COTE Network Update
Climate Action in Design Awards: Common App Brings Rigor and Clarity
By Kira Gould and Kendall Claus
As part of the effort to ensure that the profession is recognizing what it values, AIA chapters from all over the US have been driving awards toward honoring integrated design consistent with the AIA Framework for Design Excellence.
At least two dozen chapters are using some form of the Common App and/or the AIA Framework for Design Excellence for Design Awards, and this year, the COTE Network is embarking on a process to make the Common App more stable and its update process more transparent. Here are some thoughts from a state chapter and a local chapter that have been using the Common App successfully for a few years.
AIA California is one statewide chapter that is leading, along with many of its local/regional chapters, in using the Common App. Henry Siegel, FAIA, shares that chapter’s story and resources: https://network.aia.org/blogs/kira-l-gould/2022/06/16/climate-action-in-design-awards-lessons-from-aia-c?CommunityKey=3b790506-aca5-4eff-aaf6-8a7b553dc0ef.
AIA New York Chapter has also been using the Common App, and this recent article digs into the value and purpose of technical reviewers, and important part of the process: https://www.aiany.org/membership/oculus-magazine/article/spring-2022/a-sure-vet/
No matter where on this journey your chapter is now, we hope you will join the conversation – generally and specifically. This is a subject of our COTE Network Quarterly calls from time to time (including the next one, on Tuesday, 9 August 2022, at 2pm ET / 11am PT); that call will be dedicated to this topic. COTE Chapter leaders (and others) will join the discussion. Please email cote@aia.org for info to join or contact Gould or Claus.
For more inforamation about the Common App, use this link.