Local AIA Assistance

As your community implements its sustainable design vision and defines specific energy reduction goals, you may feel a little overwhelmed at times. Have no fear; architects are more than willing to help! In fact, the AIA comprises some 300 component organizations (chapters) across the country and around the world. These components can be of assistance to your communities' greening efforts.

The AIA Blueprint for America

In 2007, the AIA will celebrate a significant anniversary—its sesquicentennial. Otherwise known as AIA 150, this occasion encourages members of the AIA to commemorate the Institute's 150 years of service to the profession and the nation by working with their communities to create a better future by design.

A key element of this year-long celebration is the Blueprint for America, an initiative characterized in part as a series of local forums and charrettes conducted across the nation in at least 150 component jurisdictions where architects, citizens, and community leaders come together to address a community’s distinct needs. AIA members will have opportunities to initiate efforts, join ongoing local programs, or help identify issues that are not currently being addressed in their communities.

The commonalities of these “visions” will be refined to inspire a national vision for healthy, safe, and sustainable American communities and to outline the necessary steps required to enhance the built environment. A compendium of the local programs will be gathered within a framework, providing a national mosaic with interrelated themes, issues, and solutions designed by AIA architects, community members, and community partners. The resulting mosaic will be presented to the nation as a gift for the future and as a testament to the value of design and the AIA architect.

AIA COTE

In addition to our local and state components, the AIA has an entire community of members who focus on sustainable design practice. With more than 7,200 members, the Committee on the Environment (COTE) has jumped to the forefront as a provider of quality sustainable design resources to members who want to significantly enhance their own communities.

AIA COTE has also established criteria to measure the performance of sustainable buildings and uses the metrics as the foundation of the COTE Top 10 Green Projects, an annual awards program. On the national level, AIA COTE has also put together a number of useful resources such as an overview on Creating a Sustainable Workplace and a series of best practice papers that cover the following topics:

Of course, much of the work that COTE does occurs at the local level, where our members strive to improve their own communities. With 49 local chapters that are also subdivided to form six regional chapters, architects are working hand in hand with mayors and other civic leaders to lead the sustainable design revolution that is currently happening in many U.S. communities. Below are just a few examples of architect and local COTE involvement in helping to green America's cities:

Atlanta:

Austin: