Category: Policy and Advocacy

On 10.13.16, the New York City Council unanimously voted on a trio of bills to expand the reach of the Greener, Greater Buildings Plan to even more of New York’s buildings. This will extend many of the components of the plan to mid-sized buildings and thus nearly 60% of the city’s built area. Continue reading “City Expands Building Energy Plan”

On Tuesday, 11.08.16, America will vote to elect the next President of the United States. AIA is providing comprehensive, non-partisan information on where the candidates for President stand on key issues in their 2016 Presidential Candidate Profiles. AIA does not endorse candidates but encourages all members to exercise their right to vote. Continue reading “AIA Presidential Candidate Profiles”

Last week’s United Nations General Assembly saw more than 20 world leaders formally binding their governments to the 2015 Paris Agreement, all but ensuring that the climate accord will go into force by the end of the year. In the fight to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and earnestly address global climate change, architects are on the front lines. In the United States, the impact of our current urban design approach is the source of about 70% of GHG emissions. Continue reading “Architects Advocate for Climate Change Action”

On 08.24.16, the Mayor’s Office, along with Urban Green Council and NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress, released New York City’s Energy and Water Use 2013 Report, citing an 8% decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from 3,000 of the city’s largest buildings between 2010 and 2013. In those same buildings, energy use decreased by 6%. The encouraging report shows where the city is excelling at reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, while also highlighting areas for improvement, including updating heating and lighting systems as well as securing areas around A/C units and windows to stem energy loss. Continue reading “New Energy Report Highlights Architects’ Role”

With nearly 1.4 million adults age 60 and older living in New York City, a number projected to increase by 40% to almost 2 million by 2040, the need for age-friendly residential buildings has never been greater. Architects and the building community play an increasingly important role in ensuring that the city remains a safe place to grow old.

In collaboration with the NYC Department for the Aging, the AIANY Design for Aging Committee released the Aging in Place Guide for Building Owners this past July. A 21-member advisory panel of city agencies, design professionals, nonprofit organizations, community partners, and businesses assisted with the creation of the guide. Continue reading “Aging in Place”

On July 25, 1916, New York City passed the first comprehensive zoning law, forever changing how cities everywhere would be shaped. Now, on the 100th anniversary of that resolution, the AIA New York Planning & Urban Design Committee commissioned a series of short essays by leading officials and practitioners that explore their personal or professional relationship to the Zoning Resolution, available at zoning100.com.

We invite you to browse through the website and read these insightful texts that illuminate how the zoning resolution has shaped our city.

Below, we’ve included an excerpt from the “100 Years of Zoning” by Carl Weisbrod, Director, NYC Department of City Planning, and Chair, NYC Planning Commission.

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Zoning is to the city what the riverbed is to the river – it doesn’t fill the river or make it flow, but it plays an essential role in shaping and directing it. And the riverbed itself is also reshaped over time as the waters press against its limits, as rain and drought occur, and as the surrounding environment changes. Zoning is dynamic, not permanent nor rigid. It is, in a real sense, a system of priorities that shift to reflect the needs and consciousness of changing times. Continue reading “A Century of Zoning”

On 06.08.16, AIANY hosted the 11th annual FitCity conference with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. This year’s conference was held at BAM Fisher, and much of the day focused on changes in the Brooklyn neighborhoods surrounding the venue.

FitCity 11 addressed three key strategies for human-centered design: data-driven decision-making, community engagement, and finance innovation in healthy housing. Keynote speakers Ingrid Gould Ellen and Kai Wright bookended the day with two perspectives on neighborhood change. Continue reading “Eleven Years of Progress: FitCity 2016”