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The AIA 2013 National Convention and Design Expo
June 20-22, 2013
Colorado Convention Center, Denver
At the AIA National Convention and Design Expo this year, the American Institute of Architects is continuing a national dialogue within the profession on the value of architecture and the important role architects play as stewards of the built environment. Educational courses will highlight accessible design, working with clients and leadership.
The centerpiece of this year’s expo is the Town Square, featuring four AIA Expo hubs, or the center of the action. Each hub is designed to offer a distinctive experience. Through the use of technology and interactive networking events, the Town Square is designed to bring together emerging professionals and other attendees to facilitate the creation of solutions, idea and questions about where the practice of architecture should be going. At the Emerging Professionals Town Square, visitors can participate in social media activities, learn from product manufacturers, or connect with other emerging professionals. Architect Live, AIA Town Hall and AIA Colorado make up the other Town Square hubs.
Keynote Speakers
TOMS Founder and Chief Shoe Giver Blake Mycoskie, will give the opening keynote, “Conscious Capitalism and the Future of Business,” on Thursday morning from 8:15-10 a.m. As the person behind the idea of One for One, now a global movement, Mycoskie will offer his vision of humanitarianbased entrepreneurial leadership-inspiring us to be leaders in our firms and communities. He believes in the power to inspire young people to help make tomorrow better, encouraging them to include giving in everything they do. His hope is to see a future full of social-minded businesses and consumers, and his insights will inspire attendees to be better leaders in our communities and firms.
On Friday from 8:30-10 a.m., Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity, will present the keynote speech, “Design Like You Give a Damn.” Sinclair will explore the core passion of the profession-the desire to leave the world better than we found it-and how to focus that passion to tackle large, global issues within the build environment. He sustains his passion for helping improve the world, one project at a time, by tapping into the skilled enthusiasm of like-minded architects around the world.
General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.) Secretary of State
(2001-2005), will give the closing keynote speech on Saturday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Called “Leadership-Taking Charge,” General Powell will lay out some of the risks and rewards of being a leader. Having dedicated his life to serving his nation, General Powell’s insights will challenge attendees to lead the way forward in their communities.
Seminars of interest to Metal Architecture readers:
Utilizing New Daylight Modeling Technologies to Optimize Building Design and Performance
Thursday, June 20 | 7-8 a.m.
Program Code: TH113
Learning Units: 1.00 LU HSW GBCI
Speaker: Tim Metcalfe Sr., director of sustainable technology, Duo-Gard, Canton, Mich.
Daylight modeling displays the relationship between a building and the environment that surrounds it. It is a way to easily validate design changes to clients by visually and quantitatively presenting the benefits of the proposed design changes. Costly design changes can be avoided later in the construction process by implementing and testing changes during the design process.
Daylighting not only improves the performance of its occupants but also improves a building’s performance. And few components of a building hold as much potential as the building envelope- and as many challenges-for contributing to the sustainability of a building. This presentation will discuss how we can design with daylighting more effectively, eliminating costly factors such as solar heat gain and glare. Advancing technologies offer answers in materials and approaches that contribute unprecedented energy efficiency and economy with a building-integrated approach. Attendees will gain a thorough understanding of geographic integration and how the effectiveness of materials differs in different climates and the impact that has on your building. Participants will walk away with a better understanding of effective daylighting techniques that not only contribute aesthetic beauty to projects, but also directly affect energy savings and occupant comfort.
Daylight modeling can be used to ensure criteria and conditions are being met within a space for LEED credit. This is more important than ever in today’s building market-any manner in which an architect or engineer can decrease expenses both during the design phase and once the building is complete is vital.
Zero Net Energy Buildings: From Policy to Practice
Thursday, June 20 | 4-5:30 p.m.
Program Code: TH305
Learning Units: 1.50 LU HSW GBCI
Speakers: Daniel Bernstein, AIA, LEED AP, principal, Architerra Inc., Boston; Carolyn Sarno, senior program manager, Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP), Lexington, Mass.; and Mark Walsh-Cooke, PE, LEED AP BD+C, principal, Arup, Cambridge, Mass.
Buildings represent perhaps the greatest potential reservoir of energy savings available to us as a society, accounting for some 40 percent of our annual energy use. In recent years, a number of dedicated and resourceful practitioners have shown that constructing buildings that use no more energy than they are able to produce on-site-“zero net energy buildings”-is not only possible but also a practical and tangible example of our collective commitment to a clean energy future.
Yet zero net energy buildings remain, in large part, more of an aspiration than a reality. Recognizing the leadership potential of the public sector, the panel proposes that the road to full-scale deployment of zero net energy buildings starts with the facilities our states and communities construct.
The report “Roadmap to Zero Net Energy Public Buildings: Recommended Steps for the Northeast & Mid-Atlantic” was developed in collaboration with a group of regional building energy stakeholders and outlines key steps the public sector can take to facilitate the eventual broad adoption of zero net energy building practices. Ultimately the greatest benefit will come from greening our existing building stock.
However, the report focuses on new construction because it provides the greatest opportunity for immediate action with the added benefit of substantial long-term energy and cost savings. This presentation will highlight the conclusions from the study, including immediate “critical next steps” that should be taken now and “intermediate-term steps” for the next 10 to 15 years. To underscore these issues, the presentation will conclude with a “lessons learned” session from two current Massachusetts zero net energy projects: the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW) Building in Westborough, Mass., and the John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield, Mass.
AIA 2030 Commitment
Thursday, June 20 | 4-5:30 p.m.
Program Code: TH301
Learning Units: 1.50 LU HSW GBCI
Achieving carbon-neutral buildings by 2030 is no longer just a lofty goal championed only by sustainable design pioneers and mission-driven clients. Changing market forces, code-mandated high-performance building design, and construction requirements are beginning to shape the very fabric of the architecture profession. How are architecture firms adapting to address the impacts of today’s changing practice? To answer this question, this session will explore the firm case studies from the AIA 2030 Commitment-a national program that helps firms assess their operations and projects in relation to Commitment targets-developed by this year’s AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) Summer Research Scholar.
Cradle to Cradle: Communities, Buildings, and Materials
Friday, June 21 | 4-5:30 p.m.
Program Code: FR310
Learning Units: 1.50 LU HSW GBCI
Speakers: Stacy Glass, executive in residence for the built environment, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, San Francisco; Kira L. Gould, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, director of communications, William McDonough, San Francisco; David Johnson, AIA, partner, William McDonough + Partners, San Francisco; and Steven Zornetzer, Ph.D., NASA Ames Research Center Associate Director, NASA, Moffett Field, Calif.
This unique session will focus on applying the visionary concepts of William McDonough and Michael Braungart that were introduced in the book, “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things.” This panel will demonstrate how, over the course of 10 years since the book was published, policy makers, city planners, architects, and manufacturers have applied Cradle to Cradle design principles to achieve places and products that are safe and healthy, that continually reuse resources, that use renewable energy, that demonstrate the highest standard of water stewardship, and that operate with social fairness.
Those who embrace this design philosophy are truly leaders in systems thinking and sustainability. Cradle to Cradle design requires people and organizations to reorient their goals and strategies, employ innovation and creativity, prevent problems and waste from being created in the first place, use more comprehensive metrics, and engage all stakeholders in both the vision and implementation of a positive future.
This moderated panel will introduce Cradle to Cradle design concepts and how these concepts are being applied. Panel members will cover Cradle to Cradle concepts at each level of design
(communities, buildings, materials), provide living examples, highlight challenges and achievements, and offer participants insight into the application and practice of principles at all levels of engagement in the design process.
Participants can expect to learn how the Cradle to Cradle philosophy promotes human-centered design at all scales; observe case examples of how Cradle to Cradle is being implemented at the community, building, and materials scale from leaders in the industry; and understand how to apply these strategies to their own projects and clients to become catalysts for change.
The 2012 IgCC in Practice
Friday, June 21 | 6-7 p.m.
Program Code: FR404
Learning Units: 1.00 LU GBCI
Speakers: Roger Chang, ASHRAE BEMP, LEED AP, principal, Westlake Reed Leskosky, Washington, D.C.; Stuart Kaplow, Esq., principal, Stuart D. Kaplow, P.A., Baltimore; and Chris Morrison, LEEDAP BD+C, principal, Cunningham|Quill Architects, Washington, D.C.
The 2012 International Green Construction Code (IgCC) has been out for a year. What does that mean for practitioners? This seminar will explore the various opportunities and challenges that architects face in working with the 2012 IgCC. Using information and feedback collected from members and other building industry groups, this session will look at how the landscape of architecture practice has changed since the code’s publication. What is the IgCC really like to work with, from the architects’ perspective?
The session will also explore the realities of practicing under the 2012 IgCC, especially in terms of liability and the potential for additional services. Participants will learn how firms of different sizes are dealing with the code and navigating new relationships with code officials.
Finally, the session will address myths versus facts in what it means for communities to adopt the 2012 IgCC. How are communities responding to the code? How many communities have adopted the code, and what has that been like? Where are opportunities for architects to get engaged in the adoption process in their communities?
Information courtesy of the American Institute of Architects. To learn more, visit www.aia.org/ convention.