Message From COTE Co-Chairs
AIA COTE Message from Erin Lauer and Elisa Rocha of AIA Oregon COTE
At the AIA Oregon Committee on the Environment (COTE), we understand buildings contribute to carbon emissions and environmental problems, while also being safe beautiful spaces for us to inhabit. In the U.S. buildings account for more than 30% of the carbon emissions¹, with construction and building materials contributing to roughly 11% of global emissions. We, as architects have a great responsibility to design for construction that causes less harm, that uses less resources, that emits less carbon emissions, and to design inclusive interior and exterior spaces for all to inhabit safely, with clean air, quality acoustics, clean water, and comfortable temperatures, to name a few. We have a great responsibility to design for both present and future generations and to share our lessons learned along the way.
While buildings may be part of the problem, we as architects have the solutions and the tools in our hands to design and build better. Within our committee on the environment, we collaborate as a community to share these tools and stories with you statewide. We advocate for better local legislation and policies. We carry this knowledge forward through our bi-monthly Digital Design Series contributions, through the annual Green Champion Summit, and through our building tours.
Please see the list of upcoming events below to learn how you can get involved and share your knowledge and tools, and we look forward to meeting you there.
COTE Tour of PSU Schnitzer School of Art + Design, Wednesday, July 15, 4-6 pm, with LEVER Architects
Meet at 1981 Southwest Broadway, pizza gathering at the nearby Pizza Schmizza to follow.
COTE Meeting: Virtual, Thursday July 23, noon – 1pm
And the third week of every month.
Structural Strategies for Embodied Carbon Reduction, Wednesday September 9, 4-5 pm. Event will be upcoming on AIA Oregon Events page. Part of COTE’s Digital Design Series, with KPFF
Green Champion Summit – Tools for Architects to Reduce Embodied Carbon and Carbon Emissions in Designs (Title and event upcoming on AIA Oregon Events), Monday, October 5, 4-6 pm, virtual and in-person event at PAE, To kick off Sustainable Building Week. Event description upcoming on AIA Oregon Events page. Presenters TBD.
Peacehealth Southwest Medical Center: information sharing and case study, Wednesday, November 11, 4- 5 pm virtual event. Digital Design Series event, upcoming on AIA Oregon Events page. ZGF, AEI, Brightworks as presenters
C.Scale Embodied Carbon Tools, Wednesday, February 11, 2027, 4-5 pm virtual event. Digital Design Series, event description upcoming on AIA Oregon Events page. Presenter is C.Scale.
The Brundtland Report Our Common Future defined sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.²
The AIA Framework for Design Excellence provides the outline for designing for future and present generations. We call for members to join us to feature their project(s) that successfully implemented the 10 principles of this framework or submitted for an AIA COTE Top Ten Award.