It’s been a couple years since we’ve been able to gather in person as an Institute, and with a full new set of safety precautions the AIA Conference on Architecture 2022 has been planned for June 22 through June 25 in Chicago. While there may be a few more hoops to jump through for in-person participation, there is so much to take advantage of as a participant. COTE has a number of events at A’22 to engage with others in the community and to hear about the work being done around the Institute to advance high performance design.
On Wednesday evening, from 730-930pm, join COTE leaders from around the country as we celebrate this year’s COTE Top Ten Award winners and the winners of the COTE Top Ten for Students Competition. The COTE Top Ten Toast will include a special guest (to be announced). (In the Registration site, this event is EV105.)
At 8am on Friday morning, there is a COTE Practicum session, which is this year’s COTE Open Forum: Design for Climate Action & Climate Justice: Redefining Value. This includes Lori Ferris, AIA; Kjell Anderson, FAIA, and Kira Gould, Hon. AIA, as well as other COTE leaders, robust breakout sessions about resilience and decarbonization, and a very special guest speaker, Angela Tovar, the Chief Sustainability Officer of the City of Chicago. (In the site, sign up for session FR103, worth 1.5 LUs.)
Perhaps one of the projects celebrated at the Toast piqued your interest. If so, join us at 2:00pm on Friday, June 24 for Performing Beautifully: The COTE Top Ten Awards (session FR305). We will recognize the ten innovative professional and student projects for their integration of design excellence with environmental performance, equity, and climate action. These amazing projects, of different scales and from various areas, are proof that architecture can be high-performing, beautiful, and truly inspiring. Earn 1.5 continuing education units for attending as well.
In addition to official COTE events there are several additional seminars, tours, and expo floor education opportunities focused on sustainability, climate action, and materials. You can customize your itinerary for the conference to focus on one or more of these topics, taking advantage of the amazing lineup of speakers as well as seeing ideas put into action on project tours around the city. Several COTE partners will also be exhibiting in the Expo Hall, which will be a great opportunity for in-depth conversations about product innovation and transparency.
We’ll be announcing more details about A’22. Be sure to join the COTE group on LinkedIn to follow the latest updates. https://www.linkedin.com/groups/147669/.
Jon Penndorf, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C is a Senior Associate at Perkins&Will in Washington, DC.