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(Photo: U.S. PIRG/Paul Carlson)
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AIA President-elect Marshall Purnell, FAIA, (right) testifies before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to press for carbon neutral federal buildings. Photo courtesy of U.S. PIRG/Paul Carlson.
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AIA Leadership Pushes Congress for Carbon Neutrality
AIA President RK Stewart, FAIA, and AIA President-elect Marshall E. Purnell, FAIA, testified before two committees in the U.S. House of Representatives to encourage the federal government to adopt the AIA’s 2030 goals for federal buildings. Stewart and Purnell urged Congress to set energy reduction targets for new federal buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations. If the AIA-recommended policies are adopted, all federal agencies will be required to significantly reduce the amount of fossil fuel-generated energy used in the next generation of federal buildings, resulting in carbon-neutral federal buildings by the year 2030.
Testifying before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Stewart outlined the AIA’s 2030 policy recommendations, which were warmly received by committee members. Committee Chair Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) lauded the goal of carbon neutrality by 2030. In response to Stewart’s testimony, Oberstar commented “The AIA is a group I hold in high regard and am pleased to see that your association continues to bring suggestions to Congress that will help improve our nation’s energy efficiency.” Oberstar noted that they will consider the AIA-recommended policy language as the committee works to produce its energy bill.
The following day, Purnell appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform to deliver the AIA’s 2030 policy recommendations, as they too work to produce an energy bill. During the hearing, Rep. Waxman (D-CA), unveiled draft legislation that will require the federal government to take steps to eventually become carbon-neutral. The legislation includes a provision that mirrors the AIA-recommended 2030 goals for new federal buildings and buildings undergoing major renovation. If enacted, the “Carbon-Neutral Federal Government Act,” which at the time of writing has not been introduced, would require all new federal buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations to immediately consume 50 percent less fossil-fuel generated energy when compared to a similar building's use in 2003. The legislation calls for further reductions in energy use such that by 2030, all new federal buildings and buildings undergoing major renovations will be required to use 100 percent less fossil fuel-generated energy, or effectively be carbon-neutral.
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