Best Practices: How LPA San Diego Achieved a Remarkable 95.9% Predicted Energy Use Intensity Reduction

LPA designers reflect on how they delivered net‑zero and net‑positive work across their studio’s 2025 portfolio, and their progress toward the AIA 2030 Commitment’s ultimate target.

The American Institute of Architects’ 2030 Commitment is a nationwide pledge uniting more than 1,400 firms in an effort to deliver projects that reach net‑zero operational emissions. LPA Design Studios posted an 80.7% reduction in predicted energy use intensity (pEUI) in 2025, marking the strongest performance in the firm’s history and putting it within 10 percentage points of the 90% target set for 2025. Every project delivered in 2025 was energy‑modeled, with more designs integrating on‑site renewable energy and a greater number of net‑zero energy projects compared to previous years.

Of LPA’s seven studios, San Diego led the way with a record 95.9% pEUI reduction across all projects, landing just four percentage points short of the Commitment’s ultimate decarbonization target. With less than 6% of all reporting industry firms achieving an 80% energy‑use reduction in 2024, the studio’s results stand out even more. 

“Our team approaches every project with the mindset that net zero is the baseline we’re pushing toward,” says Matthew Porreca, Design Director at LPA’s San Diego studio. “We’re even exploring ways to deliver net‑positive buildings that generate more energy than they use.”

LPA’s belief that “There is always a way” is woven into the studio’s integrated design approach. “Each project has its own recipe, and each one gives us an opportunity to raise the bar on building performance and sustainability,” Porreca adds. San Diego’s remarkable 95.9% energy‑reduction outcome serves as a model for the firm, stemming from a strategy that pushes far past building code minimums and typical industry expectations. 

“We’re not waiting for clients to ask for net zero,” says Eric Jones, San Diego Studio Director. “The future of design demands that we lead with high‑performance thinking from day one. When we start at net zero, we open the door to entirely new possibilities with buildings that shape a more resilient built environment.” This philosophy carries across typologies: civic, mixed‑use, healthcare, workplace, housing and higher‑education work, all of which were represented in the studio’s 2025 portfolio.

Stacking Performance and Savings

High‑performance design lowers energy demand, reduces carbon emissions and generates real savings for clients over a building’s lifespan. And it doesn’t need to cost more. In 2025, every project in the studio’s portfolio met its performance goals without exceeding its original budget.

“We’ve seen that when energy‑efficient strategies are framed as extras or added costs, they rarely make it through,” Jones notes. “The cost‑estimation phase of a project matters just as much as the design work, because that’s where client decisions are made. Our job is to understand what really matters and use our creativity and our integrated design and engineering strengths to guide clients toward smart, achievable solutions.”

Net‑zero building design can be achieved within the constraints of a normal budget through a series of gradual steps rather than relying solely on large, big‑picture sustainability moves. “Raising the baseline of building performance comes down to four fundamentals: going all‑electric, investing in high‑performance systems, designing an efficient facade and treating the roof as the fifth facade,” Porreca adds. “We’re not asking the client to set a net-zero energy standard for us, we’re setting that standard for ourselves on every project.”

That mindset extends to early stage building envelope decisions. “We want modeling to inform feasibility studies so we can see how different design iterations shift pEUI,” says Design Coordinator Francesca Redetzke. “The earlier we understand the envelope, the more effectively we can shape performance.”

To that end, the Sustainability + Applied Research team is developing envelope‑focused performance guidelines. “We’re studying our walls, roofs and glazing systems and turning that into an early design resource,” says Sustainability Specialist Sierra Johannes. “It’s meant to help designers make fast, informed choices that improve performance — especially in common program spaces — without needing to become mechanical experts.” Decarbonization strategies will be layered in as well, giving teams a clearer path toward higher‑performing, lower‑carbon buildings.

Reaching net zero often comes down to how thoughtfully photovoltaics (PVs) are integrated into the design. “Our internal PV calculator lets us understand early how much roof space we need and what size system will get a project to net zero,” Johannes explains. “It gives teams a level of certainty before major design decisions are locked in.”

That early clarity shaped the net-zero energy Family Health Centers of San Diego (FHCSD) Mollison Medical Offices in El Cajon, California. “Even without early stage energy modeling, we were able to design with sustainability in mind from day one,” says Jordan Currier, a designer in the San Diego studio. With limited roof area, the team explored creative configurations, ultimately extending a metal canopy along the south facade to serve as an elevated PV platform. Combined with passive moves — shading overhangs, careful window placement and an efficient enclosure — the strategy allowed the project to maintain strong performance goals. These design decisions translate into an estimated $100,000 in energy‑utility savings every year for the Mollison facility.

When designing a new athletics complex for Mesa College, the team worked from a net‑zero starting point, without compromising budget or functional needs. Achieving that meant rethinking traditional design methods. “By treating the roof as a fifth facade, we were able to shift mechanical systems off the roof and dedicate that space to PVs — often the only place we can reliably generate renewable energy,” Porreca says. Using structure as finish is another strategy the studio uses regularly. Reducing materials and allowing the structure to define the design can free up budget dollars, which can be redirected to shading devices, roof overhangs, fins or other building performance systems that support a net‑zero outcome.

For Palomar College’s new Learning Resource Center in San Marcos, California, the studio’s architects partnered early with the building performance analysis team and mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineers (MEP) to question assumptions about how the building would operate. When teams assume all systems will run at full capacity — at all times — the result is a mechanical system three to four times larger than a building actually needs. “We didn’t have to rethink the program or rebuild the infrastructure,” Jones says. “We simply aligned the systems with the building’s predicted real-world patterns of use and brought in passive strategies that could take the place of robust mechanical solutions.” 

This approach enabled the MEP team to reduce mechanical tonnage, resulting in smaller, lower‑energy and more economical equipment across the project. In turn, the reduced energy load means the PV system can be smaller and more efficient. 

“Every component plays a role in the larger outcome,” Porreca adds. “Each design choice and system refinement reinforced another, steadily reducing energy consumption and saving dollars across the project.”

Managing Metrics

The Sustainability + Applied Research team notes that consistent project check‑ins — sharing ideas and reviewing data in real time — keep sustainability and the AIA 2030 Commitment top of mind. “When it came to collecting last year’s data, we began meeting twice a month in December to stay ahead of the AIA’s March submission deadline,” Johannes says. “Those regular syncs helped us collect, examine and verify the numbers to ensure they were accurate.”

As for how the team keeps energy performance goals front and center, Digital Manager Jake Junge cites consistently documenting and challenging pEUI data across project cycles. Regular check‑ins surfaced errors that would have pushed the numbers down, masking the true extent of the studio’s energy‑performance record. 

“Staying on top of reporting data opened the door for us to exchange ideas about energy modeling and the design decisions that strengthened our projects,” Junge explains. “This collaborative mindset is core to the San Diego design lab, where we bring people together to explore new technologies and new ways of thinking that have gotten us to this point.”

Over time, this practice has become part of the San Diego studio’s identity, giving the team a clearer view of baseline performance across project types and enabling them to set ambitious energy‑reduction targets from the start. The data keeps their approach consistent and rooted in actual performance. “Keeping consistent pEUI baselines across typologies helps us raise expectations for ourselves and our clients,” Redetzke says. “For example, if two early stage mixed‑use projects in the same region start with baseline pEUIs of 45% and 70%, that difference becomes a moment for our team to pause and look closer — to trace what’s pushing one project toward a less efficient baseline and to reshape the design in ways that support better performance.”

While standard energy‑modeling tools aren’t built to recognize the full benefits of elements like motorized facades or passive strategies, specialty consultants can also step in to quantify these features. “It’s a key advantage for us,” Jones explains. “When the project demands it, we engage energy‑performance analysts to ensure every potential energy‑saving opportunity is captured.” When each element is documented, it creates a progressive ripple effect of cost and energy savings, which is why the data is so essential.

However, energy‑modeling a project and logging the results is only the first step. Teams must also understand what the numbers mean and confirm they’re correct. “It shows us how our decisions shape the data and provides insight we can carry into current work and future projects,” Porreca adds.

Innovative Progress in Action

Reaching the 2030 goal will also require documenting projects that achieve net‑positive energy performance. For the San Diego team, looking at project portfolios holistically is essential. Some projects will naturally deliver higher energy reductions than others, and those that exceed expectations help move the entire practice closer to net zero.

Phase two of the El Cerrito mixed-use project surprised the San Diego team: It hit 226% pEUI, a net‑positive result driven by a series of pragmatic design moves. Rather than crowding the roof, they carved out small four‑by‑four‑foot mechanical chases — special areas within the walls — on each floor, which let them right‑size equipment and improve mechanical system efficiency. A program change from housing to healthcare lowered hot‑water loads, so the team was able to remove the existing solar thermal system and use 100% PVs on the vacant roof instead. They also used recycled shipping containers, deepened sun shades on the exterior and added LPA’s first motorized facade. The landscape design team, meanwhile, created a courtyard on the fourth floor that acts as a carbon garden — a regenerative space designed to pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in plants and soil to lower emissions. “Each decision stacked toward better performance and sizable energy reduction,” Porreca says. “We’re always looking for opportunities to treat building performance as a truly integrated process.” 

For the FHCSD Integrated Medicine facility — which achieved a 98% peUI reduction — the team paired all‑electric HVAC systems with smaller ductwork and bio-filtration to minimize the mechanical footprint and improve efficiency. The facade strategy layers a terra-cotta tile rainscreen with baguette sunshades, a structural overhang that deepens shading, and operable windows that bring natural ventilation into the building.

At UC San Diego, the Recreation, Intramural and Athletic Complex (RIMAC) expansion turned a climbing wall into a performance strategy. The tall vertical wall doubles as a passive chimney, improving ventilation and thermal comfort. “This is a case where a building’s program can inform energy performance and how we utilize it,” Porreca says. The shaded porch at the building base improves comfort for people inside and outside while reinforcing the building’s striking entry. With the entrance oriented to the west, the team also developed a shading strategy that preserved daylight and sightlines while keeping materials and costs to a minimum.

“The lesson is that thoughtful, early decisions matter,” Porreca says. “Adaptability and a clear understanding of cost drives our approach to elevating building performance and delivering net‑zero projects. When we make strategic interventions early and build on incremental moves, those choices add up to meaningful energy savings across all of our work.”