STATE NEWS
Legislative Session
The Legislative Session in Olympia is running in high gear as legislators jockey to get their bills enacted by the March 8 scheduled close of session. Except for those with significant financial impact, bills had to have passed out of their house of origin by February 15 to remain alive. AIA Washington Council continues to track the following bills it supports (and several it opposes): the governor’s carbon tax legislation, a bill to increase funding for the State Building Code Council, bills to increase funding for affordable housing, and a bill to increase state funding for school construction. Read more about this year’s legislative session on AIA Washington Council’s website.
Shift Zero: Zero Net Carbon Buildings
In 2017, AIA Seattle was a founding member of a coalition recently renamed Shift Zero, an alliance to support zero net carbon buildings. The group is working to research and advocate for policies that will reduce carbon emissions from buildings in Washington. To date, Shift Zero has focused on: 2020 Building Challenge pilot projects; a zero carbon policy toolkit for use by cities and counties; a roadmap outlining the steps needed to reach a zero net energy building code; low carbon affordable housing tax credit programs; point of sale residential energy performance disclosures and upgrades; and property-assessed clean energy financing. Shift Zero is also weighing in on related legislative proposals being considered during this year’s legislative session in Olympia.
LOCAL NEWS
AIA Seattle weighs in on a new CEO for Seattle City Light
Seattle is undergoing a search for a new CEO of Seattle City Light (SCL); AIA Seattle asked members of Mayor Jenny Durkan’s search committee to consider qualities that can improve the agency’s partnerships with architects and promote the city’s goals more broadly. These include:
- Leadership and the ability to work across silos: a leader who will encourage and produce better coordination across city departments, especially with the Department of Construction and Inspections, to make sure SCL truly understands its impact to project schedules.
- Willingness to engage in long term visioning: a leader who can establish long-term goals for the city and then push to make that vision a reality. Importantly, this includes talking with public and private sector partners to find ways to achieve mutual goals.
- A focus on carbon reduction: SCL calls itself the “Nation’s Greenest Utility” – the new candidate’s mission and experience should be aligned with that branding and the utility’s stated goals for carbon neutrality.
- Strong communication skills and a willingness to engage in outreach to partners: a leader who encourages outreach to the private sector to make sure programs and incentives are communicated effectively, are fully utilized and are being adjusted as necessary.
GET INVOLVED
Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) Policy: Opportunity to Comment
The City of Seattle is hosting the following MHA-related events to provide information and solicit feedback. (Only events in February and March are listed. For future events, or more info on the ones listed below, check the city’s Event Calendar.)
MHA Open Houses by City Council District. Learn about MHA and how it will be implemented in your council district and offer comments.
District 5 & 6 – February 28, 6:00-8:00pm at Whitman Middle School Gym (Crown Hill)
District 3 & 7 – March 29, 6:00-8:00pm at Washington Hall (Central District)
City Council Public Hearings on MHA. Offer comments directly to councilmembers on MHA in general and specifically in your council district.
Districts 5 & 6 – March 12, Northgate Community Center Gym
MHA Lunch & Learn Events at City Hall. Learn the basics about Seattle’s MHA program.
March 16, 12:00-1:00pm, Bertha Knight Landis Room at City Hall, 600 4th Ave
The city needs to hear from architects about issues, like MHA, that impact the future design of our city. Please consider offering your comments in person or by email. If you need help planning your testimony, contact Kirsten Smith.
EVENTS
In the Public Interest: Redefining the Architect’s Role and Responsibility. AIA Seattle Emerging Professionals Travel Scholarship Exhibit. Opening Reception, March 1, 5:00-8:00pm; Exhibit runs thru May 26, 2018.
Save the Date: PPB Policy Pub Night. We’d like your input! Join us for the PPB’s first ever Policy Pub Night, an open discussion (no presentations!) on density in Seattle and how AIA Seattle can best impact Seattle’s affordability and livability policies. Wednesday, March 21, 5:30-8:00pm, at The Alibi Room in Pike Place Market.
For more information on these or any other topics, or to join a task force, please contact:
Kirsten Smith
Manager of Advocacy
AIA Washington Council & AIA Seattle
206-448-4938 x401 | kirstens@aiaseattle.temp312.kinsta.cloud
affordable housing and other public assets:
While any Washington resident is welcome to contact statewide elected officials such as the Governor, Lt. Governor, or Attorney General, typically the best way to impact state government policy is by contacting your personal state senator or representatives. Compared to federal legislators, Washington state legislators have much smaller staffs and therefore struggle to educate themselves personally about the myriad issues they must address. They welcome the opportunity to hear from knowledgeable constituents, and your input can matter a great deal at the state level. Choose an issue that you are interested in, track bills related to it, and become an advisor to your state representatives. Often, the best time to meet with your representatives is outside of the legislative session, when they are less busy and can focus on larger-picture issues.
AIA National maintains a dedicated advocacy team in the DC office to track and draft bills, coordinate with other organizations and mobilize member advocacy. AIA staff advocate for policies that shape smart decisions and encourage innovation; legislation that secures the future of the profession and allows communities to benefit from the value of architecture; and regulations and codes that ensure buildings and spaces are healthy and safe.
To visit DC, contact your legislator DC office well ahead of time, tell them briefly what you would like to talk with your legislator about, and request an appointment. When you visit, you will most likely meet with a staff person, not the legislator. Don’t worry; that’s often the best person to meet with, as they will know your particular issue better than the representative.
Legislators look to their constituents to bring information to their attention and to let them know how they want to be represented. Architects can play a key role in public policy debates and decisions on issues important to the built environment. Architects are both respected by policymakers and are looked to for technical knowledge on issues integral to the future livability of our cities.
Shirley Blumberg CM, OAA, FRAIC, AIA is a founding partner of KPMB Architects and a Member of the Order of Canada “for her contributions to architecture and for her commitment to creating spaces that foster a sense of community.” Recent projects include 20 Washington Road at Princeton, Fort York Public Library, the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre at UBC, the Global Centre for Pluralism for the Aga Khan Foundation of Canada, and the Centre for International Governance Innovation Campus, a winner of a Governor General’s Medal, an American Institute of Architects Honor Award, and a Royal Institute of British Architects International Award. Current projects include the Remai Modern Art Gallery of Saskatchewan and the Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. Shirley is a member of the Toronto Community Housing Design Review Panel and established Building Equality in Architecture Toronto (BEAT), an independent initiative dedicated to the promotion of equality in the profession of Architecture.
J. Meejin Yoon AIA, FAAR (b. Seoul, Korea) is a Korean-American architect and designer. In 2014, Yoon was appointed Head of the Department of Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Yoon is a registered architect and founder of MY Studio and Höweler + Yoon Architecture, LLP. Awarded the 2016 ACADIA Teaching Award, the 2013 Irwin Sizer award for Most Significant Improvement (and Innovation) to Education at MIT, the United States Artist Award in Architecture and Design in 2008, the Rome Prize in Design in 2005, and a Fulbright Fellowship in 1998, Yoon’s academic and professional work has been widely recognized for its innovative and interdisciplinary nature. She is the co-author of Expanded Practice: Projects by Höweler + Yoon and MY Studio (Princeton Architectural Press 2009), and Public Works: Unsolicited Small Projects for the Big Dig (MAP Book Publishers 2008). Yoon received a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, a Masters of Architecture in Urban Design with Distinction from Harvard University in 1997.
Dr. Vikramāditya “Vikram” Prakāsh is an architect, an architectural historian and theorist. He works on issues of modernism, postcoloniality, global history, urban theory, and fashion & architecture. His books include Chandigarh’s Le Corbusier: The Struggle for Modernity in Postcolonial India, A Global History of Architecture (with Francis DK Ching & Mark Jarzombek), Colonial Modernities: Building, Dwelling and Architecture in British India and Ceylon (with Peter Scriver, co-eds), The Architecture of Shivdatt Sharma and Chandigarh: An Architectural Guide. A Global History is widely used as a textbook and being translated into five languages. He is currently working on Deruralization: The Modernist City in the Age of Globalization(Routledge: 2017). Vikram has served as Assocaite Dean and Chair at the University of Washington. His administrative experience includes capital campaigning, strategic planning, institutional networking, and mentoring. His public service includes terms on the Boards of the Seattle Center and the Seattle AIA. Currently, he is the Director of the Chandigarh Urban Lab, and founding board member of GAHTC – the Global Architectural History Teaching Collaborative. He is co-PI (with Mark M. Jarzombek, MIT) of a 2.5 million dollar Mellon Foundation grants to develop the teaching of global history in the academy. Vikram grew up in Chandigarh, India. He lives in Seattle with his wife and three children. He loves poetry, and is a modern dance and theater enthusiast. Fashion and architecture, or Body-Architecture, is his newest passion, a transdisciplinary reimagining of the architecture of design thinking.
(coming soon!)
Alissa Rupp is a leader in the design of places for informal education and lifelong learning. She has focused her work on the creation of spaces where art, nature, culture and play intersect. As President and CEO of The Portico Group she led an international practice whose projects benefited people of all ages and origins, as well as cultural institutions of all scales. Dedicated to architecture as a force to improve and sustain public life, she has led the design of museums, gardens, zoos, and visitor centers. Most recently, she led the effort to merge The Portico Group with MIG, a multidisciplinary firm based in Berkeley, to further expand the combined firms’ reach in architecture, planning, landscape architecture and exhibit design on the west coast and beyond. She now serves as a Principal and Practice Leader in the new MIG | Portico, leading the firm’s work in creating innovative places for learning and discovery.
Tom Marseille is the Sustainability Director for WSP USA and Managing Director of the Seattle office. His passion is to deliver high performance, smart building solutions that are practical, resilient, maintainable, resource-responsible and consider the well being of the building occupants. An author and frequent speaker, Tom has served on the technical committee responsible for development of the first ANSI-accredited Green Building standard. He is a past Board member of the Cascadia Green Building Council and the Seattle Living Building Pilot Program TAG. Tom also served as moderator and presenter for the AIA+2030 Professional Series and AIA Getting to Zero Professional Series. He currently is a member of the AIA Strategic Advisory Council and Smart Building Task Force. Prior to being a consultant, Tom was a Senior Research Scientist for Pacific Northwest National Laboratories and Director for Honeywell’s Building Information Services business.
