting energy in their operations.

In Canada, the initiative has been endorsed by the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and the Canada Green Building Council as well as by a number of design firms and other organizations across the country

In an interview, OAA president Gerrie Doyle said her association has made a commitment to supporting an “aggressive improvement” in energy efficiency and reduction in carbon emissions of new buildings and major renovations by adopting the 2030 Challenge.

“We are committing to assist our members with best practice guides and performance analysis tools that will enable them to explain to their clients the various approaches and trade-offs required to capture the <0x2026> operational benefits of such aggressive energy-management policies,” she said.

Architecture 2030 is a U.S-based environmental advocacy organization established by architect Edward Mazria in response to the global warming crisis.

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