AIA 2030 Commitment at Neumann Monson: 2026 Update

May 14th, 2026 | 2 min. read

In 2006, the 2030 Challenge from Architecture 2030 was launched to drive climate responsibility within the architecture industry.

What is the AIA 2030 Commitment?

The AIA 2030 commitment challenges architects to commit to reducing greenhouse gas-emitting operational energy use in new or renovated buildings through incremental reductions below the regional average of comparable building types. The program began by calling for a 60% reduction in 2010 and increasing to 70% in 2015, 80% in 2020, and 90% in 2025, with full carbon neutrality required by 2030.

This reduction can also be referred to as a reduction in energy use intensity (EUI). This is the annual amount of energy used per square foot in a building. Implementing a lower EUI can be done by intentional design choices that decrease a project's energy load and by introducing energy-efficient or even renewable energy systems to balance out the remaining energy use.

Furthering the 2030 Challenge, the AIA introduced the AIA 2030 Commitment in 2010 as a framework for accountability and industry-wide progress tracking. Committing to the same goals as the 2030 Challenge, this initiative requires signatory firms to track their project performance data to demonstrate commitment and progress towards carbon neutrality.

Industry and Firm-Wide Progress

In 2011, the AIA 2030 Commitment had reached 100 signatory firms. As of 2025, they have 1,400. Last year, the overall EUI reduction was 56%, with 460 firms reporting their data. This EUI value represents a total of 41,639 projects.

At Neumann Monson, we reported on 35 total projects in 2025. Our 2025 portfolio represents 13 interior projects and 22 whole-building projects that have either reached the Construction Document phase or were completed within the year. These projects totaled 2,378,213.8 gross square feet, reaching an EUI reduction of 52.64%. This is our second-best year yet, behind 2023, when we had a 55.64% reduction. We achieved the following EUI reductions in previous years:

2020: 24.43% EUI reduction
2021: 44.75% EUI reduction
2022: 51.43% EUI reduction
2023: 55.64% EUI reduction
2024: 49.43% EUI reduction

While not yet reaching the 90% EUI reduction required by 2025, we remain committed to this initiative and are striving for carbon neutrality in all projects' operational energy use by 2030. We’re looking forward to continuing our 2030 Commitment progress into 2026 by further implementing high-efficiency design strategies.

To learn more about the AIA 2030 Commitment and our previous reporting efforts, read about our 2024 Update.