Join the AIA Center for Building Science and Performance (CBSP) for an all-day seminar at AIA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This seminar will feature disaster resilience experts who work on the full range of recovery. This includes immediate set-up after a disaster to get power to the site, assessment of damaged structures, and recommendations for large-scale rebuilding, such as in New Orleans. The program will review disaster mitigation planning for infrastructure, buildings, and electronics. Through presentations and discussion this seminar will seek to answers the following questions:

• How can architects participate in post-disaster assistance?
• How can architects help their clients prior to and after a disaster?
• How are AIA components better able to handle a disaster on a state level?
• How do operations get up and running immediately after a disaster?
• How do you effectively re-build earthquake-resistant structures in resource-poor areas?
• How do disaster performance assessments improve efficiency in the event of a disaster?

Case studies in disaster resilience will include:

• An examination of an affordable cottage that has been engineered to withstand hurricane-force winds, while respecting the Gulf Coast's architectural traditions
• A discussion of FEMA's recently-released design guidance tool for mitigating multi-hazard events
• A presentation on New Orleans's unified recovery and rebuilding plan, as well as a comprehensive financing and implementation plan, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina

Please also click here to see the AIA Sri Lanka Tsunami Disaster Performance Assessment (pdf)

Attendees are also invited to attend a networking reception with the event speakers on the evening of Friday, March 7, directly following the event i nthe Social Gallery at the AIA.

Presented by
The American Institute of Architects
Center for Building Science and Performance

Tentative agenda

Registration Fees

Conference Registration

Advance registration is closed.  Onsite registration is available. 

Special Needs
The AIA is committed to making meetings and conferences accessible to all to the degree reasonably possible. Please notify us at the time of registration if you have special accessibility needs or specific dietary requirements. Contact Ushma J. Suvarnakar at usuvarnakar@aia.org or 202-626-7404.

Guests
In recognition that many professionals enjoy traveling and sharing experiences with their significant others, the AIA offers a guest rate for its conferences:

• Depending on the event, guests are those attending for personal reasons
• Guests do not include people attending for professional reasons
• Guests are not eligible to report continuing education learning units from an event
• Also subject to space and other limitations, guests may register for optional events that are ticketed separately

The AIA reserves the right to change the terms governing guest registration at any time. For registration questions, contact AIA Information Central, 800-242-3837.

Registration Confirmation
Registration confirmations are mailed weekly. If you do not receive a registration confirmation within 10 business days after you register, contact AIA Meetings (meetings@aia.org). If you fax the registration form, please keep the fax transmittal confirmation for your records.

Registration Policy
Registrations postmarked after February 22, 2008 will not be processed in time to be included on the attendee roster. Registration and nametags will be produced on-site. All registrants will receive a registration confirmation via mail within 10 business days of sending your registration.

Cancellation Policy
Refunds, less a $50 cancellation fee, will be made for cancellations received in writing by Friday, February 29, 2008. No cancellation refund is available after February 29, 2008. Fax your cancellation requests to the AIA Registrar, 202-626-7365.

The AIA does not have a hotel room block for this meeting. Click here for a list of AIA Preferred Hotels for best available rates.

The AIA is pleased to offer discounted airline and car rentals for this conference. To make your reservations, log on to the AIA Web site and click on the Travel Accommodations link or contact the AIA’s official travel agency, Travel Technology Group, 800-388-8814 (or 312-527-7300 for international callers).

Air
American Airlines offers special rates and numerous discounts on round-trip fares in the United States. Attendees will receive a 5 percent discount off coach and first-class fares by using discount code A2538BJ.

You can book your flight in one of three ways:

• Contact your travel agent, advise them to call the American Airlines Meeting Services Desk toll-free, 800-433-1790, and refer to discount code A2538BJ.
• The hours of operation are 5 am–midnight CT every day. Reservations for the hearing and speech impaired are also available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-543-1586.
• Call the American Airlines Meeting Services desk directly toll-free, 800-433-1790, and refer to discount code A2538BJ.
• Reservations may also be made directly through TTG or by logging on to the AIA Web site.

Train
Amtrak offers a 10 percent discount off the lowest available rail fare to Washington, D.C. from March 4, 2008 to March 10, 2008. Although convention travel cannot be booked via the Internet, you can make your reservation through the AIA’s official travel agency, Travel Technology Group, 800-866-8845 (or 312-527-7300 for international callers). Please be sure to refer to convention fare code X04S-933 when making your reservation. Fare is valid on Amtrak Regional and Acela service for all departures seven days a week, except for holiday blackouts. This offer is not valid on Auto Train but it is valid with sleepers, business class, and first-class seats with payment of the full applicable accommodation charges.

Car Rental
Hertz: Special meeting rates are yours with Hertz. Hertz operates in more than 150 countries with almost 1,800 locations in the United States alone, including more than 1,000 suburban locations. Call 800-654-2200 to make a reservation. To receive the special meeting rates, use code CV#022Q3890.

Hertz Green Collection: Now you can reserve fuel-efficient, environmentally-friendly cars that are easy on the wallet and suitable for families and small groups traveling together. Reservable by specific make and model, with a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency highway fuel efficiency rating of 28 miles or more per gallon, the Hertz Green Collection includes the following models:

• Toyota Camry
• Ford Fusion
• Buick LaCrosse
• Hyundai Sonata
• Subaru Outback

Please note the Green Collection is available in select cities and based on availability.

Avis: Avis is pleased to offer special discounts to all AIA meeting attendees. Reservations can be made directly with Avis by calling 800-331-1600 (refer to discount code A991499), visiting the AIA Web site and clicking on the Travel Accommodations tab, contacting TTG directly, or visiting the Avis Web site.

Parking
The meeting will be held at AIA Headquarters at 1735 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20006. Parking at the AIA is $12 per day. Other lots in the area are available for $15–28 per day. The lots are located at 1750 H Street, NW; 1775 I Street NW; or 1776 G Street, NW.

Airport Ground Transportation
National Airport: Approximately $15; estimated travel time is 20–25 minutes, based on traffic.
Dulles Airport: Approximately $50; estimated travel time is 45 minutes–1 hour, based on traffic.
Baltimore/Washington International (BWI) Airport: Approximately $60; estimated travel time is 1–1.5 hours, based on traffic.
Super Shuttle offers discounted service to and from downtown Washington area hotels:

• $1 off from Reagan National Airport
• $2 off from Dulles Airport
• $3 off from BWI Airport

Make your reservation online at www.supershuttle.com and use discount code JM54J or click here (PDF) to print a coupon for the discounted service; present it at the airport ($1 fuel surcharge and driver gratuity not included).

Continuing Education
Participants may earn up to 7 AIA Continuing Education System (CES) Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) learning units (LUs) for attending the entire conference. CES credit for this program has also also been approved for the New York State Board for Architecture. A participant will not be eligible to receive credit for LUs unless we have received a completed registration form and payment.

Greening the Meeting
To help create an environmentally sustainable conference and reduce waste, the AIA is not distributing printed handouts and printed attendee rosters. As an alternative you will receive the advance attendee roster via e-mail one week prior to the meeting if you register by the February 22 deadline.

You are encouraged to do your part as well to assist in greening. For example, consider offsetting your travel emissions by participating in a “carbon-balanced traveler” program such as www.my-climate.com or www.greentagusa.org.

Force Majeure
The performance of this agreement by either party may be affected by force majeure (including, but not limited to, acts of God, acts of war or other acts of enemies, government regulation, disaster, strikes, floods, civil disorder, curtailment of transportation facilities, or other emergency or event beyond the control of the parties), thus making it inadvisable, unsafe, illegal, or impossible to provide required accommodations and/or meeting facilities, hold the meeting, or travel to the meeting. In event of force majeure, either party to this agreement may terminate the agreement upon providing written notice to the other party without penalty or obligation. Such right of termination shall not be unreasonably exercised.

In addition, the AIA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to cancel this meeting. In that event, the AIA shall refund to you all registration fees that it has received from you for this meeting, but shall have no further obligation to you of any type, whether monetary or otherwise. Accordingly, the AIA shall in no event have any liability to you based on claims for indirect, special, or consequential damages of any type whatsoever, and shall have no other obligation to you of any type except as expressly stated in the preceding sentence.