October 2008

A Chapter of The American
Institute of Architects

AIA Central New York
109 South Warren Street Store 11
Syracuse, New York 13202
Ph 315-475-8563 fax 315-475-8563

aiacny@verizon.net

AIA CNY
www.aiacny.org

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

HOURS FOR RESOURCE CENTER

8am-1p.m. Monday - Thursday

AIACNY Resource Center Director…
Wendy Odom
Email:  aiacny@verizon.net

NEWSLETTER STAFF

Editor.................Richard T.Lafferty
Coordinating Editor....NeelGarofano
Publisher..................Scott Soules
Electronic Newsletter .. Scott Soules

ARTICLE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS THE 15TH OF EACH MONTH. If you would like to submit an article or announcement to the newsletter please send your information via email to: ncg@dalpos.com attn: Neel Garofano or call 422-0201. All information should be checked for spelling and grammar prior to submitting. 

WWW.AIACNY.ORG

AIA Documents

The Architecture Resource Center has discontinued AIA document sales as of May 1st of 2006.  The AIA Documents may be purchased from the Rochester chapter of the American Institute of Architects.  To obtain copies of AIA documents from the Rochester chapter please contact:
 
Linda Hewitt, Hon. AIA.
Phone: 585-232-7650
Fax: 585-262-2525
E-mail: aia@aiaroch.org
Website: www.aiaroch.org

• This month in The Leading Edge

• The Presidents Message

• A Voice in the Wilderness

• You Come A Long Way Arch!

• The Meeting Minutes

• Global Warming and the Architect

• Announcements

The President's Message

Joseph Piraino, AIA

October 2008 Presidents Message

I would like to thank all the firms that submitted this years entries for the CNY AIA 2008 Design Awards along with a special thanks going out to the Rochester Chapter for being this years Jury. There were 26 submissions in seven different categories with six entries winning awards. I can’t say who the winners are yet but I can say. Congratulations to all our winners. I was on a jury two years ago and it is a lot of work to review every submission and to decide which entry was worthy of an award. It was a serious responsibility and not an easy task.

As you all know we will be honoring the design award winners next month on November 8^th. As I stated in last months message the Awards Banquet Committee is working hard to obtain corporate sponsors and putting the final touches on what is sure to be a great party. I hope you will all consider attending this event. Invitations will be emailed to all the firms very soon, so reserve your tickets with Lisa Maynard as soon as you can. The cost is $50 per person and only $30 for all our Associate members.  We decided to reduce the cost for Associate member to increase their participation in our program events and to hopefully increase the number of Associate members.

We decided this year to take ten minutes out of the awards banquet to hold our Annual Meeting and the election of the 2009 Board of Directors. Julia Hafftka-Marshall, President Elect has been working hard to round out the slate of candidates. There were only four positions that needed to be filled. The first is Secretary; Tim Ebner has been our secretary for the past four years and has done a great job. Thank you so much Tim! Taking his place will be Stephanie Wright from Dalpos Architects, Stephanie has been an AIA member since 2005 and moved here from the Philadelphia are less than a year ago, she is a great addition to our office and will be a great board member. The second vacancy is the Director of Practice and Policies or should I say Directors. According to some Practice and Policies is such a big topic we need two Directors. This year Jamie Williams and Steve Busa will be the “Tag Team” Directors of Practice. The third position is Director at Large which was held by Ron Bagliere for the past two years. Thanks Ron for all your hard work. Filling Ron’s shoes will be Brenda Law from Syracuse University . It will be great to have our first Board Member from The Hill in many years. The fourth position and probably the most important and the one which is the most difficult  to fill is the position of President Elect. I am very happy to announce that Peter Sorber a partner with Lake Architectural will be the 2009 President Elect and 2010 President.

Thank you so much to Pete, Stephanie, Brenda, Steve and Jamie for stepping up to the challenge of leadership. Julia will be sending out the complete slate of candidates in next week. If there is any one who is interested in a position on the board or would like to be a committee chairperson please call Julia or myself, we are always looking for members interested in helping out.

SEE YOU ALL AT THE AWARDS BANQUET!!

Thank You,

Joseph Piraino, AIA

President, AIACNY

A VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS.....

by Dick Lafferty    

ARE YOU BEING SERVED?  
Life Long Learning

(Part 3 of a 3 part Series on Professional Education)  

We find so many providers of lifelong learning that give you information that you will never use.  Two prime examples of providers are NCARB directed by State Architectural Boards and Kaplan, a private group dedicated to educating architects, engineers and contractors for nearly 70 years.  (About as long as NCARB).   

A trip down Main Street and a New Guide to Building green are themes of the NCARB monograph.  The difference from the Main Street monograph and Building Green is the additional 23rd monograph Sustainable Design II or is it? Which came first Smart Growth II or Sustainable Design II? So many courses to choose from acoustics, envelope, codes, daylighting, community context, energy, fire safety, smart growth, improving performance, indoor environment, low slope roofing, mold and moisture, conduct, security, seismic, senior living, subsurface conditions, stainable design, wind and building failures all for the Central New York Architect with no mention of the New York State family of codes. There is no mention of local snow loads, frost protection, or the specific design requirements of Health Department, Dorm Authority and Education Department. These are left to experience and are not measured in LU, HSW, PDU or OPD nor accepted as life long education. Only the general public gains from such experience.  

LU and HSW, AIA credits can be gained by Kaplan packages. Environmental design includes sustainable design, comfort, climate and design with a practical guide to Feng Shui. Feng Shui, is it something you eat or a ying-yang? We hope all is well in the simple climes of central New York. Design review package includes sustainable design, comfort, climate and design, electrical systems, lighting design with an introduction to mold. If a building has survived for 100 years is it sustainable? What is comfort in the extremes of temperature in CNY? NFPA 70 addresses electrical systems as other NFPA standards for fire alarm and sprinkler systems that are the bases of the New York family of codes. Most molds are either green or dark brown and only a CNY architect living on the states highest peak may not have seen the phenomena. Those living near the Mohawk and Susquehanna rivers are very familiar with mold.   

Kaplan’s Building Codes and Safety package includes fire safety, land and building regulations, ownership, transfer, rights and restrictions, understanding zoning ordinances and building codes. If the architect is practicing in New York, every village, city, town and county has all of the above and clearly defined. Every state agency, authority and miscellaneous jurisdiction has a plethora of material as well as the bureaucrat to guide the architect on the right path. Every project processed by one jurisdiction should be worth 8 LU HSU for the architect, intern architect and other staff. 

Another Kaplan source, Construction Materials Review package provides masonry, steel construction properties and design walls understanding construction materials and methods and door window and glass materials and installation.  All in 8.5 hours, when such subjects in college take a minimum of a semester to comprehend. Is this an enlightening capsule or a bitter pill?  

Project Management Review Packages include time management, design quality, management and control, and construction cost estimating.  All these packages are available online to maximize your convenience.  If you are busy, nothing is convenient and if you are not busy, you can find more information on the subject for little or no cost.   

The list goes on with forty individual offerings and the promise of environmental assessment coming soon.  The design professionals set of four titles include New Risk Management for Design Professions, Financial Management for Design Professionals "The Path to Profitability", Strategic Planning for Design Firms and Project Management for Design Professional.  There are two piece d’ resistance "Planning for Disaster" and "Feng Shei" a Practical Guide for architects and designers.  Maybe if you use one, you won't need the other.   

There must be a measure to establish the minimum amount life long learning CEU’s for an architect. Numerical criteria is used to establish the eligibility of the Intern Architect and for the minimum qualified Architect. Why not for the mature architect?  

The State of New York has no limit and as long as the architect applies for a license 12 CEU per year is required. AIA requires 18 CEU’s per year until a member become Emeritus. AIA has the criteria that to become emeritus one must be a member for 15 years and be 70 years old. Taking this as a general acceptable minimum, 15 x 18=270 CEU’s minimum. Trans posing 270 to New York criteria it would take 22.5 years to gain to equivalent AIA standard. Atypical person becomes a Registered Architect at age 30, therefore if the architect is AIA it means 40 years of life long learning. A total investment of 720 CEU’s.and  translate to New York criteria it means 60 years + 30 = 90 before one can be a life long qualified architect. Pick a number any number from 180 to 270, but pick a number. And now you know why architects retire at 70!  

Is terrazzo a green material? What is life cycle of a sustainable building?  How much dirt is required to provide an energy efficient roof garden?  Where are the answers?  If I find them, how many LU HSW and POU's will be received. Of course this article could go on longer for life long learning for architects is like the old soldier paraphrase  "Architects never die, they just fade away." To quote Annie "It's a hard knock life?" 

Are there fewer architects who believe experience is the best teacher? It may be time to step back and look at where we have been and where we are going. Better yet, define responsibility of the developer, owner, code official and the authority having jurisdiction and use a torch to hold the fire to their feet!

YOU CAME A LONG WAY ARCH!  
By Lafferty       

   click here for PDF image

click to enlarge

MEETING MINUTES OF THE AIACNY CHAPTER BOARD MEETING:  July 10, 2008 and August 14, 2008. 

Opening of the Meeting:  This meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects Central New York Chapter was held Thursday, July 10, 2008 at the AIACNY Resource Center .  Joseph Piraino, AIA called the meeting to order at 12:15pm.

Click Here for Minutes

Opening of the Meeting:  This meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects Central New York Chapter was held Thursday, August 14, 2008.

Click Here for Minutes

GLOBAL WARMING AND THE ARCHITECT  

By Dean A. Biancavilla, AIA, LEED AP, Holmes King Kallquist & Associates, Architects, Syracuse, NY dab@hkkarchitects.com

THE NEW CNY CHAPTER WEB SITE

We are please to announce that the Central New York Chapter has posted a new web site at www.aiacny.org.  

In an effort to better serve and inform our membership, we have included information about the Chapter, the Officers and Committees, and contacts for Membership, Committee interests and new Chapter events.  

Many related links are also provided included the National and New York State AIA organizations, links to “Green or Sustainable” organizations and information, and links to Architectural education in the area and licensing.  

This newsletter will also be posted monthly on the website, and is accessible by clicking the “Newsletter” box on at the bottom of the page. We hope this website will provide another way of informing, serving and involving all those interested in the broad and important role of Architecture and Design in our world today.  

Please give it a try.  

Bob Haley

The league bowls on Wednesday’s beginning on September 10^th, at 4:30 (finish around 7:00) at Erie Boulevard Lanes in Syracuse.  

 Email: toc@dalpos.com

Your local AIA chapter is hard at work rounding up product representatives for luncheons and organizing educational events and seminars.  Currently we are holding review seminars in preparation for the ARE structures exams.  Anyone who missed the registration deadline can count on another series of seminars next year.  

AIA volunteers and architectural interns have met to kick-off this year’s AIA Architectural Explorer Post that will run from October 13th until December 1st.  Architects and Interns are welcome to join anytime and you may contact me for the schedule of workshops or for more information.  

In the month of October, we will be offering a 4-hour class on Basic Commercial HVAC Systems.  An announcement and registration form have been sent.  

In November, Eileen Clinton and a guest speaker will introduce risk management to LEED design from the insurance point of view, Wednesday, November 5th.  The AIA is also hosting the all encompassing Design Awards on Saturday, November 8th.  On November 15 and 16 Rochester is offering an ARE 4.0 format Building Systems Exam workshop.  Registration deadline is October 31st.  Keep an eye out for the registration form to be e-mailed soon.  

For the month of December, you can look forward to another all day event of continuing education credits from our friends up North.  The Canadian Consulate General will be introducing a new slate of presentations.  We plan to meet in the same location and provide lunch.  

In the hopper for next year, we are coordinating with CSI to bring to you a special educational presentation on masonry, presented by Michael Gurevich.  We are also coordinating with Robinson Concrete for a plant tour and possible social event.  And keep an eye out for another learning seminar to unravel the complexities of Doors, Frames and Hardware.  

AIA CNY is working to fulfill the requests of its members, and we are always happy to hear from you to influence what programs are made available.  Volunteers will always help to make any program better.  If you are interested, please contact me, and we can find a way that can help both you and the AIA.

Louis Boisnier, AIA
Architect

AIA New York Chapter Newsletter

The link to the AIA New York Chapter’s newsletter is: http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/newsletter/.

eOculus is issued through email every two weeks.

You may also search the archived issues of eOculus at: http://www.aiany.org/eOCULUS/pastissues.php

AIA New York Chapter’s public calendar is also a great place to promote both this Chapter’s events and other outside events: http://www.aiany.org/calendar/index.php

You may also self-list a program by submitting a form online at: http://www.aiany.org/calendar/submit.php.