| Volume 2, No. 5 - April 13, 2008
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Walk the Walk - Architects Leading the Sustainable Evolution
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There’s been a lot of talk about changes in our climate lately. CO2 emissions, dwindling resources, and energy usage are growing concerns in every walk of life. AIA Architects, in particular, want to address these concerns. We strongly believe that the time for talk has passed, and now it is time to walk the walk.
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The AIA has recently launched a new campaign and website to help both its members and the public take steps towards a more sustainable future. Information on the Walk the Walk campaign may be found at http://www.aia.org/walkthewalk.
The site offers a Sustainability Resource Center with sections for both architects and the public. It includes tools and resources on What Makes a Building Green, Where to Find Green Product Information, the Dollars and Cents of Green Construction, the Sustainability 2030 Toolkit, Advanced Energy Design Guides, the Measures of Sustainability, information on green building initiatives and legislation, and more. Information will be constantly added to the site.
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From the Bottom Up...
by Marlene Walli Shade, AIA
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PSA-Dewberry, one of several Dewberry companies, began its sustainable practice over a decade ago. It has seen exponential growth in recent years, driven in some part by the federal sector and its commitment to sustainability. Beginning first with the certification of the Dallas Police Headquarters which hit Gold in 2005 we now have a dozen certified projects and 44 accredited staff.
Much of what we have accomplished in recent years is due to an employee generated advocacy group which calls itself the Green Focus Group. This group of employees with an interest in sustainability cuts across all our disciplines; architects, landscape architects, MEP engineers, programmers, planners, facility managers and a wide range of others are involved. The group operates out of a special interest site located on our employee intranet. Each year the group sets a series of goals for the upcoming year, facilitates those goals through various activities and measures our results at the end of the year. We operate with virtually no budget and on mostly a voluntary basis, although some hours are absorbed as marketing.
Last year the group offered a series of six brown bag lunches on LEED® subjects and collected a "Sustainable Portfolio" of projects that is used by our marketing department. We assisted in creating a specialty page on sustainability on our public website and will provide updates to that site as our practice evolves. In March of this year we hosted a regional Carbon Trading and the Building Industry seminar in partnership with the Virginia Sustainable Building network that drew over 70 attendees.
Dewberry offers a bonus to any employee who passes the LEED® exam. As a company, we are a partner in the EPA Energy Star Program and are about to commit to the AIA's 2030 Challenge. We find that most of our staff wants to participate in sustainable activities. They understand the impact we as an industry have on the environment and how important their contribution is in effecting change.
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Wear Blue to Show You’re Green on Earth Day
by Debbie Burns
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Earth Day 2008, April 22, presents many opportunities to get involved with, show your support for and learn more about climate change and the built environment.
Architecture 2030, the nonprofit research organization founded by Ed Mazria, AIA, in response to the global-warming crisis, invites you to join the BYOBlue for Earth Day 2008 event by wearing blue on April 22 to signify your support for an immediate moratorium on the construction of any new conventional coal-fired power plants.
Visit the Earth Policy Institute to read more about the impact of coal-fired power plants on the environment, the recent initiatives to ban coal-fired power and possible alternative power sources.
Earth Day Network, with their A Call for Climate initiative, encourages you to call national leaders on Earth Day to implore them to do something bold to solve climate change. You can call the White House at (202) 456-1111 or Congress at (202) 224-3121. They hope to generate one million phone calls to lawmakers on April 22.
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Earth Day activities in Washington, DC include the April 20 Green Apple Festival on the National Mall from noon until 6:30p. Produced in partnership with Earth Day Network, this is one of seven festivals in cities across the US to call attention to A Call for Climate. The festival will feature environmental action, green technology exhibits, community leaders and live music.
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Going Green Doesn't Have to be Complicated
by Francie Fetzer, Associate AIA
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Something simple like turning off a computer monitor at the end of the day can make a difference over time. The co-worker who reuses all those draft documents as scrap paper instead of just crumpling and pitching them makes an impact. Walking or biking to work lowers one's carbon footprint, saves money and offers some easy exercise in the process.
There's a colleague in our office that collects plastic grocery bags from everyone and recycles them at a local food bank. Though not as noble, I like to think that even the orchid I have at my desk in some way increases the indoor air quality of the office.
Not one of these things takes much time or effort, yet has a positive impact on the environment. Check out the following links to see some great Green Tips.
The National Building Museum still has their Green House website up with a list of green tips:
http://www.nbm.org/Exhibits/greenHouse2/goGreen/goGreen.html
Geared for homes, there are some great product lists included:
http://www.greenhomeguide.org
National Geographic’s Green Guide:
http://www.thegreenguide.com/tips_tools
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Registration Has Begun for the 2008 Structures Seminar with David Thaddeus, AIA
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The Young Architects Forum is pleased to announce that Professor David J. Thaddeus, AIA is returning this year to conduct his review of the Structures Sections of the ARE from June 6-8. The sessions are at the Northern Virginia Community College Alexandria Campus. Registration is now open. Click here for the registration form.
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1812 N Moore
Arlington, VA
Davis, Carter, Scott Ltd.
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This past December the Arlington County Board voted to approve the first planned LEED® Core and Shell Platinum office building in the greater Washington Metropolitan area and the state of Virginia, 1812 North Moore Street in Arlington, Virginia. The 385-foot, 35-story office tower is being developed by Monday Properties and designed by Davis Carter Scott Architects. Among only a handful of Platinum rated high rise buildings in the United States, the marquee project will feature a high performance curtainwall skin with metal finishes and a black granite base, capped by a translucent pyramid serving as a new symbol of the Rosslyn skyline. Upon its completion, 1812 North Moore will provide 580,000 SF of Class A Office and Retail space with sweeping views of the Potomac River and the Nation’s Capital.
This pioneering project includes a ground-breaking community benefit package which will fund affordable housing programs, the renovation of the Rosslyn Metro Station situated adjacent to the site, and the adaptive reuse of an operating Dominion Power substation as a piece of world-class public art. Other transportation benefits include improved universal accessibility, bus circulation and new bus shelters. In addition to pursuing a Platinum rating for the Core and Shell, the 1812 North Moore project team is participating in the US Green Building Council's pilot program for LEED® for Neighborhood Development. As such, significant improvements are also being made to the pedestrian environment surrounding the site. Davis Carter Scott has been working with Arlington County and other Central Place redevelopment work groups in order to establish a unified streetscape, highlighted by walkable streets that coexist with buses and cars in a new attractive urban space.
Davis Carter Scott will be highlighting 1812 North Moore Street during an April 21st – 25th Green Development Symposium. The week-long series will feature various speakers, workshops and emerging sustainable building technology displays at their 1676 International Drive office in McLean, VA.
http://www.dcsdesign.com
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April 13 - Walking Tour of Historic Old Town Alexandria
Walking tour will cover the history of Old Town Alexandria as reflected through its architecture and urban design. Examples feature a full range of architectural styles from Georgian through Art Deco and the pedestrian scale of the city plan and streets will be discussed. This year's tour will also feature the historic Cromley Lofts, Virginia's first LEED silver rated sustainable condos, and portions of the proposed Parker Gray National Register historic district. Tour led by members of the AIA Northern Virginia Historic Resources Committee. 2 AIA/CES HSW LUs. Free, but registration is required. For registration, e-mail reservations@aianova.org.
April 14 - AIA Northern Virginia Board Meeting
4:30p-6:00p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. For additional information, contact the Chapter House at aianova@aianova.org.
April 16 - AIA Northern Virginia Lunch Series: Storage Solutions for Modern Workspace Environments
Noon-1:00p, at the Chapter House, 205 South Patrick Street, Alexandria. Program addresses storage issues related to commercial, institutional, and industrial facilities. Participants will be able to examine the different factors that limit storage space within today’s workspace environments; compare the storage capacity and costs of different storage equipment solutions; understand the concept and benefits of high-density storage solutions for businesses and institutions; discuss design considerations for your building plans; address how high-density mobile storage systems can assist projects in earning points towards the various LEED® rating system certification levels; and illustrate a variety of high-density mobile shelving storage system solution applications. Presentation provided by Montel, Inc. 1 AIA/CES LU. Please e-mail your registration request to reservations@aianova.org.
April 17 - Philip Johnson: Architecture as Art, at The Kreeger Museum
6:30p-8:30p, members of AIA and their guests are invited to join Dr. Erich Keel, Head of Education, for a wine and cheese reception, talk and walk-through of the exhibition, Philip Johnson: Architecture as Art, on view at The Kreeger Museum through July. The museum is 2401 Foxhall Road NW, Washington, DC 20007. The AIA Northern Virginia Chapter is co-sponsoring this event and is offering 1.5 AIA/CES Learning Units. Tickets are $30. For reservations, call (202) 338-3552.
April 25 - 2006 IBC: Solving Means of Egress in Commercial Buildings
8:15a-4:00p, at PSA-Dewberry, 8401 Arlington Boulevard, Fairfax. Organized by Virginia Society AIA. ICC Instructor Mike Perrone will provide the knowledge of requirements for means of egress including practice solving problems from a set of plans for a 4-story commercial building related to each egress issue. $170 for AIA members; $200 non-members. Includes an International Code Council workshop manual, breakfast and lunch. 6 AIA/CES HSW LUs. Details and registration form available here or contact Jim Walker at jwalker@aiava.org or (804) 237-1777. Registration deadline April 22, 5:00p.
April 26 - Seneca Quarry Hike + Tour
10:00a, begins at Riley’s Lockhouse adjacent to the Seneca Aqueduct. The Seneca quarries are the second oldest building stone quarries in the Potomac Valley with documented use beginning in 1790 and continuing until 1906. The tour will begin with the Seneca Aqueduct (1830), go to the ruins of the water-powered stone cutting shed (1874), to the oldest portions of the quarries on Bull Run (1790) and return via the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath. Hiking distance is approximately one mile. Robert Kapsch, Hon. AIA, retired National Park Service Senior Scholar in Historic Architecture and Engineering, will lead the tour. After the hike, participants can also visit the Seneca School (restored as a nineteenth century schoolhouse), the Poole Store (a general store since 1900) and the Upton Darby House (1850). Organized by the AIA Northern Virginia Historic Resources and Women in Architecture committees and the Association for Preservation Technology. 1 AIA/CES LU for the quarry tour and 1 AIA/CES LU for the Seneca School tour. $5 for AIA and APT members; $10 for non-members. For additional information and registrations, click here.
May 1 - Loss Prevention and Risk Management Seminar For Design Professionals
10:00a-4:30p, at the Beatley Central Library, Alexandria. This seminar will cover practical information to help avoid disputes and claims while increasing productivity and quality. Topics include: Building Information Modeling; Protecting Your Firm - Business Continuity Planning; AIA 2007 Documents: An Overview of Key Changes; and Where Does the Money Go? Make Money and Hold On To It. 6 AIA/CES LUs. For more information call (888) 553-8500, x3282 for Debbie Capallo or x3293 for Diane Kaintuck, or e-mail dcapallo@cbiz.com or dkaintuck@cbiz.com.
May 2 - 2008 AIA Northern Virginia Golf Tournament
8:00a, at the Algonkian Regional Park Golf Course in Sterling. AIA Northern Virginia's Fifth Annual Spring Golf Tournament. Proceeds from the tournament support the Chapter's scholarship program. For additional information and registration, click here.
May 13 - The New Frontier in Healthy Living - Seminar on Epigenetic Design
8:00a-Noon, at JE Jacobs, 1100 North Glebe Road, Suite 500, Arlington. Sponsored by the Continuing Education Committee and Women in Architecture Committee. Workshop will review the emerging field of Epigenetics, looking at how the body and brain receive, perceive and interact with the physical environment. Presented by Deborah Burnett, a nationally recognized presenter in the field of Epigenetic design. 3 AIA/CES LUs. $50, $40 for early registration before April 13, $60 at the door. Includes breakfast. For additional information and registration, click here.
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