Get Your Sustainable Design Credits the Quick and Easy Way
October 15, 2009, 2–3:30 p.m. ET
October 22–23, 2009, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
October 21–24, 2009, Baltimore
October 23–25, 2009, New York City
Healthcare Design 09 (21 LUs)
October 31–November 3, 2009, Orlando
Capturing the Past for Future Use: Integrating Documentation with Repair, Design and Construction Practice in Historic Buildings Rehabilitation (13 LUs)
November 2–3, 2009, Los Angeles
An AIA Historic Resources Committee symposium held in conjunction with the APT Conference, listed below.
November 2–6, 2009, Los Angeles
November 11–13, 2009, Phoenix
November 17, 2009, 2–3:30 p.m. ET
November 19, 2009, 1–3 p.m. ET
AIA-member architects are required to earn four hours of sustainable design (SD) continuing education beginning in 2009. In a recent New York Times article, “Architects Return to Class as Green Design Advances,” architects made the case for the new requirement. The public’s growing awareness of the causes of climate change, including global carbon emissions from buildings and construction, has raised expectations that architects will provide the expertise that enables clients and all building occupants to leave greener “carbon footprints.”
Members can now find courses that fulfill the SD requirement—many of them online or even free of charge—on a new, continually updated AIA/CES Web page, among other resources. Here are five convenient ways to choose SD classes that can make a difference both in your practice and to the environment.
Option 1: Use the AIA/CES Course Advertisement Search directory to find courses based on your criteria, including topic, geography, and cost. In the “Course Search” column, use the pull-down menu under “Sustainability Design” and select “Yes.”
Option 2: Choose free video sessions. Of the 14 AIA 2009 Convention education videos available on demand, more than half provide SD credit. Mix and match from these options:
- The Art and Science of Designing to Net-Zero (1 LU)
- Focus on Firm Diversity and Global Practice (1 LU)
- Using LEED to Maximize the Benefits of Sustainability (1 LU)
- The New ADA Standards: What You Need to Know (1.5 LUs)
- The Beauty of Zero: The Design of a Zero-Energy Building (1.5 LUs)
- Building with Balance: A Greenpeace Co-founder's Perspective (1 LU)
- Green Building Envelope Design: The Role of Building Envelope Airtightness on Energy Efficiency, Durability, and IAQ (1 LU)
- Toward a Carbon Neutral Future: Making Dramatically Better Buildings Affordable (1.5 LUs)
Option 4: Check out your own state and local component offerings. The links on the right take you straight to your own components’ Web sites, whose event calendars may well include the best options near you.
Option 5: Each issue of ResourCES includes a list (see below)of national organizations’ events that offer AIA/CES LUs. Some upcoming conferences are completely devoted to sustainable design and construction.
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Which Courses Fulfill the SD Requirement?
In addition to other AIA/CES criteria for content and presenter quality, a sustainable design course qualifies for SD LUs if its content falls within the AIA Committee on the Environment’s Top Ten Measures of Sustainable Design or the 50to50 strategies developed by the AIA Board’s Sustainability Discussion Group. Those categories include
- Sustainable Design Intent and Innovation
- Regional/Community Design and Connectivity
- Land Use and Site Ecology
- Bioclimatic Design
- Light and Air
- Water Cycle
- Energy Flows and Energy Futures
- Materials and Construction
- Long Life, Loose Fit
- Collective Wisdom and Feedback Loops
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More Learning (and LU-Earning) Opportunities
These upcoming events (all offering AIA/CES LUs) cover a wide range of special interest areas, including sustainable design. Check the calendar of events on the AIA Web site for more programs.
Web Seminar—How to Be an Effective Partner in a Contractor-Led Entity: Learning Opportunities for Architects (1.5 LUs)
October 15, 2009, 2–3:30 p.m. ET
Evolution of the Skyscraper: New Challenges in a World of Global Warming and Recession (up to 12 LUs)
October 22–23, 2009, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago
Traditional Building Exhibition and Conference
October 21–24, 2009, Baltimore
Designing Learning Environments to Rebuild Urban America (12 LUs)
October 23–25, 2009, New York City
Healthcare Design 09 (21 LUs)
October 31–November 3, 2009, Orlando
Capturing the Past for Future Use: Integrating Documentation with Repair, Design and Construction Practice in Historic Buildings Rehabilitation (13 LUs)
November 2–3, 2009, Los Angeles
An AIA Historic Resources Committee symposium held in conjunction with the APT Conference, listed below.
Association for Preservation Technology Conference
November 2–6, 2009, Los Angeles
Greenbuild
November 11–13, 2009, Phoenix
Web Seminar—How to Make Inroads into Government Design-Build Projects (1.5 LUs)
November 17, 2009, 2–3:30 p.m. ET
Web Seminar—Carbon-Neutral Campus Architecture: Climate-Specific Design and Innovation (2 LUs HSW/SD)
November 19, 2009, 1–3 p.m. ET
Ecobuild America (HSW/SD LUs available)
December 8–10, 2009, Washington, D.C.