Committing to our Climate: a Letter from RoehrSchmitt Architecture

Right now, the world feels unhinged. Between the social, business and personal challenges of the pandemic, a political world with less and less certainty, societal and racial inequalities that weaken the country as a whole, and mounting evidence of an acceleration of climate change, the work we do every day can sometimes feel inadequate to the issues at hand. Our future depends on each of us stepping up to help where we can.

The Highlight Center, in Minneapolis

To that end, RoehrSchmitt has begun the long and complex conversation around our responsibility to the earth’s climate within our studio and with our clients, vendors, and project partners. The physical foundations of how we live, play, and work — buildings — are currently responsible for up to 40% of the world’s energy use, and an outsized utilization of our world’s finite resources. The anatomy of a building, from energy and water efficiency, waste, indoor environmental quality, to the materials we use, is where architects can have a direct and substantial impact. We know buildings. We design buildings. Clearly, this is where we can step up. But where do we begin?

Architecture 2030, a global nonprofit dedicated to sustainability in the built environment, has issued the 2030 Challenge, a movement dedicated to achieving sustainable and zero emissions planning and design across the world. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has responded by providing a framework for measuring and reporting progress, the 2030 Commitment. It is clear to us at RoehrSchmitt, in part through principals Michael Roehr and Chris Schmitt’s roles within the AIA (as President-elect of AIA Minneapolis and Regional Representative for the AIA Small Firm Exchange, respectively), that positive change is best achieved when we are united by transparent and tangible goals. We have decided as a firm to sign the AIA 2030 Commitment and commit to the 2030 Challenge by the end of this year, authentically, intentionally, and with a plan that allows us to both gain expertise and make a difference between now and 2030.

Living roof at the Highlight Center

 The 2030 Challenge includes the following:

• All new buildings, developments, and major renovations shall be designed to meet a fossil fuel, greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting, and energy consumption performance standard of 70% below the regional (or national) average/median for that building type

• At a minimum, an equal amount of existing building area shall be renovated annually to meet a fossil fuel, GHG-emitting, and energy consumption performance standard of 70% of the regional (or national) average/median for that building type

• The fossil fuel reduction standard for all new buildings and major renovations shall be increased to:

• 80% by 2020*
• 90% by 2025
• Carbon-neutral by 2030 (using no fossil fuel GHG-emitting energy to operate)

 *We have not yet achieved this benchmark.

These are huge challenges that will require us to transform our practice. The transformations will include how we measure and document energy use in all of our projects, as well as how we engage with our clients to achieve these goals. We will undoubtedly learn things that we don’t currently understand, and understand things that currently we cannot know — which is an exciting and invigorating prospect. Ultimately, we will become better for this challenge, and hopefully, the world we live in will become better as well.

Looking ahead