Cote Advocacy Update
By Arathi Gowda
As we wrap our Summer and prepare for the faster pace of Fall the COTE Advocacy team is reflecting on two great events:
- the COTE Open Forum at A’23
- the COTE network summer quarterly call
In both sessions we heard a groundswell of interest from COTE membership seeking ways to engage in our network of Architects at the intersection of design and the environment.
At the COTE Open Forum several members started the event by sharing updates. To begin Lindsay Baker, the CEO of the International Living Future Institute, inspired us by sharing a vision to shift our industry towards a living future. In her words one green building at a time is too, slow but with advocacy we can act together as a much-needed movement. Lori Ferriss, the current COTE Leadership Group chair, shared the groups mission and goals and helped us celebrate the network, the greatest asset in our grassroots movement. Ganesh Nayak shared the work of the Climate Action / Climate Justice (CA/CJ) team whose working mission is “engagement, advocacy, planning, and design that draws down emissions; builds resilience and capacity; supports human, cultural, and ecological health; and protects all communities in the context of climate change.” The CA/CJ team will have three focus areas in the coming year:
- Review Framework for Design Excellence through CA-CJ lens
- Review Equitable Communities measure in COTE Top Ten Awards through CA-CJ lens
- Review CA-CJ provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
I shared some updates on the Advocacy group, why team members have gotten involved, recent legislative action from the AIA around infrastructure, resilience, emissions reductions, and student debt, and ended with updates on the funding streams of the Inflation Reduction Act. After these updates Kira Gould helped the group commence the heart of the session, table discussions around the themed topics of Climate Action and Climate Justice, Advocacy, Inflation Reduction Act, AIA 2030 Commitment, Resilience and Adaptation, COTE Chapters, and Framework for Design Excellence.
In table after table of the at-capacity session members discussed amplifying our work at the building scale into powerful system thinking, influenced by the spirit of public interest and a drive to reduce our carbon emissions. We saw this same spirit repeated at the COTE quarterly call with leadership across the country interested in learning how to scale policy work for the betterment of our communities.
To end the COTE advocacy update I wanted to share some good news from the Rocky Mountain Institute regarding early impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act:
- 170,000 jobs created in less than 1 year.
- The cost of solar continues to decrease.
- Driving towards 40% carbon emissions cut for the US by 2030.
If you are reading this know that advocacy works and engaging at the local level is a powerful way to help with the climate emergency. If you are interested in becoming part of the COTE Advocacy Group and Network, or even commenting on what you would like us to advocate for, please reach out to us via cote@aia.org.