At The Beatley Central Library, 5005 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22304.

In celebration of Virginia Architecture Week, Carl Elefante, FAIA, 2018 President of the American Institute of Architects, will speak about environment concerns and how architecture can make a difference.

2018 presents a changing landscape, as concerns over environmental decline, increasing atmospheric carbon, and competition for resources mount. At the same time, creative and courageous people are forging new pathways full of promise and hope. More and more research demonstrates the impact which the built environment has on many of the most daunting challenges, and also, how important transforming the built environment is in resolving them.

In 2015 and 2016, about 200 nations including the Unites States came together to address these issues head on. In December 2015, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was adopted, mapping out strategies to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In May 2016, Habitat III, conducted in Quito, Ecuador, adopted the New Urban Agenda which embraces the importance of urbanization in meeting human needs and correcting unintended consequences.

To achieve Paris Agreement targets and advance the New Urban Agenda, architects are called to retool how buildings are designed, constructed, and operated and to shape better lives for the clients and communities we serve: everything; everywhere; everyone.

Architects shape lives. By accepting the mandates of the Paris Agreement and New Urban Agenda, architecture’s relevance, value, and prosperity are secured for a generation or more. How will architects respond?

A reception will follow the presentation. 1 AIA HSW LU. $10 (AIA NOVA 360 Mentoring participants are free.) Reservations are requested below. Onsite registration is also available. The library offers free parking.
 

Carl Elefante, FAIA, LEED AP O&M, Principal and Director of Sustainability for Quinn Evans Architects, is design principal for a broad spectrum of architecture, historic preservation, and community revitalization projects. He is serving as 2018 President of the American Institute of Architects.

Known for coining the phrase: “The greenest building is one that is already built,” Mr. Elefante lectures nationally on historic preservation and sustainable design topics. He has served in many capacities in the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Association for Preservation Technology (APT), the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) National Capital Region Chapter, and many community organizations in the Washington DC region.

Mr. Elefante attended Pratt Institute School of Architecture and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Maryland School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation in 1980.

Mr. Elefante is a Fellow of AIA and APT.

For information on all our Architecture Week activities, click here

Organized by AIA Northern Virginia’s 360 Mentoring program, which provides opportunities for architects to connect, teach and learn from each other at all levels of their careers.