With escalating climate impacts alongside a world-altering pandemic and major societal shifts, architects have reached a critical crossroads. Our clients, government, and our professional organization are prompting a redefinition of design excellence that integrates sustainability and equity as a new standard for the built environment. 

Join us for two morning discussions with architects, business, and government representatives to explore how design firms of all sizes and types can enhance their sustainable design leadership efforts, and thrive in changing times.

As part of the Symposium, a Virtual Exhibit on Sustainability will run throughout the month of October, and a panel discussion with the exhibit creators will be held on the third morning of the symposium. Join us for one, two, or all three morning events! 

DAY 1 REGISTRATION (2.0 LUs)
REGISTER AIA Member: $25 | General: $35 | Student: $10

DAY 2 REGISTRATION (2.0 LUs)
REGISTER AIA Member: $25 | General: $35 | Student: $10

DAY 3 REGISTRATION
REGISTER AIA Member: $25 | General: $35 | Student: $10

FULL 3-DAY REGISTRATION (Note: available on the Day 1 registration page)
REGISTER AIA Member: $60 | General: $90 | Student: $15

Note: All times are listed in Pacific Day Time (PDT)

Day 1: Wednesday, October 7 | 9:00 – 10:50 AM (2.0 LUs)

9:00 – 9:05 AM
WELCOME
Charles Stott, LEED AP, Principal | Stott Architects + AIASF COTE Co-Chair

9:05 – 9:15 AM
OPENING ADDRESS
Mark Chambers, Director | New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

9:15 – 10:50 AM
PANEL DISCUSSION | Leading By Design: Where do we need to go?
Design excellence includes beauty, health, equity, climate response, and much more. Join a conversation on the opportunities for architects to create a thriving practice centered on this integrated approach. This roundtable will consider how clients and government are setting new design and sustainability standards and how architects can play a more significant role in shaping their communities.

Moderator: Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED Fellow | Cameron MacAllister Group + Washington University in St. Louis Sustainability Program Coordinator

Panelists:
William Leddy, FAIA, Principal | Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects | Chair AIA CA COTE | Past Chair National AIA COTE
Christiana Moss, FAIA, Founding Partner | Studio Ma
Allison Brooks, Executive Director | Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC)
Renee Loveland, LEED AP, Director of Sustainability | Gerding Edlen

Learning Objectives (Day 1):

  • Explore the design, ethical and business arguments for a practice guided by human health, environmental and social justice concerns.
  • Hear design, business and government professionals describe their vision of design excellence, and how sustainability is central to those stories.
  • Learn how architects can play a more meaningful and powerful role in the conversations and outcomes surrounding human health, environmental equity and social justice.
  • Understand emerging local and state mandates and incentives that will drive business demand for sustainability focused practices and leadership in the coming years.

Day 2: Thursday, October 8 | 9:00 – 10:50 AM (2.0 LUs)

9:00 – 9:05 AM
WELCOME
Charles Stott, LEED AP, Principal | Stott Architects + AIASF COTE Co-Chair

9:05 – 9:10 AM
FILM SHORT | Virtual Exhibit on Sustainability
A short film highlighting the Virtual Exhibit on Sustainability and its creators.  See Friday Day 3 schedule for a morning roundtable session with the creators.

9:10 – 10:40 AM
PANEL DISCUSSION | Leading By Design: What can we do now?
Architecture firm success requires focused leadership and an awareness that sustainability is crucial to design excellence. Join a conversation on how firms of all sizes and types, including small and medium firms, can boost sustainability leadership to the next level. Discussion will include best practices to enhance sustainability and design literacy, effective client communications, and other key steps to elevate your firm.

Moderator:  Barbra Batshalom, Founder + CEO | Sustainable Performance Institute

Panelists:
John Delaney, LEED AP, Architect + Sustainability Coordinator | Koning Eizenberg Architecture
Jonathan Feldman, AIA, LEED AP, Principal | Feldman Architecture
Lisa Fisher, LEED AP, Resilience + Sustainability Lead, Senior Urban Planner | San Francisco Planning Department
Courtney Lorenz, LEED AP, Director of Sustainability | XL Construction

10:40 – 10:50 AM
CLOSING ADDRESS
Julie Hiromoto, AIA, Firmwide Director of Integration | HKS Architects | 2020 National AIA COTE Chair

Learning Objectives (Day 2):

  • Recognize the multiple strategies firms can take to enhance their sustainability leadership and prioritize design excellence, helping their businesses survive and thrive.
  • Understand how to communicate effectively with clients and the community about the many benefits of designing low carbon, resilient, equitable, healthy and beautiful built environments.
  • Learn best practices for enhancing in-house sustainability education and sustainable design literacy that will elevate firms above their peers.
  • Discover steps to promote early team integration and sustainability measures, including using the AIA Framework for Design Excellence, to realize project goals.

Day 3: Friday, October 9 | 9:00 – 10:30 AM

ROUNDTABLE CONVERSATION | Virtual Exhibit on Sustainability
Enjoy a lively roundtable conversation with the creators of the online exhibit that focuses on sustainable issues from a variety of perspectives.

SPEAKER BIOS

Barbara Batshalom, Founder + CEO | Sustainable Performance Institute
With a background in social psychology, architecture, and 20+ years of sustainability consulting, Barbra brings a unique perspective engaging the human dynamics of decision-making and creative collaboration to technical work. She works with local governments, corporations and institutions to create policies and programs that require green building and net zero communities and helps companies all over the world to institutionalize sustainability and improve performance and profitability. She helps companies of all sizes to set new goals, develop strategies and implement change management initiatives to move them from “random acts” of sustainability to high levels of success and effectiveness.

Allison Brooks, Executive Director | Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC)
Allison is Executive Director of Bay Area Regional Collaborative (BARC), a consortium of regional and state agencies working together to address significant challenges impacting the 7.8 million people, 9-counties and 101 cities that make up the San Francisco Bay Area. Created through state legislation, BARC member agencies include the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), and the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). BARC also includes active partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the State Coastal Conservancy and the San Francisco Bay Water Quality Control Board. Prior to joining BARC, Allison helped lead the national organization Reconnecting America focused on advancing equitable transit-oriented development (TOD) in metro areas across the US and across federal agencies. She also led the Livable Communities Initiative at the East Bay Community Foundation where she founded a national model of non-profit, philanthropic and public sector partnership called the Great Communities Collaborative to support equitable TOD across the Bay Area.

(Opening Address | Day 1) Mark Chambers, Director | New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

Mark serves as Director of Sustainability for New York City. He leads policy and programs to confront climate change and inequality, two inextricable threats to America’s largest city and our shared planet. An architect and urbanist, Mark leverages the power of public policy and design to enable a resilient built environment, where all New York City’s 8.6 million residents can thrive and quickly transition to a zero-carbon society. Previously, Mark served as the Director of Sustainability and Energy for Washington, DC. He holds a graduate degree in Public Policy & Management and an undergraduate degree in Architecture, both from Carnegie Mellon University. Mark is the recent recipient of the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum’s National Director Award.

Jonathan Feldman, AIA, LEED, AP, Principal, Feldman Architecture
Since establishing the firm in 2003, Jonathan has led its development into a residential and commercial design practice recognized for creating warm, light-filled spaces with an understated modern aesthetic. Jonathan is passionate about design that solves complex, human problems and is committed to creating solutions that significantly improve the way we live and interact with our planet. Jonathan’s work reflects an understanding of the elemental connections between buildings and their surrounding environment, whether urban or rural. “In addition to his Master of Architecture degree from the University of Oregon, Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College, where he majored in Astronomy and English. A registered architect in California, Hawaii, Oregon, Massachusetts, and New Mexico, Jonathan enjoys sharing his knowledge of architecture and sustainable design on panels and regularly serves on competition juries for local and national design awards, as well as the AIA California’s Committee on the Environment (COTE). He lives in San Francisco with his wife, two daughters, and an ever-increasing number of rescued animals.

(Closing Address | Day 2) Julie Hiromoto, AIA, Firmwide Director of Integration | HKS Architects | 2020 National AIA COTE Chair
Julie’s experience managing a diverse portfolio of large and complex projects to boutique installations transforms the built environment by synergizing research, systems thinking, and inclusive best practices. She balances business, design excellence and technical expertise while instilling her passion for socially and environmentally responsible design to our next generation of leaders through mentoring. A recognized national leader in the sustainable design community, Julie drives positive change through various organizations. Her work launching the Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE), chairing the AIA Large Firm Roundtable Sustainability Group, contributing as a WELL Community Working Group member, volunteering as a Living Future Ambassador, and as the 2020 AIA COTE® Advisory Group Chair collectively leverages the impact of designers, owners and operators on high-performance design and equity.

Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA, LEED Fellow | Cameron MacAllister Group & Washington University in St. Louis Sustainability Program Coordinator
Mary Ann co-leads the Cameron MacAllister Group’s sustainability consulting practice working with design firms to accelerate their sustainable and resilient design outcomes. Mary Ann is an architect with over 40 years of experience who served as Firmwide Director of Sustainable Design at HOK. In addition, she was the Resident Fellow on Sustainability at the AIA and authored the AIA’s Sustainability Leadership Opportunity Scan. Mary Ann has been active in the green building movement as an author, national lecturer, community advocate, and volunteer at the local and national levels. She served as 2017 Chair of the AIA’s Committee on the Environment Advisory Group. Mary Ann is also an Adjunct Faculty at Washington University in St. Louis and serves as Coordinator for the Sustainability Program at WashU’s University College. She received her Master of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis, studied architecture at Boston Architectural College and has an undergraduate degree from Mount Holyoke College.

William Leddy, FAIA, Principal | Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects | Chair AIA CA COTE | Past Chair National AIA COTE
William is a Founding Principal of San Francisco-based Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects (LMSA), the 2017 recipient of the national AIA Firm Award.  For over 30 years, he has been a national leader in the design of environments that celebrate our place in the natural world.  LMSA has received more than 175 regional, national and international design awards, and is one of only three firms in the nation to have received ten or more national AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Project awards.  Leddy has lectured widely and served as visiting professor at the Southern California Institute of Architecture and the California College of the Arts, as the Howard A. Friedman Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Pietro Belluschi Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Oregon.

Courtney Lorenz, LEED AP, Director of Sustainability | XL Construction

Courtney Lorenz leads the Sustainability department at XL Construction.  With 15 years of construction experience, she knows how to work “behind enemy lines” as an environmental professional to influence the outcomes of high performing projects. Courtney aims to balance environmental, social, and economic variables on all projects and at XL.  This goes beyond green building into supporting diversity of thought, increasing the impact of XL’s community investment, and increasing internal engagement in sustainability. Courtney holds bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Management and Spanish from Indiana University, as well as a Master’s of Environmental Management in Environmental and Economic Policy from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. Aside from work, Courtney has a passion for National Parks, and protection of wild places.  While she has 50 parks and 44 countries under her belt, she is eagerly looking to see the rest.  She is also a proud and avowed cat lady.

Renee Loveland, LEED AP, Director of Sustainability | Gerding Edlen

Renee is a sustainability professional with over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate. At Gerding Edlen, Renee leads the firm’s engagement in global sustainability initiatives and is responsible for ESG reporting including the firm’s annual Environmental and Community Impact Report. Renee manages all sustainability initiatives  and green building certifications across the firm’s standing assets and development projects, leveraging her experience in energy efficiency implementation and commissioning project management to optimize building performance. Renee also oversees robust and innovative tenant programming and community engagement that aligns with the firm’s sustainability objectives. Renee is a graduate of the American University in Paris and a LEED AP with BD&C and Homes credentials.

Christiana Moss, FAIA, Founding Partner | Studio Ma
Christiana is a founding Principal of Studio Ma, an internationally recognized architecture firm that designs inspiring environments for all. She studied architecture at Cornell and with the Pritzker award winner, Sverre Fehn. After working in New York, she moved to Phoenix and founded Studio Ma in 2003 with her partner in life and work, Chris Alt. Guided by holistic perspective, deep expertise, and shared passion, the studio creates the balance of joy within and function throughout. Together with forward-thinking clients, they transform ideas into significant spaces that create lasting connections between people and places.  Studio Ma is ranked within the top ten 2019 Architect 50 Firms and was honored as the 2016 AIA Arizona Firm of the Year and as a 2014 Architectural Record Design Vanguard Firm.

Charles Stott, Principal, LEED AP | Stott Architects
In practicing architecture, Charles Stott focuses on designing environments that respect nature, enhance place, and reveal the craft of construction, elegantly doing more with less. His architectural expertise ranges from adaptive reuse of historic structures to ground-up multi-story projects, with extensive experience leading the design of grade schools and higher ed academic buildings, multi-family affordable housing, community and institutional projects. As Principal at Stott Architects, Charles strives for design clarity, paying close attention to detail and systems, to material expression and to simplicity of architectural form. He has led collaborative project teams who have achieved national recognition for design excellence, including 4 AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green awards and 4 LEED Platinum certifications. Charles shares his professional passions and expertise with his peers and the broader community through a longstanding leadership role with the San Francisco AIA’s Committee on the Environment. He is a registered architect, a LEED accredited professional, and holds a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in architecture. When not inside, he is outside, enjoying the natural world.