Resources

Practice guides & tools

AIA Framework for Design Excellence

Understand the ten important measures you need to set meaningful project goals and targets for climate action.

Guide to Engaging With Civic Leaders

Position yourself as a trusted advisor to civic leaders at local, state, and federal levels.

Architect’s Guide to Building Performance

Optimize building performance beyond energy by integrating simulation into your design process.

Understanding Resilience Guide

This document defines mitigation, resilience, adaptation, sustainability and regenerative design, clarifying the characteristics of each strategy as well as the nuances of hazard, risk, and vulnerability.

Architect’s Primer on Renewable Energy

Meet your client's goals while contributing to a more sustainable, distributed electric grid with this starter guide.

Deep Energy Retrofits RFP Guide

Find proven best practice language to use during the RFP process to get the most value out of a deep retrofit.

Guides for Equitable Practice

These guides are a vital part of AIA’s long-term commitment to lead efforts that ensure the profession of architecture is as diverse as the nation we serve.

Embodied Carbon Toolkit

Provides an overview and the necessary steps to reduce embodied carbon in your projects.

Healthier Materials Protocol

Get a stepwise method for setting healthy materials goals and criteria definitions, product selection, tracking, and specification.

Renovate, Retrofit, Reuse

Uncover tremendous opportunities in existing building stock including energy efficiency and social and economic benefits.

Design for Adaptability, Deconstruction, & Reuse

Design buildings that last with this practice guide packed with strategies, case studies, and pitfalls to avoid.

AIA Climate Action Plan

Explore AIA’s multistep plan to establish actionable steps and provide architects with tools and resources to achieve zero carbon.

COTE® Super Spreadsheet

Calculate and evaluate project performance metrics and benchmarking easily with this downloadable tool.

2030 by the Numbers

See the progress architects and firms made toward a carbon-neutral future in 2019 through the AIA 2030 Commitment.

TEOP for Architects: How to Drive High-Performance Office Fit-outs

Explore the 10-step process architects and clients are using to create energy-efficient leased spaces.

Talking points

The ROI of High Performance Design

Use these talking points in your conversations with clients, potential clients, civic leaders and others to make the case about the value of sustainable design.

21st Century City Architect

Whether your city’s primary challenges include energy conservation and resilience, housing affordability, or historic preservation and smart growth, a City Architect can help you envision and achieve the future you desire.

Climate Action Message Book

Learn how to communicate the value of sustainable, resilient design with clients, stakeholders, and civic leaders.

How Architects Can Improve America’s Infrastructure

This is a pivotal moment for our nation’s infrastructure, and one group of experts can help us rebuild to succeed: Architects.

How to Talk to Clients About Materials Transparency

Discover practical tips that can help you talk to clients about materials transparency and selecting better materials.

Reports

Energy Transparency

Leverage the shifting energy landscape to improve building performance and build better client relationships.

Materials Transparency & Risk

Understand how to engage with legal and practice questions about materials and product contents.