In response to the building sector contributing nearly 40% of total emissions related to climate change, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) established the 2030 Commitment in 2010 to encourage AIA member firms to reduce the operational carbon in their projects. Operational carbon includes emissions of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases related to operating a building (i.e. lighting, power outlets, HVAC & water heating systems, pumps, elevators, and miscellaneous equipment). In 2020, embodied carbon reporting was added to encourage firms to reduce the amount of global warming potential of the building materials and construction of their projects.

GGLO was one of the first 60 firms in the nation to sign on and report, and now has 12 years of data to draw upon. In the 2020 reporting year, GGLO was among 378 of the 21,000+ AIA firms that reported their projects’ operational carbon and among the 55 that reported embodied carbon. We have also established a Climate Positive initiative with the goal of reducing net operational and embodied carbon in all of our approaches to achieve zero or better by the year 2030.

For 2021, we are excited to share the following:

Thank you to all of our clients and collaborators that contributed to this effort and we look forward to an even better performance in 2022. GGLO will not rest until we reach Climate Positive!