Nonprofit Architecture 2030 Announces Launch of New Tool at Greenbuild 2013

The nonprofit group Architecture 2030 is launching a new initiative called the 2030 Palette - a free, visually oriented online design tool which strives to provide architects, planners and designers with information to help their project reduce fossil fuel energy use, preserve ecosystems, make more effective use of site renewable resources and, ultimately, adapt to climatic change. The widely adopted 2030 Challenge aims to eliminate the use of fossil fuels in new construction and to achieve carbon neutrality of our built environment by 2030. A full public release is scheduled in November in Philadelphia at GreenBuild 2013.

The 2030 Palette resource is organized as a set of interrelated elements called swatches, which are grouped into broad categories at different scales labeled region, city/town, district, site and building. Each swatch provides a brief technical description/design guideline, with an accompanying set of illustrative photographs, links to other relevant swatches within the 2030 Palette, and a listing of tools and resources: books, publications, and Web sites.

After a long career in passive solar architecture, Ed Mazria, founder of the non-profit Architecture 2030, has been charged with steeply reducing the carbon footprint of architecture – most notably with his 2030 Challenge. The 2030 Challenge for Products takes the goals to the next level, challenging product manufacturers to create products that meet a carbon footprint of 50% below the product by 2030. A year ago, in an effort to help concrete producers reduce their carbon footprint and meet this challenge, NRMCA announced that it had signed on to the 2030 Challenge for Products.