Happy New Year COTE® Colleagues!
2019 is off to a wild start with daily reminders of the critical importance of our work and the urgency for action and exponential change required to achieve a sustainable future. I am honored to be the 26th COTE® Chair and look forward to collaborating this year with the dedicated COTE® members across the country in meeting this greatest challenge of our time.
I would like to begin my first newsletter by recognizing the incredible leadership of our past Chair Angela Brooks and all of the members of the distinguished COTE® Advisory Group (AG). Angie will be continuing to serve on the AG this year bringing her incredible spirit, skills, and commitment to our mission. I want to thank the three members who are leaving the AG and have contributed immensely to the great work and accomplishments of COTE® during their tenure; Stephanie Horowitz, AIA, Managing Director of ZeroEnergy Design, Tate Walker, AIA, Director of Sustainability at OPN and co-author of the COTE® Top Ten Toolkit, and Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, of Cameron MacAllister Group and 2017 COTE® Chair extraordinaire. I would also like to acknowledge last year’s AIA President Carl Elefante, FAIA, for his leadership, and his unwavering support of COTE® during 2018.
We welcome three new members to the COTE® AG this month; Betsy del Monte, FAIA with Cameron MacAllister Group from Dallas; Anne Hicks Harney, FAIA, with Specs from Baltimore; and Victor Olgyay, AIA with Rocky Mountain Institute from Boulder, Colorado. They will be profiled in the first three newsletters of the year.
This month in the newsletter we are highlighting articles with positive actions and outcomes. One is from our own AG member Gunnar Hubbard on “Five Steps to Becoming a More Responsible Architect in the Age of Climate Change.” And you might have seen the Big News holiday missive last month from our partner organization Architecture 2030, heralding U.S. building sector reduction of CO2 emissions to 20.2 percent below 2005 levels. We also congratulate the 2019 AIA Architecture Firm Award recipient Payette—recognized for their outstanding leadership in integrated architecture which prioritizes high performance and design excellence.
As we begin the New Year we look back and celebrate the achievements of COTE® in 2018 including the COTE®Top Ten Toolkit debut, another successful year for the COTE®Top Ten Professional Awards program and the COTE®Top Ten Student Competition, the COTE® Advocacy Committee activities, participation in the Global Climate Action Summit, support of the Zero Code, and the adoption of Canon VI “Obligations to the Environment” in the AIA Code of Ethics.
Looking forward to 2019: We are focusing on the national launch of the toolkit, responding to changing political leadership and policy developments through advocacy, enhancing regional and local networks, advancing research, and forging new collaborations with affiliated organizations. I look forward to working with everyone this year on our agenda to advocate for social and environmental sustainability and create a resilient, regenerative and carbon neutral future. I invite you to join us and take action—integrate the toolkit into your practice, lead your local COTE® committee or start one, advocate on local and regional issues, and be a part of the positive change in our profession and in our communities to build a hopeful future
Marsha Maytum, FAIA
2019 Advisory Group Chair
AIA Committee on the Environment