Inform Magazine

Structures with David Thaddeus
2022-10-08 09:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York)
Need a Structures Refresher? Check out this 2-Day Course
Oct. 8-9, 2022
Learn More & Register
AIA Northern Virginia is proud to announce the return of Prof. David Thaddeus to the Chapter to refresh seminar attendees on the critical topic of Structures. Digesting Structures: A Visual Presentation of Structural Themes for Aspiring and Established Architects is a virtual 2-day course taking place on Oct 8-9, 2022, and offering
12 AIA LU|HSW.

Embodied Carbon and Adaptive Use
2022-10-07 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual – Online
In a continuation of COTE’s Embodied Carbon 101 series, Virginia’s Historic Resources Committee presents “Embodied Carbon and Adaptive Use.”
Existing buildings represent significant investments in energy and resources, so it stands to reason that one of the best ways of reducing embodied carbon is to adapt and reuse them. Discover strategies for maximizing the potential of the already embodied carbon in existing building stock.
Earn 1.0 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Q&A with Past and Future Leaders of AIA
2022-10-04 18:00 - 19:30 | Zoom Virtual Meeting
Only 17% of all registered US architects are women and the percentage of women in leadership positions is still very slow.

Join us to hear from AIA National Past Presidents and the Presidents-Elect to talk about their goals, struggles, lessons learned during their term as National Presidents, and their advice to the upcoming leaders of the AIA.

Panelists:
· Kimberly Dowdell, AIA – AIA President-Elect 2024
· Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA- AIA President-Elect 2023
· Jane Frederick, FAIA – AIA President 2020
· Elizabeth Chu Richter, FAIA – AIA President 2015
· Helene Combs Dreiling, FAIA – AIA President 2014
· Kate Schwennsen, FAIA – AIA President 2006
· Susan Maxman, FAIA – AIA President 1993

Date:
October 4, 2022
Time:
6:00 pm – 7:30 pm EST

Online via ZOOM
Link will be emailed upon registration

Fee:
AIA Member $10
Non-Member $15
Student Free

Embodied Carbon 101: Process + Firm Culture
2022-10-04 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn how to integrate sustainability work into your firm’s standard practices and procedures.
In order to make true progress toward carbon reduction, carbon-thoughtful design must be part of the AEC industry’s standards and culture, instead of approached on a project-by-project basis. Hear from sustainability leaders representing a range of practices, including architecture, engineering and consulting, construction, and design/build firms who share the vision and infrastructure of their own firms’ sustainability and embodied carbon practice, and elaborate on how they arrived at a place where sustainable design and construction is built into their firms’ cultures. These leaders identify barriers to adopting carbon-thoughtful design and strategies for breaking down those barriers, including leveraging existing cultural and industry structures (for example: the AIA 2030 Commitment) and strengthening the connections between the existing values of firm leadership (for example: operational energy reduction; for example: materials and occupant health) and carbon reduction.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

AIA NOVA's YAF Happy Hour
2022-09-29 18:00
AIA NoVA’s Young Architects Forum is hosting a happy hour on Sept. 29, 2022 beginning at 6pm at Arlington Crafthouse. Join us and bring your colleagues. You don’t need to be an AIA member to participate in this opportunity to connect and engage with our design community. YAF is excited to meet all the local emerging professionals after such a long pandemic hiatus. Hope to see you there!
RSVP and let us know you are coming (Not required, but helpful).

Fluid Applied Roof Systems
2022-09-29 12:00 - 13:00 | Virtual – Online
Fluid-applied roofing and waterproofing systems are an emerging trend in the industry due to their versatility and the advancements in liquid polymer technology that enables these systems to provide sustainable long-term performance.
This presentation will focus on the cost-saving, environmental and performance benefits fluid-applied roof systems provide building owners and facility managers and key qualification and installation techniques to ensure their success.
Earn 1.0 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.
Presented by AIA Virginia in collaboration with The Garland Co.

Embodied Carbon 101: Making the Case
2022-09-27 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn how to speak with clients and collaborators about embodied carbon to demonstrate the value of and pathways to reducing its impacts.
Addressing embodied carbon in one’s practice requires strategy, communication, and collaboration. This course addresses how AEC practitioners can speak with clients and collaborators about embodied carbon to demonstrate the value of reducing embodied carbon and to provide pathways to reduce its impacts in projects and the environment. Learners will hear from sustainability professionals whose practices represent traditional architectural firms, large engineering and consulting firms, and small design/build practices who share approaches to reducing embodied carbon in cooperation with clients, including: managing client choices by selecting and presenting low embodied carbon materials and designs; marketing and external communications; making the economic case for use of low embodied carbon materials and designs; drawing parallels between embodied carbon and materials and occupant health; and developing mutual goals and values with clients and project teams from the early stages of a project.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Online Safety-Assessment Program (SAP) Training
2022-09-23 09:00 - 16:00 | Virtual – Online
Post-disaster Safety-Assessment Program (SAP) training provides architects, engineers, and building inspectors with the knowledge to provide evaluations of facilities and buildings in the aftermath of a disaster.
At the end of this training, you will be able to:

Recognize the important role architects and associated building professionals play in disaster preparedness, response, and recovery.
Accurately conduct a post-disaster rapid building assessment and complete appropriate damage assessment forms.
Demonstrate understanding of the Applied Technology Council’s ATC-20 Post-earthquake Safety Evaluation of Buildings and ATC 45 Safety Evaluation of Buildings after Windstorms and Floods damage assessment procedures.
Earn a Cal-OES registration ID card.

Fee: $105 members; $180 non-members
Earn 6.5 AIA LU | HSW
Register online.

Implementing the Guides for Equitable Practice
2022-09-22 08:00 - 17:00
The AIA Guides for Equitable Practice make the moral, business, ethical, and societal cases for equitable practice in the profession of architecture. They provide key insights to hear insights on how the guides can change firm culture and create an environment that nurtures retention and inspires limitless thinking. In this course, participants will discover recommendations on how to achieve goals found within the Guides through utilization in practice and as a resource in connecting these goals with the work of their firm/organization.
1 LU | Elective
Free
Register Online>>
Download the Guides for Equitable Practice
Learning objectives

Explain why goals and motivations play an important role in equity, diversity, and inclusion work.
Compare and contrast equity as an input with diversity as an output
Utilize the AIA Guides as a resource by using a variety of strategies to engage the material
Navigate through multiple AIA Guides to better understand a single complex issue
Connect the work of their firm with goals or prompts in the Guides

The presenter

Renée Cheng, FAIA

Renée Cheng was named dean of the College of Built Environments in January 2019. Previously, Cheng served as head of the School of Architecture at the University of Minnesota.
Cheng is a leader in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and advocates for equity in the field of architecture and in the practices related to the built environment. Recently, Cheng led the research effort for the AIA Guides for Equitable Practice.
Known for her pedagogical skill in designing classes and programs that empower students and integrate practice with academia, Cheng has twice won the AIA Practice Leadership Award. She has been named one of the top 25 most admired design educators in the U.S. by DesignIntelligence and an Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor and was elevated to the AIA College of Fellows.
A licensed architect, her professional experience includes work for Pei, Cobb, Freed and Partners and Richard Meier and Partners before founding Cheng-Olson Design.

Embodied Carbon 101: Certifications + Commitments—A Deeper Dive
2022-09-20 08:00 - 17:00 | Virtual – Online
Learn to evaluate and leverage certifications and commitments for the greatest impact.
Take a closer look at how embodied carbon is incorporated—or will be incorporated—into sustainability programs for the industry and how carbon-thoughtful design is streamlined or incentivized through these programs. The course begins with a look at the established AIA 2030 Commitment, its success in addressing operational energy, and its next iteration, which will include embodied carbon. The AIA 2030 Commitment discussion is followed by an introduction to the SE 2050 Commitment, which is an embodied carbon-focused commitment born out of the Structural Engineering Institute, to be launched in November 2020.
After looking at example commitments, the course introduces the International Living Future Institute’s Zero Carbon Certification, a relatively new certification that looks holistically at operational energy and embodied carbon. And, following Zero Carbon, the Passive House certification is introduced, suggesting ways that practitioners can account for embodied carbon while pursuing this performance-focused certification. Through discussing four major industry sustainability programs, this course will help practitioners to distinguish where embodied carbon is built into certifications and commitments, and where embodied carbon considerations might need to be engineered into design and certification processes for holistic carbon reduction. AEC practitioners will receive the knowledge to evaluate and leverage certifications and commitments for the greatest impact.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Technology + Cities: Reshaping the Urban Landscape
2022-09-13 18:00 - 19:30 | Virtual – Online
Technological advances are rapidly changing the urban environment and how we interact with it. From smart infrastructure to energy and transportation, architectural design must adapt to support and advance new and developing technologies. Concurrently, urban architecture is tasked with the goals to be human centered, inclusive, and equitable.
The movement of major tech companies to cities can have a large impact on the community. While providing jobs, revenue sources, and improved infrastructure, it creates a challenge in the development of public spaces featuring human centered design. This unique convergence of technology and design is exemplified in the design of Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus Academic Building One. Universities, as the cornerstone of communities, provide unique opportunities to shift the workforce to enhance technology within a framework sustainability, resiliency, and equity. Academic Building One, through its design process, is a model for transforming and improving civic and community infrastructure.

Join us for a presentation and discussion on how Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus Academic Building 1 is integrating technology into the urban environment in support of and service to humanity. The panelists will offer insights into their work and attendees will be given an opportunity to participate in a live Q&A.
Panelists:

Sven Shockey, AIA, LEED BD+C, Design Director, SmithGroup
Jamison A Caldwell, PE, LEED SP, Mechanical Engineer, Principal, SmithGroup
Liza Morris, RA, NCARB, Assistant Vice President for Planning and University Archtiect, Virginia Tech
Robert M. Kerns, AICP, Development Division Chief, Planning & Zoning, City of Alexandria, VA

Moderator: Brian Sykes, AIA NCARB, PMP, LEED AP BD+C, LEAN Green Belt, Healthcare Practice Leader, Perkins&Will
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|Elective
Register online.
Presented by AIA Northern Virginia’s Committee on Architecture for Education (CAE)

Embodied Carbon 101: Certifications + Commitments—Overview
2022-09-13 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Examine various aspects of certification programs including their incorporation of embodied carbon considerations.
Our built environment is not as sustainable, healthy, safe, equitable or inclusive as it needs to be. As design professionals we have the ability to address the global climate crisis and influence health and well-being. Health is a growing concern for homebuyers, designers, and builders alike. Building professionals are not health professionals, but we have more influence on people’s health than we may realize. We also have tools to help influence building systems and components which impact not only health, but embodied carbon and operation carbon outputs. The course includes comparisons of Indoor airPLUS, Enterprise Green Communities, LEED for Homes, Passive House, Living Building Challenge, WELL Building Standard, Fitwel, and the Active Design Guidelines. The course explores the benefits and drawbacks to using certification programs, looks at the influence they’ve had on code, and discusses their impact on our built environment—including the ways that embodied carbon considerations do or don’t factor into each program.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Embodied Carbon 101: Carbon Accounting
2022-09-06 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn the principles of carbon accounting and its application in design & construction.
This course introduces the process of carbon accounting. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the tool used to quantify the carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of a material or assembly. Presenters define the basic terminology related to LCA as well as summarize the process of life cycle assessment. Overall, the course illustrates how the principles of carbon accounting can be applied to design and construction at all scales, using the breadth of data and tools available.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

The Uncoupling Principle
2022-08-31 12:00 - 13:00
Examine the evolution of tile setting techniques, and learn the benefits and limitations of each stage of development.
1 AIA LU|HSW.
Sign-up now.

Embodied Carbon 101: Procurement
2022-08-30 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn about the important role of procurement in facilitating your carbon reduction outcomes.
This course focuses on the role that contractors and builders can play in reducing the embodied carbon in their work. Speakers discuss opportunities for carbon reduction at multiple project stages, highlighting the importance of a collaborative design and project team (including client) for diverse construction practice types—including small design/build, mid-size local firm, and large international firm. They suggest strategies for incorporating embodied carbon reduction into everyday workflow—from the discrete (e.g. contracts) to the broad (workplace culture and commitments). Procurement is essential to the reduction of embodied carbon—ensuring what is specified for reduced carbon makes it into the project, among other things.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

AIA Northern Virginia's Design Awards Gala
2022-08-25 17:00 - 22:00
AIA Northern Virginia’s Design Awards Gala returns to an in-person event this year at Capital One Hall in Tysons, VA. Tickets must be purchased in advance of the event. No tickets will be sold the day of the event or at the door. Purchase tickets now!
Additionally, limited spaces are available for gala attendees to participate in a tour of the venue and earn 1 AIA LU|HSW. Information on add-on tour tickets is available during the online checkout process of your gala tickets.
Event Schedule:
5-6 p.m. Tours
5:30 p.m. Guests arrive
5:30-6:45 p.m. Cocktails and Hors d oeuvres (7th floor)
6:45-7:00 p.m. Guests proceed downstairs into the vault, last cocktail, proceed into theater
7-8:45 p.m. Awards Presentation in the Black Box Theater
8:45-9:45 p.m. Desserts in the Vault
End by 10 p.m.

Embodied Carbon 101: Interiors
2022-08-23 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn about the embodied carbon impact of interior products.
This course focuses on the impact of interior product selection on embodied carbon work with an overview of some specific product types that are typical to the interior scope. It includes an introduction to resources for interior product information—including embodied carbon impacts as well as materials health. The course also looks at strategies for lower-carbon interiors, including salvage and reuse, research, and goal-setting.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Embodied Carbon 101: MEP
2022-08-16 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Managing embodied carbon impacts? Don’t overlook your project’s MEPs.
Though mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) systems feature heavily in conversations about operational energy, they are an often-overlooked element in the embodied carbon conversation. Learn how MEP contributes to a project’s overall embodied carbon, including the impacts of systems of different scales and complexity, as well as the effects of MEP replacement cycles.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Roaming Happy Hour Stops in Alexandria at Blackwall Hitch
2022-08-15 16:30 - 19:00
Join AIA Northern Virginia for the next in their series of membership happy hours that will be held throughout the region.
Join us August 15 in Alexandria at Blackwall Hitch, 5 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (map), to reengage with the Chapter, network with the Board of Directors and Committee Leadership, and make new professional connections. Bring a colleague if you would like — or make some new friends! Membership is not required to attend.
Register

Navigating Your Green Building Career
2022-08-11 17:30 - 18:30
Join a panel conversation about developing your own green building career path as a young leader by leveraging LEED and USGBC. Hear from professionals about how they navigate their career, from day one to plans for retirement.
Register online.

Understanding Window & Door Performance Terms
2022-08-11 12:00 - 13:00
Learn to select and specify products based on building performance requirements.
1 AIA LU|HSW
Register Now.

Women in Architecture Book Chat
2022-08-10 19:00 - 20:00
This is a shame-free book club: You do not need to have completed the book, merely show an interest in it.
Our book this time will be Pay Up: The Future of Women and Work (And Why It’s Different Than You Think) by Reshma Saujani.
Sign up now.

Fundamentals of Historic Brick & Mortar
2022-08-10 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Hear an overview of key characteristics of historic brick and mortar and the importance of using compatible materials in restoration. A panel discussion with a series of experts in the field will follow.
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.
Sponsored by:

Embodied Carbon 101: Structure
2022-08-09 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Just how much-embodied carbon is your project’s structure accountable for? And what can be done to reduce the impacts?
Structure accounts for a significant portion of a project’s embodied carbon. In this course, a panel of structural engineers and researchers discusses the positives and negatives, with regard to embodied carbon, of using concrete, steel, and timber each as primary structural materials. Panelists share ways to reduce and measure the embodied carbon impacts of each structure material–-through material makeup and specification, material reduction, material sourcing, and reuse.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Embodied Carbon 101: Envelope
2022-08-02 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Design your next façade system using embodied carbon strategies.
Envelopes are among the systems that have the largest embodied carbon impact on a building. Traditionally envelope systems and materials are chosen for aesthetics, cost, and operational energy, but embodied carbon is equally important. Learn how to apply embodied carbon strategies when designing your next façade system, including strategies for renovating existing buildings, insulation, and selecting cladding materials.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Mass Timber Products: A New and Emerging Sustainable, Carbon-Efficient Building Material
2022-07-27 09:00 - 15:30
This seminar will address the idea of wood use in construction from an engineering and architectural viewpoint. Topics covered will include sustainably designing projects using mass timber, the products and performance associated with mass timber construction, as well as the future of mass timber in the construction landscape. Speakers will cover building codes as well as lessons learned through mass timber and CLT projects in the area. We will end the day with a tour of the Apex Energy building in Charlottesville that was designed and built using CLT.
This course is available for 4.5 LU/HSW AIA Credits.
Register online

Embodied Carbon 101: Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs)
2022-07-26 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Learn about using EPDs to reduce the embodied carbon impacts of a project.
Learn what environmental product declarations (EPDs) are—plus how to write them, how to read them, and how to they can be integrated into your work to reduce the embodied carbon impacts of a project. Get familiar with the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3) tool, including its applications and the limitations posed by available EPDs. Learn what it takes to create an EPD—whether you’re a manufacturer or an advocate—and learn what to focus on when you’re deciphering EPDs that others have written. Get introduced to the concept of biogenic carbon and how biogenic carbon in EPDs can help you to select carbon-smart materials.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

Embodied Carbon 101: Basic Literacy
2022-07-19 12:00 - 13:30 | Virtual – Online
Build and refine your literacy in embodied carbon.
This course features an expert panel of AEC practitioners and researchers who define the embodied carbon issue and key terms and concepts—including health and sustainability implications. They provide information on data resources and rating systems available to support and execute embodied carbon decisions during design, specification, and construction. The panel also discusses how information on the embodied carbon and environmental impacts of building materials and products can be incorporated into design decisions and influence project outcomes. They use case studies to illustrate different life cycle assessment (LCA) types, structural systems, and implementation of embodied carbon design decisions through construction.
Presented by Virginia COTE with support from AIA Virginia’s Knowledge Community Grant program and the following sponsors:
SILVER
Mafi
BRONZE
Bamforth Engineers + Surveyors
Earn 1.5 AIA LU|HSW
Register online.

ARE® Prep: Construction and Evaluation
2022-07-16 10:00 - 15:00
Each year the AIA Northern Virginia Young Architects Forum organizes seminars for those preparing to take the Architect Registration Exam® (ARE®). The award-winning seminars offer the opportunity to learn from a professional in each discipline and use that knowledge in preparation for the ARE®. All sessions offer AIA Continuing Education credits.
5 AIA LU|HSW offered for this class.
.
Advance registration is required and all sessions will be held virtually until further notice. Information on seminar access will be sent the day prior to each seminar.
The registration fee for an individual session is $50 for AIA members; $75 for non-members.
Cancellation requests must be received by email (via aianova@aianova.org) no later than 5:00p on the Tuesday directly prior to the seminar. Class materials from any refunded session will not be provided. Additional missed sessions will not be refunded, but will entitle attendees to receive any pre-/post-session class materials which the instructors may decide to make available.
Individual Seminar sessions: For single sessions, advance registration is required by 5:00p on the Tuesday directly prior to the seminar. No refunds are available after this time. Class materials from any refunded session will not be provided.
Register online.

“As-Built” Pride Happy Hour
2022-06-23 17:00 - 19:00 | Barcode, 6 E. Grace Street, Richmond, VA
Calling all Richmond LGBTQ+ community members and allies within the building design and construction industry. Please join YAF RVA for our inaugural “As-Built” Happy Hour to celebrate Pride Month this June. “As-Built” is a grass roots initiative to create an inclusive space in which LGBTQ+ members can network and build a local, supportive community. Space is limited and registration is required.
Register online.
