Dear Members of the AIA Public Architects Knowledge Community:

Well my tenure as the 2009 Chair of this fine Committee is just about to come to a close. It has been a great year for the Public Architects Advisory Group (AG). When reflecting back since January of this year when I became Chair so much has happened and I am so proud to say it was all a success. It has truly been an honor to serve in this capacity and to work with such a distinguished group of individuals serving as AG members and I want to thank them for their support: David Frommer, AIA, Christine Snetter, AIA, Jeff Hooghouse, AIA, Lane Beougher, AIA and our Associate Glenn Wrigley, AIA. Collectively we have had significant accomplishments this year. Read the full letter.


Welcome to Our 2010 New Advisory Group Member and Associate
By Gerald W. Hines, AIA

I would like to personally welcome to the Public Architects Committee our 2010 new Advisory Group (AG) member Rona Rothenberg, FAIA. Rona is currently a senior-level position as an architect employed by the State of California’s judicial branch building program, and a founding member of the team responsible for development of a unique building program for the largest judicial system in the nation, the courts of California. In addition, she has numerous duties as manager of a large architectural and engineering staff and consultants, and serves in a key role in creating a strategic program for the judicial branch of state government, including master planning and budgeting, real estate site acquisition and asset management and design and construction delivery connected with the $9.8 Billion trial and appellate court capital-outlay program. Read the full article.


Building Information Modeling (BIM) is Taking Off for the US Air Force
By Rick Sinkfield, AIA and Maj. Patrick C. Suermann, PhD, PE, LEED AP

Air Force construction managers have always been attracted to the myriad design and construction benefits of accuracy, efficiency, productivity, risk mitigation, and improved quality control offered with BIM. Moreover, Air Force Civil Engineering has now adopted an Asset Management philosophy that could bring BIM to the forefront of nearly every facility acquisition and management process from project planning to demolition. Read the full article.


Goodbye 16 Divisions!
By Lane Beougher, AIA

Recently, the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) announced that the organization will cease to license and support MasterFormat™ 95 as of Dec. 31, 2009. The CSI Board of Directors voted to take this step during its June 16 meeting at the CSI Annual Convention in Indianapolis. What this means to those of us in the public sector is that integrators of the standard such as ARCOM the publisher of MASTERSPEC, BSD the publisher of SpecLink, and CRSF the publisher of SpecText, will no longer offer their products using the 16 Division format, after their current licensing agreements expire. Read the full article.

2009 National Design-Build Project Awards
By Design-Build Institute of America

The Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) recognized the 2009 National Design-Build Project Awards at their National Conference, 5-7 November 2009, at the New Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor. Congratulations to all the Awardees and their Teams! Visit the DBIA web site for the list of award winners. Review the award criteria.

Call For Entries
AIA Committee on the Environment Top Ten Green Projects
Submission Deadline: 5 p.m. ET, January 25, 2010

The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) and its Top Ten Green Projects awards program recognize the benefits of sustainable design and acknowledge architects as leaders in the creation of environmentally responsible design solutions. COTE encourages architects and their teams to submit their projects for the Top Ten design competition. Now in its 14th year, the program is one of the best known sustainable design recognition programs in the nation. Winning projects will be recognized with an AIA COTE award certificate and acknowledged in the national press, on the AIA Web site, and at the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in June 2010. View the Call for Entries for more information or to submit.

Write for The Cornerstone—The Voice of Public Architects
Be heard! The Cornerstone invites architects working in the public sector (state, local, and federal governments), as well as architects involved in public architecture, to submit articles. If you have an idea for an article you would like to share, e-mail your article topic and an abstract to Lane J. Beougher AIA at lane.beougher@das.state.oh.us.

PAG at Ecobuild America 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009 | Washington, DC

Gerald Hines, AIA and Don Horn, GSA, will present “Experiences with Public Architecture and the Status of Sustainability” session S404. The session is from 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. at the Washington Convention Center   View the conference schedule-at-a-glance for more information.