Blogs

Resiliency and Disaster Response Efforts at AIA25

By Nikolaus T. Remus AIA posted 9 hours ago
Resilience was a key topic at AIA25 in Boston, and members of the AIA National Resilience and Disaster Response Committee embraced the opportunity to attend and lead multiple breakout sessions. In addition, co-chair Sammy Shams, chair-elect Alan Scott, and I hosted an open forum to share the work the RADR Committee has been doing. Resilience is an especially important consideration right now, as our clients’ projects and communities face a growing range of risks. The architecture profession is well positioned to account for future climate conditions that will affect buildings designed today, for natural disasters occurring in areas without a history of such ...

LEED® Version 5 Will Elevate Resilient Design

By Alan Scott FAIA posted 10 hours ago
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) member ballot overwhelming approved LEED® version 5 in March and this latest version of the green building rating system was officially released in April. The old LEED v4 was introduced more than 11 years ago, so this update of the world’s premier green building rating system is long overdue. LEED v5 includes new versions of LEED BD+C: New Construction and Core and Shell, LEED ID+C: Commercial Interiors, and LEED O+M: Existing Buildings. The USGBC has not announced a firm timeline, but project teams will most likely be able to continue registering projects under v4 through 2025 (with several years before certification ...

HCD AIA25 Event Recap

By Alison Karfeld posted 14 hours ago
Building Connections: A Recap of the Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community’s Events at AIA ‘25 By Kristen Chin, AIA The American Institute of Architects' 2025 Conference on Architecture & Design provided an opportunity for the AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community (HCD KC) to convene, celebrate design excellence in housing and community development, share vital knowledge, and forge new connections in the housing and community development field. Three Powerful Events, One Unified Mission The AIA Housing and Community Development Knowledge Community (HCD KC) orchestrated three well-attended events that demonstrated ...

Letter from the chairs, June 2025

By Daniel J. Overbey AIA posted 8 days ago
By: Jesse Walton, AIA and Daniel Overbey, AIA The 2030 Commitment Made Its Presence Known at AIA25 The AIA Conference on Architecture & Design 2025 took place June 4-7 in Boston, Massachusetts. This year’s conference included over 450 sessions, covering a broad and comprehensive range of topics impacting the profession today. The four days of programming included a range of peer-to-peer engagement opportunities dedicated to advancing AIA’s strategic initiatives related to climate action, sustainability, equity—including several sessions and forums focused specifically on AIA’s premiere climate action initiatives: the 2030 Commitment ...

COTE Network Update

By Sean Costello AIA posted 8 days ago
It’s been a vibrant and inspiring summer, marked by the AIA National Conference and a range of impactful events throughout the past month. The COTE Network also hosted a lively and thought-provoking Q2 call on May 13th, bringing together voices from across our community. Missed the discussion? No worries—you can catch up anytime. The full recording and presentation slides are available in our archive. At AIA National, the COTE Network had an exciting opportunity to participate in a curated networking session, where the Committee on the Environment hosted the COTE Open Forum. COTE Chair Robin Puttock led a dynamic conversation featuring the two most recent ...

AIA Materials Pledge @ AIA25

By Eana Bacchiocchi posted 9 days ago
AIA Materials Pledge community, We've officially wrapped up our second official year of Materials Pledge reporting with vast increases in number of firms projects, and total GSF reported. Additionally, earlier this month, several AIA Materials Pledge staff and Working Group attended AIA25 in Boston to talk about materials reporting, Sustainability and Materials Action Plans, connecting both AIA climate pledge programs, and more! Hear more on the sessions and presentations given: Material Matters: Integrating Materials Into Sustainability Action Plans This session brought together small, medium, and large firm representatives to share their experiences ...

Take Action: Contact Senators: Protect Clean Energy Tax Credits, good for communities and businesses

By Kira L. Gould Hon. AIA posted 9 days ago
Here's another way to TAKE ACTION to support healthy communities, clean energy, and thriving economies: If you care about clean energy, it’s urgent you contact your senators. Trump’s Big Beautiful Budget will gut the clean energy economy and clean energy tax credit, while adding $2.4 Trillion to the deficit . Over the past three years, companies have announced plans to invest more than $843 billion in clean energy projects, driven by tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. The budget being considered by the Senate will eliminate those tax credits. Please call and email your senators as soon as possible. Ask your friends and family to do the same. ...

Congratulations to the 2025 COTE Top Ten Award winners!

By Alyssa M. Murphy AIA posted 10 days ago
The COTE community is celebrating this year’s Top Ten Awards, announced at the AIA Awards Gala in Boston on June 5. For more than 25 years, the Top Ten has become synonymous with the highest achievement in sustainable design excellence. Once focused on highlighting specific aspects of achievement, it’s clear that the principle of integration sets these projects apart. This year’s Top Ten all demonstrate a systems-thinking mindset; each is a strategic intervention integrated into its community in a way that invites broader conversations—about education, equity, infrastructure, and adaptation. The buildings’ architecture activates its users as participants, ...

Letter from the Chair: July / August 2025

By Robin Leigh Ziegenbalg Puttock AIA posted 11 days ago
Just as I started to plan this chair letter, reflecting on the incredibly intense past four days of the AIA’25 Conference in Boston , I was contacted by a reporter who wanted my response to the following question: “How do you regard the overarching conference message about ‘opportunity’ in light of the general session themes – AI is a threat, infrastructure is a problem, and architects struggle to tell their stories?” As all seasoned multi-taskers do, I decided to address both tasks with a single deliverable. Here goes… For those following my chair letters so far in 2025, I often speak about collaboration. In particular, how collaboration done well can ...

Why Architects Should Speak Up to Protect ENERGY STAR

By Lindsey R. Falasca posted 11 days ago
Click here to quickly contact your legislators and urge them to protect ENERGY STAR before Congress passes the FY2026 budget. As architects, our job is to design buildings that serve people and endure over time. Increasingly, that means ensuring our work is not only functional and beautiful, but also efficient, resilient, and climate-conscious. One of the most trusted tools in that mission is now under threat: the U.S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program. The Trump administration’s proposed FY2026 budget would eliminate funding for ENERGY STAR —an alarming move that’s drawn strong opposition from across the building industry. And rightly so. For over ...

Growing a Culture of Design Excellence at UTSA

By Kate Sector Assoc. AIA posted 11 days ago
Growing a Culture of Design Excellence at UTSA Three years ago, I pitched an idea to the Assistant Director of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) , John Bagarozy: What if we could introduce the AIA Framework for Design Excellence earlier—through an in-house design competition—before students were eligible for the national COTE Top Ten for Students? That seed has grown into a recurring, student-centered competition that is shaping how future architects think about sustainability, equity, and impact. Now in its third year, the UTSA Student COTE Competition offers a replicable model for other schools ...

Perspective: Energy Star’s Roots – the Foundation of the Green Building Movement

By Peter L. Pfeiffer FAIA posted 15 days ago
Perspective: Energy Star’s roots – the Foundation of the Green Building Movement - Peter L Pfeiffer , FAIA The hallowed US Federal energy conservation program, known as Energy Star , has been in the news lately. It is being attacked , falling victim to the label of being an outdated government program that is no longer relevant. How did this happen? Where did it come from anyway? Let’s discuss its roots and see what that has to do with the present-day green or sustainability movement. More than four decades ago, in the early 1980s, the City of Austin wrestled with the question of investing in ...

Citizen Architect (Just Do It)

By Kjell M. Anderson FAIA posted 15 days ago
As a member of a State Building Code Council , I see directly how Architects can provide pragmatic insights that shape policy. Architects understand how buildings and cities are designed to make people’s lives healthier and better. Our knowledge of zoning codes through site selection, financing, design, construction, and renovation mean we understand the impediments and opportunities for cities and towns to foster connections, mobility, increase housing, and support economic activity. Our broad view of the built environment, as leaders of design teams, mean that we are visionaries that understand potential futures that others are not trained to do. Architects ...

BOOK REVIEW The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook

By TIMOTHY Beatley posted 18 days ago
BOOK REVIEW The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook By Timothy Beatley It is undoubtedly true, as the authors of this important book argue, that urban design (and planning) today play an outsize role in addressing the intersecting challenges of climate change, resource management (water, energy, land), and conservation of biodiversity. The authors are Nico Larco, a University of Oregon professor who also practices through ELEMENT/Urban Design, and Kaarin Knudson, who also teaches at the U of O and is currently serving as Mayor of Eugene. The pair has written an enormously useful and badly needed handbook to help guide and support those working to design ...

RUDC Letter from the Chair (May 2025)

By Alison Karfeld posted 05-15-2025
The American Institute of Architects is grounded in its nationwide network of local and state components, many of which host committees that reflect the AIA’s 21 Knowledge Communities . If you’re reading this, you’ve found your way to one—perhaps through your local chapter’s urban design, planning, or regional and urbanism-focused group. That’s how I began my journey, first as an inaugural member and then as Co-Chair of the AIA|DC Urban Design Committee (UD DC). RUDC remains a dynamic and committed group—organizing design competitions, lecture series, film screenings, panel discussions, and public programs. As I’ve moved from local engagement to national ...

COTE Network Update - Q2 Call

By Sean Costello AIA posted 05-13-2025
Thank you to everyone who joined the COTE Q2 Call on May 13th! We had an engaging and insightful discussion centered around the important work that COTE local and state groups are doing every day. Your contributions and shared experiences continue to help shape and strengthen our communities. During the call, we explored several key topics, including: Advocacy Day of Service Regional Conferences Educational Series Carbon Series If you weren’t able to join us live—or if you’d like to revisit the conversation—you can access the recording here: Link A Special Thank You to Our Breakout Session Leaders! ...

How to join the 2030 Peer-to-Peer Network on AIA Community Hub

By Eana Bacchiocchi posted 05-06-2025
Both AIA members and non-members can join the 2030 Commitment Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Community to connect with other 2030 signatories and receive 2030 newsletters and updates. Members should log in to their existing accounts via the AIA national website ; non-members can set theirs up here . Then from the AIA Community Hub Dashboard, click Join a KC or Member Group. and select 2030 Commitment Peer-to-Peer Network and any other Knowledge Community or member group ( see below ). We ask that members not create a duplicate record to complete this process. Our Member Support team can help resolve any login challenges. Please e-mail ...

How to join the Materials Peer-to-Peer Network on AIA Community Hub

By Eana Bacchiocchi posted 05-06-2025
Both AIA members and non-members can join the Materials Pledge Peer-to-Peer Knowledge Community to connect with other Materials Pledge signatories and receive Materials Pledge newsletters and updates. Members should log in to their existing accounts via the AIA national website ; non-members can set theirs up here . Then from the AIA Community Hub Dashboard, click Join a KC or Member Group. and select Materials Pledge Peer-to-Peer Network and any other Knowledge Community or member group ( see below ). We ask that members not create a duplicate record to complete this process. Our Member Support team can help resolve any login ...

The Role of Architects in Design-Build Project Delivery: A Crucial Conversation about Opportunities and Risks

By Rona G. Rothenberg FAIA posted 05-01-2025
By members of the AIA Project Delivery Knowledge Community Leadership Group, including Rona G. Rothenberg, FAIA; Arlen Solocheck, FAIA; Laura Stagner, FAIA As owners, constructors, and architects, we have legal, financial and other professional interests in the success of our projects. This applies regardless of the project size and complexity-from Indefinite Quantity/Indefinite Delivery (IDIQ) contracts for on-call consulting services to large, long-duration capital works-and project delivery options, whether competitively bid as Design-Bid-Build (DBB), construction manager at risk or Design-Build (DB). Whether the architect, owner and constructor ...

AIA Materials Pledge & 2030 Commitment Events @ AIA25

By Eana Bacchiocchi posted 04-29-2025
Join 2030 & Materials signatories at AIA25 AIA 2030 & Materials Pledge Open Forum What does the AIA 2030 Commitment and Materials Pledge mean for your firm's practice? At our first-ever joint AIA Climate Action Signatory Open Forum, you'll connect with fellow signatories and other peers, hear from AIA leaders, learn about the high-level RY24 data trends, and attend roundtable discussions on embodied carbon, reporting strategies, firm culture, software tools, and other topics. Whether you're a 10-year signatory or just starting out, you'll have the chance to leverage the AIA 2030 Commitment and Materials Pledge signatory networks and connect ...