Oklahoma City; Cache County, Utah; Pittsfield, Mass.; Northampton, Mass; and Forest City, N.C.—diverse communities ranging in population from less than 8,000 to 550,000 people—have been selected for the inaugural launch of the AIA Center for Communities by Design’s Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program. These communities, selected by an AIA review panel from among applications from across the country, each will receive $20,000 in resources from AIA national component towards covering the costs of the assessment.

In short, the SDAT program will help communities begin to work towards achieving sustainability. First, a team of national professionals—ranging from architects, hydrologists, and transportation experts to economists and air-quality experts—will assemble based on their credentials and the specific needs of each community. Then, together with local stakeholders, the team will address specific, pertinent issues, such as high-development pressures in rural areas, river contamination, traffic congestion, economic diversification, and air pollution. The collaborative process will give the community a road map to improve sustainability and guide future design and policy decisions.

Over a year’s time, each SDAT community will host a:

• Preliminary visit
• Three-day visit from a multidisciplinary team
• Report highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the community with regards to sustainability, along with opportunities and obstacles to change
• Series of consultations after the three-day visit
• Conference call six months after delivery of the assessment report to review progress
• One-day follow-up visit to complete a secondary assessment one year after the SDAT report is delivered.

In late fall, the center will issue a request for proposals that will offer another opportunity for communities across the nation to take part in this program. To learn more, e-mail sdat@aia.org or visit the AIA Center for Communities by Design Web site.

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