Committee on the Environment

Greetings, AIA COTE:

For anyone who signed the recent "Open Letter from the AIA Committee on the Environment", here's a good next step: The AIA needs our sustainable design and advocacy communities to work together.   

2018 AIA President Carl Elefante was kind enough to post a link to this survey on his Facebook page. Please give it a look and reply. Why bother? Here's my pitch: This survey is used by AIA Advocacy every year to get a sense where the membership is on issues of national importance. Historically, it has included topics like reducing tax rates on architecture firms and making it easier for Members to get access to Federal contracts. But this year's version (thank you, Carl), has been augmented by criteria that are not usually present . . . things like energy efficiency & reduction of carbon remissions, resilient cities, liveable communities, and (gasp!) defending human & civil rights.

If we want the AIA to support these core values by taking strong positions with our elected officials in Washington DC to oppose appointments, polices, and legislative action that may (as early signs indicate) threaten them, this survey is how we send that message.

Take special note of the first sliding scale question. It asks us to respond broadly to the Institute's advocacy priorities: should they be all about serving our business interests, or should they be all about the value of design and architecture's impact on people and the environment? Clearly, this isn't an either/or choice. But based on my many years of attending (what used to be) the national advocacy summit called "AIA Grassroots", the people who are focused on governmental advocacy and respond to this survey every year tend to put the focus on our business interests. Further, those of us who work in larger cities interact mostly with our local AIA Chapters. If we focus only on the work of our Chapters, our voices are not heard at AIA National.  

So please take this survey. A link is below. I also recommend taking full advantage of the "other comments" sections. I find the multiple-choice options distressingly narrow in their scope. If you agree, you can use the comments field to elaborate. Thank you. - MD

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GLBM3FL

------------------------------
Michael Davis FAIA
Principal
Bergmeyer Associates, Inc.
Boston MA
------------------------------

Original Message------

Greetings, AIA COTE:

For anyone who signed the recent "Open Letter from the AIA Committee on the Environment", here's a good next step: The AIA needs our sustainable design and advocacy communities to work together.   

2018 AIA President Carl Elefante was kind enough to post a link to this survey on his Facebook page. Please give it a look and reply. Why bother? Here's my pitch: This survey is used by AIA Advocacy every year to get a sense where the membership is on issues of national importance. Historically, it has included topics like reducing tax rates on architecture firms and making it easier for Members to get access to Federal contracts. But this year's version (thank you, Carl), has been augmented by criteria that are not usually present . . . things like energy efficiency & reduction of carbon remissions, resilient cities, liveable communities, and (gasp!) defending human & civil rights.

If we want the AIA to support these core values by taking strong positions with our elected officials in Washington DC to oppose appointments, polices, and legislative action that may (as early signs indicate) threaten them, this survey is how we send that message.

Take special note of the first sliding scale question. It asks us to respond broadly to the Institute's advocacy priorities: should they be all about serving our business interests, or should they be all about the value of design and architecture's impact on people and the environment? Clearly, this isn't an either/or choice. But based on my many years of attending (what used to be) the national advocacy summit called "AIA Grassroots", the people who are focused on governmental advocacy and respond to this survey every year tend to put the focus on our business interests. Further, those of us who work in larger cities interact mostly with our local AIA Chapters. If we focus only on the work of our Chapters, our voices are not heard at AIA National.  

So please take this survey. A link is below. I also recommend taking full advantage of the "other comments" sections. I find the multiple-choice options distressingly narrow in their scope. If you agree, you can use the comments field to elaborate. Thank you. - MD

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GLBM3FL

------------------------------
Michael Davis FAIA
Principal
Bergmeyer Associates, Inc.
Boston MA
------------------------------