Committee on Design

 View Only

Community HTML

Via Aequalitas

Quick Links

Who we are

The Committee on Design (COD) was founded to promote design excellence among members of the AIA, the broader design community, and the public at large, both nationally and internationally.

2024 COD Conferences

Arkansas

April 3-7 | 21c Hotel | Bentonville and Eureka Springs - Registration is sold out.

Brazil

Thu, Oct 17 - Sat, Oct 26, 2024
Sao Paulo > Brasilia > Rio de Janerio.  Registration will open in late April.

2024 Sponsorships

Download the prospectus for Arkansas and Brazil opportunities.


2023 COD Conferences

Last year, COD held two domestic design conferences investigating The Authenticity of Place.  The first conference was held in New Orleans, LA.  View the short video of the venue tours and download the conference program book. The second conference was held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN, September 21-24, 2023. Download the Minneapolis guidebook and view the conference video

  • 1.  How to Design and Build High-Performance Homes!

    Posted 02-15-2021 10:17 AM

    High-Performance Residential Design Conference. Don't miss the Residential Energy Services Network's (RESNET) 2021 Virtual Conference Feb 22-24. The event is focused on sharing best practices in building, marketing, and selling high-performance homes. The event will feature a number of residential home builders who have successfully made the transition from building and selling standard homes to building and selling high-performance homes. They will share their real-world experiences, both the successes and the failures. The agenda covers the full range of topics on the subject. Including, how to ensure the high-performance products you specify are properly installed in the home! Even if your schedule does not allow you to attend the live event, register anyway. The content will be recorded and available through the end of 2021.

    Jonathan Reckford, Habitat for Humanity International CEO, will give the Keynote Address. The full conference agenda is here. Learn more and register here. Conference 2021 - RESNET


    Here is a sampling of some of the courses:

    NAV-5 Breaking Barriers in the Mortgage Market: How Fannie Mae is Leveraging the HERS Index to Build Sustainably Focused Mortgage-Backed Securities, and What this Means for our Industry* Knowledge Level: Advanced Finally, the HERS Index is breaking into the new homes mortgage market! This session will explore a program launched by PEG, Fannie Mae, and Ekotrope to allow Fannie Mae to package ENERGY STAR Certified New Homes (and other high efficiency homes at a later stage) into distinguished socially responsible mortgage securities. This is the first step in moving toward better mortgages for better HERS Rated homes, which will be a game-changer for the industry. Come learn about this initiative, including timelines, how to participate, and what it means for your business. Presenters: Ziv Rozenblum, Ekotrope; Matthew Cooper, PEG

    EPP-16 HERS and the Affordable Housing Crisis Knowledge Level: Intermediate Energy efficiency in affordable housing is equity in housing. With a need for over 7.2 million additional affordable housing units, how do we ensure the way in which we meet demand does not sacrifice quality for quantity? Habitat for Humanity registered over 1,000 HERS ratings in an 18-month period 2019-2020, what can the aggregated HERS indices and the individual data on how the lowest ratings were achieved mean for the high volume of affordable homes that will be produced in the near-term future? Presenters: Edwin Hensley, Habitat for Humanity International; Molly Berg, Habitat for Humanity International

    TECH-24 Improving HVAC Performance Through Novel Installation Methods and AFDD Technologies* Knowledge Level: Intermediate Residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) remains one of the largest sources of potential energy saving. It is estimated that more than 65% of residential HVAC systems have been improperly installed and are performing sub-optimally. Building America has funded seven current research projects to address these issues and improve the installed performance of HVAC systems. These projects include a national baseline field study to investigate the prevalence and severity of installation faults and combinations of faults, field validation of tools and methods to ensure a quality installation, and development of automatic fault detection and diagnostics (AFDD) systems to monitor installed performance and optimize comfort control. This session will present this ongoing work and how the various project approaches address the full spectrum of integration and installation issues impacting HVAC system performance. Through this presentation, attendees will learn how these novel installation methods and AFDD systems are being developed and field validated. Presenters: Lena Burkett, NREL; Lucas Phillips, NREL

    EEBA-2 Airtight, Done Right: Simple & Efficient Strategies* Knowledge Level: Beginner Since the 1990s residential buildings have shown dramatic and consistent improvement in their energy efficiency: Average energy use per square foot is down substantially, and so are average energy use per household and average energy use per household member. How do we account for this extraordinary progress, and what can architects do to continue to improve energy efficiency in residential architecture? Presenter: Christine Williamson, EEBA

    EPA-4 ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction Program: This is the Way Knowledge Level: Beginner For the last two years, you've heard about the ENERGY STAR Multifamily New Construction (MFNC) program. Since multifamily buildings with permit dates on or after July 1, 2021 will be required to use this program, rather than ENERGY STAR Single-Family New Homes or Multifamily High Rise (MFHR), you might be diving into the details for the first time. Visit this link if you need a refresher on the basics of the MFNC program. Join this session for a more in-depth review of the key differences in Rater responsibilities compared to Single-Family New Homes and MFHR, updates from Revision 02, and how the three certification paths compare (ERI, ASRHAE 90.1, and prescriptive). We will also cover the frequently asked questions related to the certification 2021 RESNET Conference Sessions process, training & credentialing requirements, common space requirements, Multifamily Workbook, the HVAC Design Report and Functional Testing Checklist, and the new QA Checklist for QAD's. Presenters: Asa Foss, EPA; Gayathri Vijayakumar, SWA



    ------------------------------
    Kevin Harris Assoc. AIA
    Director, Sales & Marketing
    AGS Stainless, Inc.
    Bainbridge Island WA
    ------------------------------
    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 2.  RE: How to Design and Build High-Performance Homes!

    Posted 02-16-2021 06:51 PM
    Interesting seminar! I hope the conference will account for advanced resource consumption and advanced system utilization in the future. Utilizing wood should become a premium in the United States, primarily because of the value of metal trades for developing US communities. Advanced materials and advanced HVAC technology, eg Magnetic Bearings in small residential units and plastic/frp stud wall frames, should be topics of discussion as viable options for the future.

    Sincerely,
    theDailyTrotter

    ------------------------------
    Seth Trotter Assoc. AIA
    Sole Proprietor
    theDailyTrotter
    Prescott AZ
    ------------------------------

    2024 HRC Taliesin West


  • 3.  RE: How to Design and Build High-Performance Homes!

    Posted 02-16-2021 09:16 PM
    Thanks for the comments Seth. 

    Emma from RESNET would love to hear your thoughts on programming. Her email info is below. She also setup a $100 registration discount for all AIA members. Use the code RESNETAIA when you checkout.

    Emma Bennett
    Standards & Events Manager
    emma@resnet.us





    2024 HRC Taliesin West