69 AEC firms in favor of national definition of zero-emissions buildings

A coalition of 69 architecture, engineering, and contracting (AEC) firms has shown support for the Biden-Harris Administration’s definition of zero-emissions buildings.

The signatories include instigating design firm OPAL and represent AEC firms in the U.S. that design and construct many millions square feet of projects annually.

Their statement:

We enthusiastically support the Biden-Harris Administration’s recent release of a national definition of zero-emissions buildings, and an associated US Department of Energy (DOE) request for information (RFI)—calling for comment by 5 February, 2024. A consistent definition will allow the industry to coalesce around one vision for a zero-emissions built environment, enabling more consistent policies, incentives, certification targets, and aspirational project goals that will accelerate the essential shift to clean energy. This is in strong alignment with the building sector’s goals for climate action.

A federal definition of a zero-emission building offers significant benefits to the communities that the architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate sectors serve and supports our industry’s emissions drawdown. A uniform definition, verifiable through federal agencies, will unlock more public and private investments in emissions-effective and resilient buildings across a diverse array of real estate.

It is our understanding that the definition targets major operational emissions via three criteria—high energy efficiency, elimination of on-site emissions, and the implementation of building-specific clean energy production. The goal is to impact as many buildings as possible to rapidly reduce operational emissions, which currently account for nearly a third of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. In the future, the definition can be refined to embrace Scope 3 and other emissions related to real estate as measurement and verification of these emissions becomes more standardized.

We commend the administration’s work on this important definition, and we look forward to its formal release. We appreciate Timothy Lock of OPAL and the Building Green Sustainability Leader Peer Networks for coordinating this statement.