The AIA issued a “Call for Architects in Energy” on September 5 to assemble a list of candidates to represent the Institute in development of the next generation of energy-efficiency design guidelines for small buildings.

The AIA—in collaboration with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers; Illuminating Engineering Society of North America; National Building Institute; and the U.S. Department of Energy—wants to develop The Advanced Energy Design Guide, with the goal of helping small buildings attain 30-percent energy savings over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-1999 through selection of state-of-the-art building systems and design elements. The design guide will offer assistance to designers and builders in a user-friendly format, making it easy and practical to achieve greater energy savings than obtained through minimum code compliance.

Currently, when complying with minimum requirements, the building design team has little opportunity to research and explore new and innovative energy-efficient technologies, methods, and applications. The AIA hopes that the assistance offered by the guide will benefit small A/E firms that have little chance to research more efficient design options, lack staff to investigate leading-edge solutions, and want value-added concepts to present to project owners. The Advanced Energy Design Guide will focus on buildings with less than 20,000 square feet, projects on which the majority of the small to midsize design firms work.

The Department of Energy has charged The Advanced Energy Design Guide initiative with:

• Developing and documenting a process to achieve a savings of 30 percent over Standard 90.1-1999 for office buildings of 20,000 square feet or less (first phase)
• Producing recommendations in an Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings (October 2004)
• Documenting, refining, and modifying the research process as necessary for applicability to other building types (e.g., retail facilities and schools) (second phase)
• Developing advanced energy design guidelines for other building types (third phase).

If you would like to be considered as a candidate to participate in the development of the guide, please mail your qualifications by September 19 to:
Ed Jackson Jr., DArch
1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006-5292

Or email it to ejackson@aia.org. For more information, contact Dr. Jackson, 202-626-7446 or ejackson@aia.org.

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