Paving the way for a greater professional understanding among building owners, facility managers, and architects, the AIA Facility Management PIA on August 20 announced a collaborative agreement with the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). The accord, five years in the making, will allow attendees of IFMA's annual conference, World Workplace 2003, October 19–21 in Dallas, to earn continuing education credits for all sessions.

“Facility managers and architects can learn a lot from each other, and World Workplace 2003 is the first of what we expect to be many opportunities for both groups to come together as partners,” says Rod Stevens, AIA, past chair of the FM PIA. “This collaboration will produce a greater body of knowledge for both groups and will lead to better, more productive, and increasingly valuable working relationships in the future.”

The AIA has created a track of educational sessions to be incorporated into the World Workplace program, and all IFMA educational sessions are also approved for continuing education credits by the International Association of Continuing Education and Training (IACET). The focus for the AIA-provided sessions is design and collaboration. A variety of architects and facility managers will present sessions, including “Calculating the ROI of Sustainable Design” and “What Owners Want From Architects.”

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