2021 saw a 67% annual increase in the number of all-electric buildings delivered in the United States by AIA 2030 Commitment signatories, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects. The findings are contained within the AIA 2030 Commitment By the Numbers report, which the institute has recently published to demonstrate the industry’s progress towards carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.

The key metrics used by the AIA to analyze the sector’s progress all trended positively for 2021 versus 2020, though some more than others. There was a 10% increase in the number of firms submitting project data as part of the commitment, with 20,652 projects reported by 417 firms. 276 of these buildings were net-zero, while 505 were all-electric.

5.5% of whole-building gross square footage reported in 2021 (representing 748 projects) met the target of reducing fossil fuel use by 80% on 2006 levels, an increase of 4.3% in 2020. 77.5% of the net-zero projects reported in 2021 used at least one kind of on-site renewable energy while 6.8% used two or more kinds of on-site renewable energy. Meanwhile, 17.4% used off-site renewable energy, and 9.9% used a combination of on-site and off-site sources.

Despite heavy increases in the volume of projects reporting operational carbon data, embodied carbon data appears to lag behind. 83 firms reported 924 projects with embodied carbon data for 2021, representing 4.4% of projects reported. The figure is nonetheless an improvement on the 55 firms who reported 292 projects in 2020 with embodied carbon data included. 

59.6% of projects reporting embodied carbon were new construction projects while 40.3% were major renovations of existing buildings. The overwhelming majority of the projects (92.7%) were whole-building projects, while 7.2% were interior-only projects.

“It’s clear that we need to reduce the amount of carbon our buildings emit over time through energy use — their operational carbon,” the report notes. “But improving embodied carbon — the emissions associated with building materials — is perhaps even more urgent.”

“How can we reduce embodied carbon?” the report continues. “The best answer is to reuse existing buildings and materials. When new construction is unavoidable, teams can use whole-building life-cycle assessment. This type of modeling allows for the comparison of different materials and systems in order to optimize for performance and carbon.”

Last year, Archinect published a feature article on the subject of software designed to fight climate change, which included digital tools dedicated to helping architects measure embodied carbon during the design and delivery of buildings.

Publication of the report comes weeks after the AIA released their latest Architecture Billings Index, which showed an accelerated increase in the demand for design services despite widening economic concerns. In July, meanwhile, Congress approved AIA-recommended upgrades aimed at making houses more accessible.