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Officers and executive staff of all eight Ohio components, along with representatives from the AIA Ohio Board participated in a planning retreat at the Maumee Bay State Park Conference Center on November 6th and 7th.  Led by incoming AIA Ohio president Jim Sarks AIA, the program focused on successful efforts and programs of AIA Ohio in 2014 as well as proposed new initiatives for 2015.  With ongoing changes at the national level, the two day program also reviewed the efforts of repositioning, the new governance model and ongoing efforts of the AIA and its Members Resources Task Force to develop new component operating criteria as well as an updated revenue sharing model.  

The event also included updates for officers and staff on the AIA marketing program as well as other national initiatives that are being refocused as the reorganization of the Institute continues.  With an effort to provide a higher level of service to all members, AIA components will be tasked to review programs and member events to ensure that new minimum standards are being met.  These standards are expected to reviewed by the AIA National Board of Directors at their December board meeting.  

2015 promises to be a year of change and adaptation throughout the Institute and AIA Ohio and all of our components are looking forward to continuing our efforts to provide a wide range of services and opportunities for all members.

In a specially called meeting on Thursday, members of the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC) named senior staffer David Chovan as interim executive director. Chovan, who currently serves as the commission’s finance officer, succeeds the current executive director, Richard Hickman, who is retiring from the post, effective Oct. 31.

Chovan’s appointment is effective Nov. 1; he will be paid at the rate of $107,640/year.

In announcing the appointment, OFCC Chairman Tim Keen said that all four senior staff members, also including Jeff Westhoven, Bill Ramsey, AIA and Craig Weise, AIA, were qualified and that he encouraged them to apply for the permanent position. Chovan, however, Keen said, is not interested in the permanent appointment — a circumstance he called “an advantage” as they move forward to identify a permanent replacement.

Keen also explained that there may be future special meetings called as he works out the process for selecting a permanent director — authority granted to him by the commission at its meeting last week. 

The 2014 AIA Ohio Convention has come and gone and the programs and events are now just recent memories.  We think that most in attendance would agree that they had a great time along with many opportunities to learn, network and enjoy the campus and downtown environment.  While the convention may be over, we wanted to share with you some of this years events through pictures.  This year’s conference has been described as a great success and we hope you were able to attend.  If not, the 2015 AIA Ohio Valley Regional Convention, The End of Normal, is already being planned for October 11-13 in Columbus, Ohio.  We hope  to see you there…  Click on the pictures below to enlarge.

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The AIA Ohio Foundation invites you to join us at the 2014 AIA Ohio Convention and participate in our Foundation Napkin Sketch competition.  Each registrant will recieve one napkin with their registration to participate in the competition.  We all know however, that we are architects, and we can’t be satisfied with just our first design, so…as part of a fund raiser, we will be selling additional napkins at the convention to help you demonstrate your creativity and artistic abilities.  The nice part is that there are no rules – well almost no rules.  Each sketch submitted has an equal chance to win and we have some great prizes.  Be the winner of an IAMAIA mug, or maybe an AIA water bottle.  We also have a moleskin notebook, business card holder and even an “I am an Architect” t-shirt.  Need more incentives?  We will also be giving away a copy of “Architecture, Celebrating the Past, Designing the Future”, produced by the AIA and edited by Nancy Soloman AIA to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the AIA. 

The awards don’t stop there, but here is where the rules come in.  This is a fundraiser and it is our hope to get as many people as possible to submit extra sketches.  With each sketch, we raise more money for the AIA Ohio Foundation which translates to scholarships for Ohio’s students of architecture.  In order to provide an incentive, we are establishing a few minimum “goals” to help us raise as much money as we can for the Foundation.  Our premium prizes will only be available if we reach those goals.  Our first premium give away is the DVD collection of the first season of Cool Spaces!, The Best New Architecture, hosted by Stephen Chung AIA and funded in part by the AIA.  Our top prize is an iPad Air, but we need everyone to participate and show us their best to get to this level.  Let’s have some fun. 

Judging will be done on Friday at the Convention and the prizes will be announced at the AIA Ohio Awards banquet that evening.  We would love to have everyone participate in this fun and worthwhile project.  The AIA Ohio Foundation is a 501c3 Non Profit organization that provides grants each year to Ohio’s architectural programs for student scholarships.  We need your help to continue to fund these efforts.  What better way is there to invest in our future, than to invest in our students? 

So maybe you’re not quite convinced?  We have one more incentive.  For those submissions that are judged to be most artistically appealing, AIA Ohio will publish a collage of the selected sketches on the cover of the AIA Ohio 2015 Membership Directory.  What better way to showcase your talents to your friends and colleagues within AIA Ohio.  Join us and help us support our students and our profession.

See you in Kent….

The House Manufacturing and Workforce Development Committee has scheduled a Sponsor’s Hearing on SCR25 which would prevent Ohio from moving from LEED v3 to v4 until the USGBC revises its development process or the state holds public hearings on the move.  The hearing will take place March 25 at 1:30pm in House Hearing Room 114.

You can express your views on this Resolution by contacting the members of this committee.

AIA Ohio, in collaboration with host chapters AIA Eastern Ohio and AIA Akron will be hosting the 2014 AIA Ohio convention at Kent State University on September 18 – 20, 2014. Working together with members of the profession from throughout Ohio, this year’s convention will be the first time that AIA Ohio has worked to bring its annual convention to the site of one of the state’s architectural programs.   

This year’s theme, “A Future Practice” focuses on careers, business and practice opportunities for those who are just entering the architectural profession as well as long time practitioners looking for ways to change their existing practices.  Hosted out of the Kent State Hotel and Conference Center, the convention will focus on the connection of practice to the academy as the profession is redesigned.  AIA Ohio members have a unique opportunity to participate in the convention by presenting a breakout session based on their area of expertise.  Click here for the Call for presentations site and submit your idea(s) by March 28 in order to be considered.  Presenting at the AIA Ohio convention adds to your resume, gives back to your profession, and helps to grow the next generation.  Join us!

AIA-Ohio is pleased to support the 2014 Ohio Construction Conference set for Thursday, March 13 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Ohio Union on the campus of The Ohio State University.

With 300 industry leaders expected to attend, the Conference is the largest professional education event in the Midwest. Gathering owners, facility managers, design professionals, contractors and suppliers, the OCC encourages the exchange of information about regional and national initiatives, as well as best business practices.

The one day conference features a variety of general and breakout sessions, including, “An Owner’s Take on Technology: Small Group Discussions Led by Local Owners and Design Professionals.” To wrap up a day of dialogue, Conference participants will sit with owners and design professionals at small roundtables to discuss challenges facing the industry.

Cost to attend the Conference is $255 for the entire day’s programming, meals and refreshments. If you can’t commit to the entire day, consider a half-day registration for $160 per person. Firms may also take advantage of a bulk discount for multiple registrations and get 3 full-day registrations for $550! All registrations are non-refundable but may be transferred to another employee at the firm.

For more information or to register, visit www.bx.org or contact Deb Murphy at the Exchange, 614-486-9521, ext. 215 or by email at dmurphy@bx.org.

HCR25, which would ban the use of USGBC’s LEED v4 in Ohio, has been heard three times by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.  Because a vote could come next week, now is the time to make your voice heard!  A vote by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee could occur as early as Feb. 25!

Proponents, primarily the chemical and forestry associations, contend that the USGBC process that was used to create version 4 was neither open nor transparent and discriminates against safe building materials such as vinyl, PVC, paints and Ohio forestry products.  They argue that when measuring state energy efficiency and environmental performance, Ohio should only use green building rating systems, codes and standards developed by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). They say many of Ohio’s chemical and forestry-related jobs will be lost if Ohio uses v4.

Opponents, including AIA Ohio, have testified that: 

• Banning LEED version 4 in public buildings undermines competition in the market-based economy, prevents innovation, and abandons a proven, consensus-based program that has delivered energy and water savings.

• LEED certification offers project owners a broad set of standards to choose from to validate that their project, in its totality, delivers measurable environmental benefits. Employee health, life-cycle costs, student performance can all be improved with strategies that the LEED programs reward and which drive market innovation and improved product options.

• LEED v4 encourages innovation in that the strategies that have been rewarded are now the “baseline” and incentives have been added to go above and beyond those.

• LEED v4 represents the natural progression of all standards to continue to improve outcomes, stay current with technologies and recognize success.

• Countering the charge that LEED v4 was neither open nor transparent, opponents described the multi-level committee process that included six (6) public comment periods prior to a vote of the USGBC’s 13,000 members. They noted that last fall the Government Services Agency (GSA), following an open and collaborative evaluation process spanning several years, and allowing for agency, public, and private sector input, recommended LEED v4 as one of two green building certification systems.

Time to contact your Senator as well as members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources.

If you don’t want to see LEED v4 banned in Ohio, now is the time to contact your state senator as well as all members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. 

 Go into as much detail as you like, however, at a minimum, ask them to vote “no” on SCR25.

 AIA Ohio President Elizabeth Corbin Murphy, FAIA, attended a hearing for the House Committee on Commerce, Labor and Technology on Wednesday, Feb. 12, to testify in favor of HB 379 – AIA Ohio’s proposed Good Samaritan legislation.  If passed, HB 379 would provide architects with civil immunity for services provided during a declared state emergency and 90 days thereafter.  Click here to read the testimony.