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Participants in the American Institute of Architects‘ program seek to achieve net zero energy use in their projects. How they accomplish it is up to them.

鈥淭hey don’t tell you how to do it; they just say, 鈥榙o it,’鈥� said Erica Dunn, director of design for Portland-based Green Hammer.

The 2030 Commitment supports the , which was issued in 2006 to spur a global effort toward carbon neutral construction.

In 2018, Green Hammer became one of just 10 design firms in the United States to meet 2030 Commitment standards. More than 400 firms have signed on to participate in the program.

鈥淚t was surprising that there were so few firms meeting it,鈥� Dunn said. 鈥淚t was a nice confirmation that we are really pushing the envelope, that edge, in terms of sustainability.鈥�

The 2030 Challenge ideal is that all future buildings and major renovations should be designed to meet an energy consumption standard of 70 percent below the regional or country average for the building type. Further, that standard will rise to 80 percent in 2020, 90 percent in 2025 and total carbon neutrality by 2030.

鈥淚t was a way to encourage firms to get on board with the 2030 Challenge, and also a means to start tracking what you’re doing,鈥� Dunn said of participation in the 2030 Commitment program. 鈥淎nd if you’re tracking, it’s a way to improve upon it.鈥�

Committed firms are then measured annually by their work. So firms achieving standards for 2018 are being judged on design work completed the previous year. Participants ensure consistent standards through use of the AIA’s 2030 Design Data Exchange, which creates standardized reporting and metrics and allows firms to measure their progress.

For Green Hammer, the major projects of 2017 that helped them achieve 2030 Commitment standards are the Tillamook Row multifamily project in the Eliot neighborhood of Northeast Portland and The Oaks at Rose Villa senior living community in Milwaukie. The former is the first net zero energy project of its type in the Portland area, while the latter is the first net zero energy senior living community of its type in the region.

Green Hammer also designs and builds single-family homes, and a number of those projects, Dunn said, also contributed to the firm’s achievement.

鈥淎chieving (net) zero energy is no small feat,鈥� said Han-Mei Chiang, president of the AIA’s Portland chapter. 鈥淕reen Hammer and the other nine firms that achieved this significant milestone have helped prove that (net) zero energy buildings, the key to meeting the 2030 Commitment, are attainable in today’s marketplace.鈥�

Dunn agreed.

鈥淚 would say it’s definitely a feather in our cap for getting it now, given that we got the Living Building certification for a 2015 design,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o that’s outside our portfolio right now, but coming off the completion of Tillamook Row, it’s been such a great project for us it’s nice to have this confirmation we’re on the right track.鈥�