The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) joins the growing list of organizations, cities, counties, and states that have committed to the 2030 Challenge, the aggressive campaign to dramatically reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions within the building sector by the year 2030.
It takes a tremendous amount of energy to build, operate, and demolish buildings; in fact 76% of all electricity generated by power plants in the United States goes to buildings, producing CO2 emissions destructive to the environment.
Increasing energy efficiency in buildings is where the professionals within the design sector can make an impact on CO2 emissions, and it is the approach taken by the 2030 coalition. Specifically, the challenge calls for all new buildings to use half the fossil fuel energy they typically would consume, renovate existing buildings to use half the amount of fossil fuel energy, and propose an increase the fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings to 60% in 2010, 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, 90% in 2025, and become carbon neutral by 2030.
“As part of an industry that works within the built environment, the 2030 Challenge gives design professionals an opportunity to help transform the building sector from one of the main contributors of greenhouse gas emissions to a key part of the solution,” says ASID Executive Director Michael Alin, Hon. FASID. “Sustainable design is no longer just an option, it’s a responsibility and I’m proud that ASID is supporting this important challenge.”
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