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 Guide here.A big thank you to our partners: Founding partner: Building GreenPremier partners: Sherwin-WilliamsSustaining partners: GAF Roofing, Milliken, ROCKWOOL, Andersen WindowsGreen partners: EPIC Metals, Compass DatacentersAllied partners: TLC Engineering, Sierra Pacific Windows
What do you get when you gather over 40 COTE leaders in an inspirational meeting space, divide them into small groups, and give them a little over two hours to save the planet? The first COTE Hackathon, of course. In years’ past the Wednesday before the AIA National Convention has played host to the COTE Summit, which was an opportunity for COTE leaders from around the country to gather and discuss the functionality of the Knowledge Community. For our 26th year as a committee, COTE decided to change up the format. During a three hour meeting at the office of Kieran Timberlake, participants were asked to come up with new, out-of-the-box solutions to assist COTE in meeting the Paris Accord, embracing material transparency, and advancing climate adaptation planning. All three topics were framed around a central question, “How does the intellectual capital of COTE collaborate with like-minded organizations to create more meaningful capital and messages?” The COTE Advisory Group will be discussing the ideas put forth at the Hackathon over the coming months, and summaries from each small group will be posted in future issues of the COTE e-newsletter. We also hope to follow up on the groups’ proposals at a future event. You may even see some new COTE programs or research come out of this event. For now, check out this Storify of Twitter chatter during the event from some of our participants.#CommitteeontheEnvironment #resilience #COTE #Hackathon #Seminars #MaterialsTransperancy #sustainability #Newsletters