Miller Hull

By Jim Hanford

2025 marks the 15th year that we have reported our firm’s energy and emissions metrics under the AIA 2030 Commitment. The Commitment is one of AIA’s most impactful programs, and we like to recognize that Norm Strong, our former Managing Partner, was a driving force behind its creation at AIA National. The Commitment brings the Architecture 2030 Challenge into practice, pairing the brilliance of that original concept—a steady, measurable path toward the design of zero-emission buildings—with pragmatic steps for firm-wide implementation.

We began internal education and process development around the Commitment in 2009, conducting our first design portfolio analysis that year. At the time, we were also engaged in a major Post-Occupancy Evaluation of our past projects’ energy performance. This meant we spent a fair amount of time comparing historical Miller Hull projects to our current design portfolio and to the 2030 targets, while also evaluating measured energy use against what was originally predicted for those historical projects. The results were wide-ranging: some past projects significantly exceeded 2030 Baselines (not great), while others performed well below (early wins). Although there was a correlation between predicted and measured energy use, there was also significant variation, with measured energy often exceeding predictions. Most encouragingly, our current designs outperformed historical measured performance by a large margin in terms of energy efficiency.

2010 marked our first official data submission to the AIA. That year, we had several Net Zero Energy (NZE) projects in design and thought, “This is easy.” But as the economy and our project portfolio evolved, our performance dropped; we quickly learned that it’s not always so simple. From the beginning, the message to our firm was that while any single year’s results might fluctuate, long-term trends would tell the real story. In retrospect, that view has proven correct. Fifteen years in, we now have data to reflect on our journey.

What We’ve Learned About Ourselves

• Since 2012, we’ve made consistent, year-over-year improvements, outpacing both industry averages and energy code improvements.
• Our progress has come from significantly improving efficiency in our work while also increasing on-site renewable energy development. Over the past five years, our reduction from the 2030 baseline has leveled off between 70 and 75%. Roughly 60-65% of this improvement comes from efficiency measures, with the remaining 10% from on-site renewable energy.
• Some building types more readily support high-performance metrics. For example, higher education and large office projects tend to show better results than multifamily or single-family housing, which begin with lower baselines and offer fewer opportunities for dramatic improvement.
• Green building programs like LEED and the Living Building Challenge have been essential in advancing energy modeling and high-performance design goals; these projects generally perform better than projects without certifications.
• With a growing dataset of design and measured performance, we now feel comfortable using past project outcomes to set informed energy targets for current work.

Reflections on the 2030 Commitment 

The AIA 2030 Commitment has had a major impact on the industry. It provides firms a consistent way to track progress, creates a shared language around performance, and provides meaningful metrics to evaluate the evolution of energy-efficient design.

That said, it’s important to understand that the Commitment tracks design intent, not actual energy use. Some projects that contribute to a firm’s metrics never make it past early design stages or may never be built. And even for completed projects, the Commitment documents predicted performance, not measured outcomes.

While broader industry trends in actual energy use can be compared to 2030 metrics, and Architecture 2030 does a great job of highlighting progress in the buildings sector, the two aren’t directly aligned. In fact, it has been pointed out that actual energy use and emissions in the building sector have been substantially reduced since 2000, more than the Commitment metrics alone might suggest.

One of the core ideas of the Commitment is to focus on the aspects of performance that architects and design teams can control. It does this well, emphasizing site energy. In the future, however, metrics may need to evolve to better capture actual emissions and to account for off-site or grid-supplied renewable energy. These changes may come even post-2030. In the meantime, the industry needs to continue pushing for high-performance design that integrates with increasingly decarbonized electricity grids and energy sources.

What’s Next for Miller Hull

Starting in 2025, the Commitment asks us to design buildings that use 90% less energy than the year 2000 national average. We are now asking ourselves why not pursue the final 10% immediately, as Architecture 2030 has urged? We’ll need to understand that for some building types, we may already be maxed out on efficiency, while others still offer opportunities for improvement. Much of the remaining progress will need to come from renewables, either incorporated on-site in our projects or through supporting clients in developing or purchasing new renewable sources.

We remain committed to delivering high-performance buildings that support the needs of our clients and communities, powered by on-site or off-site renewable energy. We’re guided by our Sustainability Action Plan—a key component of our 2030 Commitment—as well as our EMission Zero initiative. We’re also prioritizing building renewal, focusing on transforming existing structures into decarbonized, high-performing assets. This includes helping clients make informed decisions about whether to renovate or rebuild.

It’s important to remember that while the metrics tell one part of the story, the reality may be even more promising. Our efforts to improve performance across new construction and, even more importantly, in renovation and adaptive reuse, are complemented by the continued greening of the electric grid in the regions where we work.