Our Carbon Commitment
Designing to the 2030 Challenge.
Buildings are responsible for roughly forty percent of global carbon emissions. The 2030 Challenge is the architecture profession's answer: a measurable path to carbon-neutral buildings — and LEAP designs every project against it.
What the 2030 Challenge is
Issued by Architecture 2030 and adopted across the profession, the 2030 Challenge asks architects to design buildings that use dramatically less fossil-fuel energy than the regional average — stepping down year by year until new buildings reach carbon neutrality. It is not a certificate you buy; it is a performance standard you design to, project after project.
For LEAP, the Challenge formalizes what has been true since our founding in 2012: sustainability is a design lens applied from the first sketch, not an upgrade package added at the end. Every home, workplace, and community building we design is measured against how much energy it will use, how healthy its interior air will be, and how gracefully it will age.
See our full sustainability approach
How we get there
Three disciplines, applied to every project.
Design for reduction first
Compact massing, smart orientation, continuous insulation, airtight assemblies, and high-performance glazing eliminate energy demand before a single piece of equipment is selected. The cheapest kilowatt is the one the building never needs.
Electrify what remains
Air-source heat pumps, heat-pump water heaters, induction cooking, and photovoltaic-ready roofs put every project on the grid New York is building — one that gets cleaner every year the building stands.
Measure honestly
Energy modeling during design, blower-door targets during construction, and honest conversations about the trade-offs when budget and performance compete. You will always know where your project lands and why.
What it means for your project
Designing to the 2030 Challenge is not a premium product — it is simply better practice. Clients feel it as lower utility bills from the first month, rooms that stay comfortable through a January cold snap, quieter mechanical systems, and a building whose value compounds as energy codes tighten around it.
It also means we do the incentive homework for you: NYSERDA programs, New Jersey Clean Energy rebates, and federal tax credits routinely offset a meaningful share of the high-performance measures we specify. Ask us to map what your project qualifies for — it is part of every feasibility study we run.
Explore sustainable & net-zero design servicesHow far can your project go by 2030?
Bring us your site and your budget — we will map a realistic path to high performance and be honest about every trade-off.