This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Residential Knowledge Community and Historic Resources Committee .
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This is a sad fact of our modern condition. As the IBCC struggles to provide a baseline code for the entire world it panders to the lowest common denominator. Whether or not our collective world society can accept an environment in which people live in windowless boxes or not will probably not be for us to decide. But it occurs to me that it might be of some enduring value to provide a clear choice to the public at large. My clients have no clue what the code does or doesn't allow. They have a vague confidence that if everything is "up to code" then it will be sufficient and trouble-free.
I have an idea. What if we wrote our own residential building code? We wouldn't need to start from scratch, obviously. We would have to respect the local codes, incorporate the IRC and add our own amendments. It could serve a similar service as "Energy Star" or "Green Certified" labels do in the marketplace.
We want to encourage the public and related industries to understand and respect the value architects bring to the table so why don't we codify our value, write down what we stand for? That way we will have something clear and definitive to market.
Regulatory agencies won't require our services? Offer the public an attractive alternative to clamor for.
AIA won't promote our services? Let's start our own professional organization.
Realtors don't value our work? Give them a hook to sell- The American Union of Residential Architects' seal of approval! (or whatever we want to call ourselves).
If we can agree on a vision of what we stand for as designers and write it down we might find we have something worth fighting for.
What do you think?
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A. Atkinson
A. Gordon Atkinson, Architect
San Francisco CA
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