Committee on the Environment

 View Only

Community HTML

ALBION DISTRICT LIBRARY BY PERKINS + WILL IS A 2018 COTE TOP TEN RECIPIENT. IMAGE: DOUBLESPACE PHOTOGRAPHY

Quick Links

Who we are

The Committee on the Environment (COTE®) is an AIA Knowledge Community working for architects, allied professionals, and the public to achieve climate action and climate justice through design. We believe that design excellence is the foundation of a healthy, sustainable, and equitable future. Our work promotes design strategies that empower all AIA members to realize the best social and environmental outcomes with the clients and the communities they serve.

Enjoy our latest on COTE news (and follow us on X and LinkedIn). 

To learn about the Framework for Design Excellence (formerly the COTE Top Ten Measures), click here.

Check out COTE's history and timeline. 

Starting a local COTE or sustainability group and need some guidance? Check out the AIA COTE Network Resources here.

A big thank you to our 2024 sponsors: 
Founding sponsors: Building Green
Premier sponsors: Sherwin-Williams
Sustaining sponsors: GAF Roofing, Milliken, Andersen Windows,
BlueScope Buildings
Green sponsors: EPIC Metals
Allied sponsors: TLC Engineering, Sierra Pacific Windows

  • 1.  APT Conference and Sustainable Preservation

    Posted 09-19-2017 10:59 AM

    Is anyone here attending this year's APT Conference in Ottawa, from October 11-14? It promises to be a very exciting conference (this year co-hosted with the National Trust for Canada), and there will be a number of great events and papers related to sustainable preservation.

     

    Of particular interest this year is the Special Keynote Joint Plenary: Historic  Buildings and the Race to Net-Zero Carbon.

    Plenary speakers: 2018 AIA President-Elect Carl Elefante, FAIA, and Edward Mazria, the founder and CEO of Architecture 2030.

     

    Plenary synopsis: The COP 21 Paris Agreement binds virtually all nations to a common cause to combat climate change, with targets to achieve zero net carbon in the building sector by 2050. Historic preservation professionals have the knowledge and skills to lead the sustainable rehabilitation of all existing buildings. Will historic buildings be exemplars or get left behind? Join us for a compelling conversation between these two thought leaders as they grapple with the elephant in the room.

     

    Please reach out to us in the TC-SP. We have a very active membership, and would love to introduce you to the full array of TC-SP activities!

     

    APT: http://www.apti.org

    Conference: http://www.heritageconference2017.com/

    See you in Ottawa!

     

     

    Cory Trembath Rouillard, AIA, LEED AP

    Co-Chair, APT Technical Committee on Sustainable Preservation

    Associate Partner

    JAN HIRD POKORNY ASSOCIATES, INC.

     

    39 West 37th Street, Floor 12A

    New York, NY 10018

    T: 212-759-6462, Ext. 13 

    E-Mail: rouillard@jhpokorny.com

     



  • 2.  RE: APT Conference and Sustainable Preservation

    Posted 09-21-2017 04:14 PM

    I am interested in approaches that can be realistically applied to existing buildings. Since we only replace a small percentage of our building stock in a given year, improving existing building performance is an essential part of reaching built environment performance goals.

     

    Don Wheat, AIA, LEED AP

    Senior Vice President - Public & Private Projects

    The Pizzuti Companies



    CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic message transmission, together with any attachments, contains information from The Pizzuti Companies that may be legally privileged, confidential, and exempt from disclosure. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, dissemination, distribution, copying, or use of the contents of this message, or any attachment, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic transmission in error, please notify the original sender by return e-mail and delete this message, along with any attachments, from your computer systems. In addition, please be aware that any message addressed to our domain is subject to archiving and review by persons other than the intended recipient..





  • 3.  RE: APT Conference and Sustainable Preservation

    Posted 09-25-2017 10:08 AM
    Don: I agree with you - we can make the greatest difference  in so many ways through improvements to the existing building stock. That's the driving force behind the City Energy project and other initiatives focused on building emissions reduction. One useful resource from the  AIA is the Deep Energy Retrofit Guide here: https://www.aia.org/resources/8081-deep-energy-retrofits-rfp-guidelines:41
    As the AIA 2018 President Carl Elefante has said "the most sustainable building is an existing buidling." (or something to that effect.)
    thanks.

    ------------------------------
    Mary Ann Lazarus FAIA
    Principal
    MALeco, LLC
    Saint Louis MO
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: APT Conference and Sustainable Preservation

    Posted 09-25-2017 05:23 PM

    The commissioning (Cx) of existing buildings is a good place to start for evaluating the condition and performance of existing buildings.  It should be definitely done for the repurposing of existing buildings, to help determine what should be kept or replaced.  It should also be done to help improve the performance of the building and reduce operational costs for buildings to continue as the same function.  Cx of the building enclosure is vital for the architect to know what the most effective methods and means may be to improve the building performance and meet the latest building codes.

     

    Blackburn Architecture

    George M. Blackburn, III

    M. Arch. + AIA + BCxA

     

    George@facade.bz

    972-416-4195 - Home/Office & 469-401-0794 - Cell

    2529 Quail Glen Road, Carrollton, Texas  75006-2012

     

    Building Envelope Performance Design Consulting

    Condition Assessment, Commissioning, Restoration

    Forensic & Diagnostic Architecture, Air Barrier Audit