Archtober 2012: Historic Tour of Downtown with Morris Brown, AIA

Interested in the historic buildings of downtown El Paso? Well this Saturday, October 6th (tomorrow), there is a great opportunity to find out all you want to know. The AIA's very own, Morris Brown, AIA, will be giving a tour of historic downtown El Paso from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm. The tour will start in the lobby of the Cortez Building, 310 North Mesa Street, and will be a walking tour. 

Be sure to checkout all of the Archtober events!

-Cameron

Archtober 2012: University Medical Center Tour, Oct. 5th

Archtober 2012 is moving into full swing and in addition to Ken Gorski's earlier downtown tour, there will be another tour of the new University Medical Center project on October 5th. This project is one of the largest of recent in El Paso. Although, the addition of the east wing is just another step in the long history of the El Paso University Medical Center. A history that stretches all the way back to a 1915 two-story adobe building. The 10 story building includes a brand new postpartum unit and women's center.

Those interested should meet at the University Medical Center, 4815 Alameda Ave, El Paso, TX, at 2:00 pm for a 2 hour tour.

Also, don't miss the rest of the Archtober events!

-Cameron

Archtober 2012: Opening Reception

The AIA El Paso is extending an open invitation to the reception of Jan Wiebrun Dreher's "Imagine" exhibit & the AIA El Paso's Archtober exhibit. The reception is this Thursday, October 4, 2012 from 3:30 - 5:30 pm at the El Paso City Hall Community Exhibit Space, downtown.

Both exhibits will hang from October 1st - 31st.

You can check out other Archtober events here.

-Cameron

Mayor John Cook proclaims October to be Architecture month in El Paso

Today at 2pm Mayor John Cook will be proclaiming October to be Architecture month in the City of El Paso. Archtober is of course the AIA El Paso's big month, featuring tours public awareness and a host of great events to participate in. Be sure to check out the full schedule on our Archtober page. 

We thank the mayor and the city council for taking their time to recognize our profession. 

Below is the text from last years proclamation. 

PROCLAMATION, City of El Paso, Texas 

WHEREAS: The American Institute of Architects El Paso Chapter (AIA) adds value to the city, county and surrounding areas by creating places that enhance the quality of life through the built environment for all the residents of El Paso; and 

WHEREAS: The local AIA chapter is responsible for the design of many iconic buildings in El Paso; safeguards the culture of the region through historic preservation and aides in the review of local codes and ordinances in order to maintain the health, safety and welfare of citizens in structures; and 

WHEREAS: The local AIA chapter is one of the leading organizations in our community focusing on energy efficiency, sustainable design, urban planning and the importance of building technology merged with design innovations helping to improve our city; and 

WHEREAS: The local AIA chapter encourages citizen architects to take pride in and learn about the built environment, how it shapes our city’s progress, the ability to strengthen our regional cultural identity and quality of life through buildings, historic structures and neighborhoods: 

NOW THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED,  by the Mayor and Council of the City of El Paso that October 2011 shall be known as: 

"ARCHTOBER MONTH"

Be sure to spread the news and get to some of the great events this month. 

-Cameron

Don't Miss: Archtober - Downtown with Ken Gorski, AIA

This tuesday, October 2nd (tomorrow), there will be a tour of downtown El Paso by Ken Gorski, AIA. Ken is the discipline coordinator of the architecture program at EPCC. The tour is the first event of the AIA's Archtober month, so it shouldn't be missed.

Those interested should meet in San Jacinto Plaza at 10:30 am on tuesday. The tour should be about an hour and a half, ending around 12 pm. Be prepared to walk! and it is free.

For the complete Archtober schedule, head over to the Archtober page on our website, or just pay attention to the blog.

-Cameron

Tommy Fan's TAS Presentation

For those who missed it, or attended and would like a copy of Tommy Fan's TAS presentation, we have posted a PDF of it below. Tommy did a great job giving a talk on "Architectural Barriers 101" and all of us in the AIA thank him for his time and energy.

Tommy Fan; RAS, PMP, RMP, LEED AP
Email: tfanaec@yahoo.com
Phone: (915) 494-6668

PDF: Tommy Fan's September AIA Presentation

-Cameron

2012 AIA Firm Survey Available

The 2012 AIA firm survey is finally available, and as usual it comes with a pretty hefty price tag. But it does seem to be worth the money:

The Business of Architecture: 2012 AIA Survey Report on Firm Characteristics documents trends in the changing practice of architecture and includes benchmarks and best practices in all areas of firm operations. The report is based on responses from AIA-member-owned firms and it includes detailed coverage of important topics that will help you better manage your business, your clients, and your time, including:
- Firm and staff profiles
- Firm billings
- Construction sectors served
- Professional liability insurance
- International work

 The entire will report will run you $129.95 ($79.98 AIA Members) and is available here. You can also purchase individual chapter reports as needed. And a bundle of the 2012 Firm Survey and the 2011 compensation report is available as well.

There is an overview chapter available for the price of your email here. But we'll be digging into that and posting some info in the coming week.

-Cameron

Did you know? CEU hours count for IDP?

So I recently heard some rumblings around the community about how Associates never seem to attend the AIA meetings. I don't really want to get into the reasons why, (but that might be a good editorial later...) I do want to focus on what has changed recently that should encourage Associates, (and get Principals to encourage their Associates) to take advantage of any of the CEU opportunities we have been posting on this blog.

3 letters... I D P.

First, sometime over the past few years the AIA and NCARB finally got their act together and started recording CEU hours as IDP supplemental hours. While 1 hour here and there might not sound like much, remember we need 1,860 of them! And as an AIA Associate all you have to do is record your AIA number at any events that are awarding Learning Units (LU). Then simply transmit a copy of your AIA Transcript to NCARB to receive credit. (Probably best to do this on a yearly or quarterly basis.)

Second, Learning Units, that used to be only worth .25 IDP hours are now worth 1 whole hour. For those of you who can't do math, that makes them 4x more valuable today than they were in the past. Between you and me these changes changes were common sense, but let's just be happy they are here. So pickup a webinar, attend an AIA meeting or be sure to attend your state AIA convention. Every little bit helps.

P.S. We have quite a few events on Thursday. I'll be there for the AIA meeting.

P.P.S. Reason #1 to join the AIA.

-Cameron

For more information refer to page 20 of the IDP 2.0 Guidelines for more info.

AIA/CEU: Free 1-hr Webinar: Green Technologies and Design Methods for Historic Buildings

AIA/CEU: Dow Corning is sponsoring a free webinar focusing on of course "Green Technologies and Design Methods for Historic Buildings." What does that mean exactly? Well read the registration blurb below. if you are interested. 

Thursday, September 27, 2012, 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. ETThe reuse and retrofit of existing buildings are important tools for mitigating global warming.  By some estimates, it can take up to 80 years for a new energy-efficient building to overcome the climate-change impacts created by its construction.  However, greening existing buildings, especially historic ones, presents special challenges.  Strategies like window replacements or recladding can improve thermal performance, but may be at odds with the structure’s character if not carefully executed.  And although new mechanical systems can help an older building meet the comfort expectations of current occupants, such systems are often difficult to insert within historic fabric.  Join our panel of experts as they discuss these issues and identify strategies for the implementation of energy-efficient and historically sensitive building renovations.
Learning Objectives:1. Discuss the environmental value of building reuse and describe methods for quantifying this value.2. Describe the difference between embodied and operational energy.3. Discuss technical and financial obstacles to the energy-efficient retrofit of existing building and identify strategies for overcoming these obstacles.4. Evaluate retrofit options on the basis of environmental performance and historic sensitivity.
Introduction By:Saulo Rozendo, LEED AP BD+CBuilding Codes and Regulations Manager, AmericasHigh Performance Building SolutionsDow Corning CorporationModerator:Joann Gonchar, AIA, LEED AP Senior EditorArchitectural Record 
Panelists:Patrice Frey Director of Sustainability National Trust for Historic Preservation
Ken LevensonPrincipalKen Levenson Architect, P.C.Aaron Jon Hyland, AIAManaging PrincipalArchitectural Resources GroupCredit Type: HSW/SD

You can register for the event here: GT&DfHB Webinar

I'll be there.

- Cameron

AIA September meeting: Tommy Fan, RAS

This month's AIA meeting will play audience to an Texas Accessibility Standards presentation by Tommy Fan, RAS. Always a popular meeting, it will be held at the Greenery at Sunland Park mall at 11:45 am, Thursday, September 27th 2012.

Those of you marking your schedules will notice that it will be right before Eco El Paso, so be sure to arrive early as the meeting will have to begin promptly to give attendees at both events time to travel between them. Also be sure to RSVP with Emma Viramontes by noon on September 25^th, email eviramontes@team-psc.com or call 533-6811.

This event will be worth 1 AIA CEU credit in ADA.

-Cameron

El Paso AIA Golf Tournament Tomorrow!

Don't forget the 15th Annual AIA golf tournament is tomorrow. Presented by the Garland company, all the proceeds go to support the AIA Scholarship and Education Fund. See AIA Golf Tournament

-Cameron

Don't Miss: Eco El Paso

Be sure to sign up for Eco El Paso: A symposium on design in the hot-arid climate (That's us!) 

It will be this September 27th 1 pm - 6 pm at the UTEP Hilton Garden and is $60 per person. This includes a 1 hour networking session following a 4 hour session of speakers. The speakers include:

DOUG FARR - KEYNOTE SPEAKER - Farr is on the board for the Congress for the New Urbanism, a member of the LEED Steering Committee and was the inaugural chair of the LEED for Neighborhood Development committee. He is the founder of the 2030 Communities Campaign that seeks to reduce vehicle miles traveled. He authored his first book in 2007: Sustainable Urbanism: Urban Design With Nature.

MARTY HOWELL - City of El Paso Sustainability Manager- Nudge, nurture and nag the entire City enterprise to move towards sustainability.

GLENN HILL - Glenn Hill is an Associate Professor at the College of Architecture at Texas Tech University, Lubbock. He has a Master of Architecture in Energy + Design Specialization and is the Director of Design Visualization for the College of Architecture.

Some of the sessions will comply with The AIA+2030 SESSION X. 4 AIA CEU Available

There are sponsorship opportunities available. Check out the website: http://www.eco-elpaso.org

I won't actually be at this one... so be sure to go in my place.

-Cameron

Get Involved: Saving the Asarco Stacks

An article by Robert Gray over at El Paso, Inc. has some news for anyone hoping to keep the iconic ASARCO stacks a part of El Paso. The local Save the Stacks group is approaching its deadline to review the structural safety of the stacks. And although the have been able to fund the initial inspection, they are still in need of money to analyze the structural data. They have setup a website, stackpark.org.

This effort is certainly close to the hearts of some of our own. The group's president is none other than Geoffrey Wright, principal at Wright & Dalbin. And in November of last year AIA member Bill Helm penned an excellent piece for El Paso, Inc. making the case for saving the stacks. (You can read that here.)

I can't make any better points than Bill did, but I can say that in my opinion, we can't build El Paso up forward by destroying its foundation. If you are interested in supporting the group the best way for now is making a donation on the group's website contribute. 

If you'd like to participate a bit more than fundraising, we should be doing a follow up article in the coming weeks with information about how you can get more involved. In the meantime, keep spreading the word. 

-Cameron

Updated Calendar

Be sure to check out the updated Calendar page on our website. It includes links and instructions to subscribe to the calendars using Outlook or iCal.

Calendar Page

-Cameron

El Paso AIA Newsletter for September 2012

For any of you who might have missed the newsletter for AIA El Paso this month you can download a PDF copy here

AIA El Paso - September 2012 Newsletter

-Cameron