This year marks the 10th anniversary of reporting our portfolio to the AIA Design Data Exchange (DDx) as part of our 2030 Commitment. Here’s how we’re doing.
What’s Good: In 2025, we achieved a 77% reduction in predicted energy-use intensity (pEUI) across our whole-building portfolio. This represents a 4-percentage point increase over our 2024 data and includes four project targeting net-zero energy — meaningful progress. Comparatively, the reported averages in Oregon, Montana, and nationwide are in the 50-60% range. Once again, all of our projects included energy models, per our standard design process.
What Can Improve: Like the vast majority of firms, we fell short of the current 2030 reduction goal, which increased to 90% for 2025. As an industry and a firm, we have five years remaining to meet our goal of carbon-neutral buildings by 2030.
What’s Next: If we maintain our year-over-year progress, Hennebery Eddy’s portfolio will hit 97% pEUI reduction by 2030 — and we’re tracking industry advancements and design approaches that can help put us over the line.
- Full electrification is becoming easier and more cost effective for both public and private projects.
- Owners are seeing the value in early-stage modeling to demonstrate the life-cycle value of more efficient systems that drive down energy use.
- Onsite solar panels continue to decrease in cost and help tip the scales to net-zero energy. They can be integrated into projects in cost-neutral ways and often serve multiple purposes, such as with covered parking.
- State code requirements and certifications continue to raise the minimum required energy performance, with more changes expected in the coming years.
What Else: While we remain committed to the 2030 challenge, Hennebery Eddy is also looking at ways to minimize our design carbon footprint beyond energy-use reductions.
- Considering future weather conditions when conducting site analysis and energy modeling to design buildings for high performance even as our climate changes.
- Promoting design strategies that shift energy usage to off-peak times, which supports grid decarbonization.
- Accounting for a project’s whole carbon story by studying embodied carbon and advocating for sustainable preservation best practices to make the most of existing building stock.
