Santa Fe, NM; Seattle, WA; and Washington DC –  September 3rd, 2015 –  The American Institute of Architects (AIA), in partnership with  Architecture 2030 and  AIA Seattle, today launched the first course in the new  AIA+2030 Online Series, an educational program aimed at providing AIA members and other design professionals with the high-performance building knowledge necessary to meet the 2030 Challenge targets.

Sponsored by  Autodesk and delivered through  AIAU, the AIA’s online education portal, the ten one-hour courses of the Online Series are based on the highly successful  AIA+2030 Professional Series that has been offered to over 30% of AIA's membership in 25 markets throughout the United States.

An AIA and Architecture 2030 co-production, the AIA+2030 Online Series helps design professionals create buildings that meet the energy efficiency targets of Architecture 2030’s 2030 Challenge, offering strategies to reach a minimum of a 70% reduction in building energy consumption and fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions today, ramping up to new buildings using no greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuel energy by 2030.

These energy consumption reductions results in significant savings in energy costs, and the ability to design such high­-performing buildings provide firms with capabilities that set them apart in the marketplace.

The AIA+2030 Online Series goes beyond theory-based education by providing practitioners with actionable tools and methodologies that directly impact building design and performance.

“This is the first comprehensive program in the U.S. that educates the architectural profession in specific design and technology applications to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions,” said Edward Mazria, Architecture 2030 Founder and CEO.

“As we move towards the necessary phase out of greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment by 2050, the AIA+2030 Online Series is a great way for the design community, wherever they might be, to learn the key skills that they need to design next-generation buildings,” he continued.

“In order to make significant progress towards energy reduction targets, we’re acting to increase energy literacy within the profession,” said AIA EVP / CEO, Robert Ivy, FAIA. “This series will help showcase the power that early conceptual analysis has to increase the ability of architects to build bottom-line value into their design projects.”

25 AIA Chapters and organizations from across North America have currently offered the in­-person AIA+2030 Professional Series, which was created by the American Institute of Architects Seattle and Architecture 2030, with support from the City of Seattle and Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The complementary AIA+2030 Online Series will have the potential to reach more than 80,000 geographically diverse design professionals in all 286 AIA Chapters, providing them with the knowledge needed to achieve the 2030 Challenge.

The second and third courses of the AIA+2030 Online Series are slated for release this fall and the remaining courses will be released incrementally, with the full series available by the summer of 2016.

Founded in 1857, the American Institute of Architects consistently works to create more valuable, healthy, secure, and sustainable buildings, neighborhoods, and communities. Through nearly 300 state and local chapters, the AIA advocates for public policies that promote economic vitality and public wellbeing. Members adhere to a code of ethics and conduct to ensure the highest professional standards. The AIA provides members with tools and resources to assist them in their careers and business as well as engaging civic and government leaders and the public to find solutions to pressing issues facing our communities, institutions, nation and world. 
Visit  www.aia.org.

About Architecture 2030

Architecture 2030 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research organization with the mission of rapidly transforming the built environment from the major contributor of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to a central part of the solution to the climate and energy crises. Architecture 2030 pursues two primary objectives:

• the dramatic reduction in global fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions of the built environment by changing the way cities, communities, infrastructure, and buildings, are planned, designed, and constructed and;
• the regional development of an adaptive, resilient built environment that can manage the impacts of climate change, preserve natural resources, and access low-cost, renewable energy resources.

Founded in 1894, AIA Seattle is a not-for-profit professional association of architects, allied professionals, and laypeople. AIA Seattle provides the architecture community with resources and relationships to make a difference through design. We open doors, provide connections, keep our members and the public informed, and demonstrate our commitment to great design as the key ingredient for livable, sustainable places.
Visit / www.aiaseattle.org/"> www.aiaseattle.org


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