By Brian A. Sehnert AIA, LEED AP
Past AIACV 2018 President
National AIA Strategic Councilor, Class of ‘21
Many of our members don’t know that the AIA Central Valley has had an active Committee on the Environment (COTE) for almost 25 years. What started with 3 or 4 members (Peter Saucerman, AIA and Bob Chase, AIA – you know who you are), has grown and gone through several iterations. You can bet that any Chapter project tour, film night, speaker, lecture, webinar, article, advocacy measure that had to do with environmental concerns, LEED Certification, renewable energy, advanced technology, resource conservation, healthy materials, etc. was fully or partially initiated by your Chapter’s COTE.
Throughout the years COTE has ebbed and flowed due to interest and/or apathy within our membership, the growth of the U.S. Green Building Council (which overshadowed COTE’s efforts for many years), fluctuating economies, and most recently apathy displayed by our membership, political insecurity, and the COVID-19 pandemic. I would be remiss if I did not give special recognition to Susan Rainier, AIA who led COTE for the last few years with valuable educational offerings, the Visionary speaker’s series and a reach beyond and connection to the Living Building Challenge and Regenerative Design. We thank her for her continued passion and leadership.
Since the beginning of 2021 a renewed energy has surfaced in AIACV COTE. New members have come into our community, representing several generations, who are actively advocating for the environment on behalf of our Chapter and our community. Multi-generational members who feel strongly about advocating for the health of the earth (animals, humans, and by reference the built environment). And, as a result, COTE is rebooting and flowing freely again. There are also many other forces behind this:
National AIA has increased focus over the past few years on the importance of architects as leaders of global climate change.
Advocacy throughout the nation and the state around this issue has become more united. AIA California COTE, our statewide organization that works to promote and validate our profession as a viable and important industry, has mobilized and brought together champions for the environment from every Chapter and created an active network of people and projects. The City of Sacramento and West Sacramento Mayor’s Commission on Climate Change convened task forces made up of community professionals, and the Commission and the Sacramento City Council are in the process of formally accepting their recommendations. There is a move by jurisdictions throughout the state toward reducing carbon emissions, implementing zero-energy requirements and electrification ordinances.
If you have read the first two articles of our local COTE series – The Urgency of Now – authored by Jamie Jang, Assoc. AIA you will begin to understand why “large changes as a global community” are needed to face some of the greatest challenges our world has yet to face–and why architects continue to have such an important role in this. In his first article, Jamie addressed COVID-19, The 2030 Commitment; prioritizing energy performance and working toward carbon neutral buildings; the second article describes in layman’s terms The Greenhouse Effect.
The goal of The Urgency of Now series is to support AIACV members in more readily understanding the urgency of climate change; better understand specific climate issues; see their role in the solution; and increase engagement with COTE as a resource. The AIACV COTE is preparing the “business case” as to how our members can further integrate this thinking into their firm’s principles, values and philosophy. The articles will continue to be released in AIA Notes on the following subjects:
- The Importance of 1.5 Degrees Warming & the Carbon Budget
- Architect Champion: VISIONARY: Ed Mazria
- Get Inspired to Create a Healthy Built Environment
- LPA – Local Sustainability Champion
- How You Can Become a Key Part of the Solution
Additional programming by COTE includes integrating sustainability and resilience into the AIACV Design Awards, assisting our members to better understand the 2030 Challenge, keeping our members informed on important topics and changes to the industry
In closing, we are all in this together and the challenges are all ours to overcome. There are many more exciting things to come. Heads up! Pay attention….
AIA Climate Action Statement:
The Committee on the Environment (COTE) works to advance, disseminate, and advocate—to the profession, the building industry, the academy, and the public—design practices that integrate built and natural systems and enhance both the design quality and environmental performance of the built environment. COTE serves as the community and voice on behalf of AIA architects regarding sustainable design and building science and performance.
COTE reflects the profession’s commitment to provide healthy and safe environments for people and is dedicated to preserving the earth’s capability of sustaining a shared high quality of life. The committee’s mission is to lead and coordinate the profession’s involvement in environmental and energy-related issues and to promote the role of the architect as a leader in preserving and protecting the planet and its living systems.