When first I volunteered to re-invigorate an almost-dormant COTE Chapter three years ago in Austin, Texas, I was surprised to learn that there was not much guidance on how to do so. I received help and advice from the sitting Chair, local AIA staff and other volunteers, as well as other COTE leaders around the country, but there was no template for starting or sustaining a chapter. I had many ideas and ambitions, so I just dove in and experimented. Thankfully, I found a partner, Miguel Walker, to help lead, and we charged ahead.
In 2020, I became a COTE Network Leader, and realized I was not the only one who had experienced this. Creating the COTE Chapter Guide became my goal for 2020, an effort I worked on with Kira Gould, who was the COTE Advisory Group liaison to the COTE Network, and who had helped author a similar guide in 2005. We wanted to develop a best practices guide for COTE and other sustainability group leaders working at the local (and state and regional) AIA component level to help ensure not only the success of chapters around the country, but mitigate the burden on volunteer leaders who were starting and running them.
With help and guidance from AIA staff and COTE Leadership Network volunteers from across the country, the COTE Chapter Guide was born. It includes everything one needs to know about COTE; its history, organization, how it fits in with the larger AIA context, examples of different local groups around the country, a directory of contacts, helpful resources and documents. Given the urgency of the climate crisis, our profession needs to move quickly, so having a guide as a scaffold for local action is important.
Changing the profession and the industry we work within is no small feat; It has been extraordinarily inspiring to see everything that local COTE groups are doing, from championing education on the measures that make up the Framework for Design Excellence, advocating for clean energy and environmental justice, advancing what we value in design awards, training practitioners how to design for our new normal, and more.
The COTE Chapter Guide can be found here, along with its associated resources. And we want to know what you think. If you have any questions, concerns, or comments, please use the form on the last page. We anticipate updating the Guide regularly.