HOK has announced significant progress toward achieving a carbon-neutral portfolio, exceeding energy reduction targets set by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) well ahead of the 2030 deadline.
In 2023, HOK projects achieved a 65.5% reduction in energy use intensity (EUI) compared to baseline levels, significantly surpassing the AIA’s 50% average. This marks a major step in the firm’s longstanding commitment to the AIA 2030 initiative, which targets net-zero fossil fuel use in new buildings and renovations by 2030.
The AIA’s initiative of Carbon-Neutral Goal sets a challenging standard, particularly for firms like HOK that specialize in large-scale, complex projects like hospitals, airports, stadiums, laboratories and major renovations.
“Our progress in accelerating Carbon-Neutral Goal demonstrates that high-performance design and environmental impact reduction are not mutually exclusive,” said Anica Landreneau, ASSOC. AIA, LEED AP BD+C, WELL AP, HOK’s director of sustainable design. “We’re proving this is achievable even for complex projects, without heavily relying on grid decarbonization, building electrification or renewable energy resources.”
New York City FC’s new stadium will be the first fully electric soccer stadium in Major League Soccer and the first fully electric professional sports stadium in New York City.
HOK first achieved operational Carbon-Neutral goal in 2022. In 2023, the firm’s design work created buildings that will remove about 47.6 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere over their lifespan.
HOK addresses both operational carbon (from building use) and embodied carbon (from materials and construction). Structural systems can account for more than half of a building’s lifetime carbon footprint. The firm is researching new techniques and conducting life cycle assessments (LCAs) on most projects to optimize structural choices, In 2024, HOK expects to perform LCAs on all of its projects.
The firm’s Interiors group has launched a Sustainable Material Tracking initiative that integrates human health and environmental impacts into its interior design process. By analyzing a product’s embodied carbon, chemical hazards and circularity potential, this data-driven approach empowers HOK’s designers to select healthy, ethically sourced materials. Since 2021, the number of HOK projects using this system has grown nearly 400 percent, encompassing 46 percent of all interior work in 2023.
USC’s new Viterbi School of Engineering Human-Centered Computation Hall incorporates green technology and will be the campus’s first building to achieve LEED Platinum certification.
Landreneau recently joined Kimberly Dowdell, HOK’s director of strategic partnerships and the 2024 AIA president, at the United Nations Buildings and Climate Global Forum in Paris. “Buildings are responsible for over 34 percent of global energy demand and approximately 37 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions,” Landreneau said. “Focusing on carbon impact through a ‘whole life’ lifecycle perspective and designing for circularity, reuse and resilience is key to change.”
HOK’s updated Climate Action Plan, outlining more details about its push toward AIA 2030 goals, is scheduled for release later this year.
About HOK
HOK is a global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm. Our 1,700 people collaborate across a network of 26 offices on three continents.
HOK is a collective of future-forward thinkers and designers who are driven to face the critical challenges of our time. We are dedicated to improving people’s lives, serving our clients and healing the planet. Together, we cultivate a culture of design excellence at the confluence of art and science, blending the power of creative expression with a clear sense of purpose.
HOK was established in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1955. The firm is named for its three founding partners: George F. Hellmuth, Gyo Obata and George Kassabaum, all graduates of the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.
The practice’s first building designs were schools in St. Louis suburbs, and St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Florissant was the first independent school designed by the firm. Another prominent school they designed was the Saint Louis Priory School.
