The AIA hosted a January 11 meeting with other design and construction-related organizations to begin information sharing and a cooperative approach toward providing short- and longer-term disaster relief. For updated information, visit the Tsunami Victim Relief Center on the AIA’s Web site.

Better Business Bureau Offers Advice on Donating to Relief Organizations.
Due to emergency legislation passed by Congress January 6 and signed into law the next day by President Bush, donations made to tsunami-relief charities during January 2005 are deductible on 2004 tax returns. Following are tips on giving to organizations that help tsunami victims from the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance, which “collects and distributes information on hundreds of nonprofit organizations that solicit nationally or have national or international program services.” The BBB Wise Giving Alliance never recommends one charity over another, and selects charities for evaluation based on the volume of donor inquiries about individual organizations.

Winning Projects Bloom in the Camellia State
Alabama Council honors nine
The Alabama Council of the AIA selected nine outstanding projects to honor with design awards. The chapter stresses that their design awards program encourages excellence in architecture through the commentary of colleagues. Bruce Lindsey, AIA, head of Auburn University’s school of architecture, served as chair for a jury that included Doug Garofalo, FAIA; Daniel S. Friedman, FAIA; and Daniel Harding Wheeler, FAIA. The jury chose the projects for recognition based on the success with which they met the jury’s requirements, not in competition with each other.

Residential Remodeling Nearly a Quarter Trillion Dollar Industry
Home improvement moving toward the upper-end offers expanding opportunities for architects
Even with the ups and downs of the broader economy, growth in spending on residential remodeling and repairs has been remarkably steady. In fact, the home improvement industry has not seen a major downturn since the early 1990s. Remodeling expenditures by homeowners and rental property owners totaled $233 billion in 2003, accounting for 40 percent of all residential construction and improvement spending and more than 2 percent of the U.S. economy.

Architect WAtch
AIA Atlanta Presents Tony Aeck with Ivan Allen Sr. Trophy
Tony Aeck, FAIA, managing principal of Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architecture, has been awarded the Ivan Allen Sr. Trophy by AIA Atlanta, awarded to a chapter member “judged to have made the greatest contribution of service to the community and who has therefore sustained the highest ideals of the profession of architecture.” Aeck joins both his father, renowned architect Richard L. Aeck, FAIA, who received the award in 1972, and his business partner Larry Lord, FAIA, in the select group of individuals to have received this honor. Among his broad range of work for the community, Aeck currently chairs Atlanta Speech School and serves as a trustee of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. He is pictured after receiving the award, with his wife, Hon. Frank M. Hull, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge, and son Richard Hull Aeck, who is currently studying architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Three Chapters Team Up to Present Regional Conference
AIA Washington; Potomac Valley, Md.; Northern Virginia host February 6–8 event
The three AIA chapters in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region—Washington D.C. chapter, Potomac Valley (Md.) chapter, and the Northern Virginia chapter—have joined forces to present the inaugural DesignDC Conference and Exhibition February 6–8 at the new Washington, D.C., Convention Center. Under the slogan, “Form, follow function this way, please,” conveners hope to attract some 3,000 architects, designers, engineers, contractors, and others in the building industry by offering access to product and service exhibitors as well as continuing education programs in six tracks. The conference will kick off with a tour of the convention center hosted by the local project architect team from Devrouax & Purnell. SmithGroup Vice President David Greenbaum, FAIA, will lead a tour of the new International Spy Museum on February 7. For more information or to register, visit the DesignDC Web site.

Winning Emerging-Professional and Student Designers Demonstrate Ingenuity in Guest House/Studio Design Competition
EPIConnection.org and Whirlpool Corporation announce the winners of the International Emerging Professionals Guest House/Studio Design Competition. The program, which encourages and recognizes the design skills of emerging architectural professionals, evolved from a partnership among EPIConnection.org, the AIA National Housing Committee, and the sponsor, Whirlpool Corporation. Competitors were given a program with which to design the conversion of a separate two-car garage into a live/work multi-use space.

project watch
Practical Mentoring: Two Young SBRA Designers Win International Competition
Harold Hon and Son Wooten, both with Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott (SBRA), were selected the winners of an international competition to design the Michael Klahr Holocaust Education Resource Center in Maine. Sponsored by the Holocaust and Human Rights Center (HHRC), the Klahr Center will be built on the University of Maine, Augusta, campus.

Your Kiplinger Connection (members only, AIA.org login required)
The year ahead: Ten forecasts to prepare for 2005.
The economy: Mergers are the wave of the near future.
Business costs: Get ready, materials prices are about to repeat last year’s first-quarter spike.
AIArchitect offers AIA members exclusive access to three stories a week to help them manage their practices and plan for the coming year. Nonmembers may subscribe to The Kiplinger Letter.

Need to catch up on recent editions of AIArchitect This Week?
December 13 | December 20 | January 3 | January 10

best practices
Office Technology Now a Buyers Market for SMBs
Adapted from Information Technology Solution Providers Alliance releases
Many decision makers at small to midsize businesses (SMBs) are asking themselves whether they should be investing in new technologies for their companies. The good news is that technical equipment does not have to cost an arm and a leg, due mainly to Section 179 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (H.R. 4520), which now allows SMBs to write off $100,000 in new technology and other office equipment.

AIA Officer Nominations Open; Filing Date Is March 18
Seven architects already have declared their candidacy for three national AIA offices.

Latest AssociateNews Highlights Grassroots Conference
The latest issue of AssociateNews, the electronic newsletter of the National Associates Committee, is up and running on the AIA Web site. This issue centers on the AIA Grassroots Leadership and Legislative Conference to be held February 9–12 in Washington, D.C.

Clarification: Both preservation architect Quinn Evans Architects and architect of record Albert Kahn Associates are joint recipients of a 2005 Honor Award for Architecture, for the Hill Auditorium restoration project in Ann Arbor.

AIA CAREER CENTER
Here Are This Week’s Featured Opportunities

Top Facilities for Seniors:
The Design for Aging Review, 7th Edition, (Images Publishing Group, 2004) presented by The American Institute of Architects Design for Aging Center offers 40 jury-selected projects covering a diverse range of senior living. Now at the special AIA member price of $48 ($60 retail). Visit the AIA Store site or call 800-242-3837, option #4.

Check Out These New Programs: AIA eClassroom now has available 25 programs from this year’s national convention and four new programs from the recent international partnerships conference in New York City.

AIA Members Save with United Parcel Service (UPS): Save up to 20 percent on U.S. and international overnight air shipping with UPS, the world’s largest package-distribution company.
Call 800-325-7000, ext. 7600. Reference No. C-000-070-0037.

AIA Government Advocacy News: Join the list to receive the biweekly e-mail newsletter, a member benefit offering the latest local, state, and federal government actions impacting architects.

Limited Offer—Connect to ArchiWire Free: Take advantage of free use of Archiwire, the Institute’s new online news resource, while it lasts. The AIA will begin charging a small per-release fee in early 2005, so register online now and build a portfolio of your firm’s news.

Free Continuing Education: After reading the standards and other information on environmental issues and products, references, and more in each MASTERSPEC topic, licensed users can access online tests to earn AIA/CES learning-unit hours.

Save Time! AIA.org now features a trouble-shooting Knowledge Base to address your AIA Contract Documents software questions quickly and efficiently.

Protect Yourself and Your Family: The AIA Trust Personal Lines Coverage through Liberty Mutual offers special, members-only discounts on automobile and homeowners/tenant insurance with reasonable rates and excellent claims service. Visit Liberty Mutual’s Web site or call 800-281-1329. For information about all AIA Trust programs, visit their Web site.