Committee on the Environment Community Blog

July 2025 AIA Corporate Partners COTE Newsletter Article: GAF Roofing

By Ellie Falcon posted 11 days ago

Strategies to avoid losing sustainability goals to budget considerations World Trade, Boston, MA pursued SITES, LEED and WELL certifications using a durable yet traditional roof assembly. You’ve likely heard this before: Your building ...

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Climate Action Advocacy + Government Affairs

By Lisa M. Ferretto AIA posted 14 days ago

Take Action with AIA 179D under threat in the Senate Direct link to ACT NOW Link to GAF Post Full List of Actions to take with AIA Running list to Safeguard tools & data (COTE) ...

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COTE Network Update

By Sean Costello AIA posted 29 days ago

It’s been a vibrant and inspiring summer, marked by the AIA National Conference and a range of impactful events throughout the past month. The COTE Network also hosted a lively and thought-provoking Q2 call on May 13th, bringing together voices from across ...

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Take Action: Contact Senators: Protect Clean Energy Tax Credits, good for communities and businesses

By Kira L. Gould Hon. AIA posted 30 days ago

Here's another way to TAKE ACTION to support healthy communities, clean energy, and thriving economies: If you care about clean energy, it’s urgent you contact your senators. Trump’s Big Beautiful Budget will gut the clean energy economy and clean energy ...

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Congratulations to the 2025 COTE Top Ten Award winners!

By Alyssa M. Murphy AIA posted 06-10-2025

The COTE community is celebrating this year’s Top Ten Awards, announced at the AIA Awards Gala in Boston on June 5. For more than 25 years, the Top Ten has become synonymous with the highest achievement in sustainable design excellence. Once focused on ...

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Letter from the Chair: July / August 2025

By Robin Leigh Ziegenbalg Puttock AIA posted 06-09-2025

Just as I started to plan this chair letter, reflecting on the incredibly intense past four days of the AIA’25 Conference in Boston , I was contacted by a reporter who wanted my response to the following question: “How do you regard the overarching conference ...

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Why Architects Should Speak Up to Protect ENERGY STAR

By Lindsey R. Falasca posted 06-09-2025

Click here to quickly contact your legislators and urge them to protect ENERGY STAR before Congress passes the FY2026 budget. As architects, our job is to design buildings that serve people and endure over time. Increasingly, that means ensuring ...

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Growing a Culture of Design Excellence at UTSA

By Kate Sector Assoc. AIA posted 06-09-2025

Growing a Culture of Design Excellence at UTSA Three years ago, I pitched an idea to the Assistant Director of the School of Architecture and Planning at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) , John Bagarozy: What if we could introduce ...

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Perspective: Energy Star’s Roots – the Foundation of the Green Building Movement

By Peter L. Pfeiffer FAIA posted 06-05-2025

Perspective: Energy Star’s roots – the Foundation of the Green Building Movement - Peter L Pfeiffer , FAIA The hallowed US Federal energy conservation program, known as Energy Star , has been in the news ...

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Citizen Architect (Just Do It)

By Kjell M. Anderson FAIA posted 06-05-2025

As a member of a State Building Code Council , I see directly how Architects can provide pragmatic insights that shape policy. Architects understand how buildings and cities are designed to make people’s lives healthier and better. Our knowledge of ...

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BOOK REVIEW The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook

By TIMOTHY Beatley posted 06-02-2025

BOOK REVIEW The Sustainable Urban Design Handbook By Timothy Beatley It is undoubtedly true, as the authors of this important book argue, that urban design (and planning) today play an outsize role in addressing the intersecting challenges of ...

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COTE Network Update - Q2 Call

By Sean Costello AIA posted 05-13-2025

Thank you to everyone who joined the COTE Q2 Call on May 13th! We had an engaging and insightful discussion centered around the important work that COTE local and state groups are doing every day. Your contributions and shared experiences continue ...

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apply to join the COTE Leadership Group & more

By Kira L. Gould Hon. AIA posted 04-17-2025

JOIN COTE: Apply this spring/summer ror the national Leadership Group If you have been in the COTE community for a while, or are new to our tent, perhaps it’s time to think about applying to the national Leadership Group of COTE, an AIA Knowledge ...

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May 2025 AIA Corporate Partners COTE Newsletter Article: Andersen Windows & Doors

By Ellie Falcon posted 04-16-2025

Climate-responsive, affordable design: A case study In 2024, there were 27 $1 billion weather events in the United States, so designing with climate in mind is more of an imperative than ever before. A new home in Austin, Texas makes a perfect case ...

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Letter from the Chair: May/June 2025

By Robin Leigh Ziegenbalg Puttock AIA posted 04-13-2025

As an architecture professor and practitioner, collaboration is part of my daily routine. I invite interdisciplinary experts into my classes just as I invited them to be a part of my design teams. If you follow me on LinkedIn , you will see that this ...

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Stronger Together: Collaborative Advocacy

By Joyce A. Raybuck AIA posted 04-13-2025

After dismantling federal climate and energy policies, the current administration is moving on to state and local levels with the release of an Executive Order that attempts to eradicate state decarbonization efforts. As noted in a recent New York Times ...

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Toward a Carbon Neutral Corridor - AIA Upjohn Sponsored Research by archimania

By Daniel J. Stine AIA posted 04-11-2025

Toward a Carbon Neutral Corridor is an AIA Upjohn Research Initiative project that ambitiously explores how aging, auto-oriented commercial corridors in Middle America can be reimagined as vibrant, low-carbon, and socially resilient districts. Spearheaded ...

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COTE Network Update

By Sean Costello AIA posted 04-10-2025

The Cote Network is excited to share an upcoming event If you are planning to attend the AIA National Conference this year in Boston! We hope that you can join us for a lively session of "curated networking" as the Committee on the Environment (COTE) ...

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Spotlight on Sustainability: Celebrating the Achievements of Local and State COTE Groups

By Lindsey R. Falasca posted 04-10-2025

This Earth Day, we’re proud to spotlight a selection of educational and advocacy initiatives from COTE groups at AIA state and local chapters that are making a tangible difference in their regions—proving that climate leadership starts at the local level. ...

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New Course Early ACCESS: April 1–23 Only

By Ellie Falcon posted 04-09-2025

Be among the first to experience AIAU's groundbreaking Design for Decarbonization series with free access to the inaugural course, The Built Environment's Carbon Challenge —for a limited time. This exclusive opportunity ends after April 22 (Earth ...

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