2030 Communities Campaign

The average American family is dependent on cars to meet their daily needs, driving 21,500 miles a year, nearly the circumference of the earth. Without a change in course, total vehicles miles traveled (VMTs) is expected to grow 2.5% per year, energy consumption and CO2 omissions will continue to increase, while obesity and other side effects of an inactive lifestyle are predicted to shorten life span as much as five years per American.

The 2030 Communities Campaign proposes to reverse the increase in VMTs and adopt LEED for Neighborhood Development as a municipal standard by 2030. The challenge calls for a 50% decrease in VMTs from 2005’s baseline of 8000 VTM per capita, to 4000 VMT and aims to have 100% of public and private development projects achieve LEED-ND Platinum certification by 2030.  Working in parallel to the 2030 Architecture challenge, this campaign serves as a viable standard to address the challenge of climate change in the transportation sector, while improving community health and well-being.