AIA Birmingham Design Awards Boards & Exhibit Booth
The 2010 Design Award Boards were along the wall as you walked into the Green Building Focus Conference at the BJCC.  This drew a lot of attention in the expo hall.  Everyone stopped to look at the boards.  Many of the exhibitors had products specified in the projects and they really enjoyed viewing the boards as well. It is important to remember the AIA Birmingham Design Awards is not only an awards ceremony; it is a way to showcase the talent we have in Birmingham.   
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the AIA exhibit booth at the Green Expo.  National AIA provided the booth again this year, revamped with a new background. National AIA was also helpful in providing us with free marketing materials – Great Design Makes a Difference brochures, You and Your Architect brochures, new document brochures, and AIA Walk the Walk t-shirts. We also gave out vintage architectural magazines donated by Wilfred Smith, an AIA past president that were a big hit. If you would like to have some of these magazines or see the marketing materials we used, come by the AIA office and have a look; there are still several magazines up for grabs. Having this type of presence at a regional conference like the Green Expo is one more way AIA Birmingham is educating the public about architecture and the importance of the profession.

Ask an Architect Forum – Advancing the Profession
On Wednesday of the Green Expo, the AIA Birmingham COTE Committee gave a presentation to an eager crowd gathered at the demo stage. The committee presented on sustainability and the importance of hiring an architect. Several great questions were asked. One audience member seemed as though he wanted to hire an architect on the spot. Thank you to the presenters – Marshall Anderson, Jeremy Erdreich, Trevor Matchett, Gail Nolan, and Chris Rogers. All of you did an excellent job! Also, thank you to Andrew Bryant for creating all the graphics for the handouts and the presentation. 

2010 Green Building Focus Conference
The GBFC brings great quality speakers to Birmingham who have a sustainable message.  Read about all the speakers in the Birmingham Weekly and on the www.greenbuildingfocus.com website.
Great things happen at the GBFC, but what is really exciting is what evolves after the conference.
More importantly, the GBFC motivated, promoted, caused people to take action in these areas:

• Emphasis on Green Economic Development in the City
• City of Birmingham ready to release RFP for Comprehensive City Plan
• HUD Sustainable Communities Grant Application Submitted
• The Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) released its BluePrint Growth Plan including Green Economic Development and Arts and Tourism as two of Five Goals
• Greenprint: Environmental,  government, business and faith organizations creating a sustainable, clean, healthy place to live through a thoughtful, collaborative, inclusive and transparent process
• The Freshwater Land Trust completed a Community Conservation Plan outlining the organization’s conservation priorities for the next 10+ years
• American Institute of Architects formed a Committee’s on the Environment
• The Jefferson County Department of Health received a $13.3 million federal grant, Communities Putting Prevention to Work.
• The CPPW Grant includes funding for the development of a Greenways Master Plan
• German solar panel manufacturing company toured Birmingham as a possible site
• Birmingham is gaining recognition as a manufacturing hub for sustainable products
• Mayor Bell has reached out to AIA Birmingham regarding green initiatives

The list could go on and on with positive “green” changes in Birmingham.  It took us a minute to get where we are and it will take another minute to get where we want to be in the green scheme of things.  Let’s all work together for the good of our city (put egos and personal goals aside).  Our city has a strong history and working together we can make these changes happen. 

P.S. We are already planning 2011 Green Building Focus Conference, tweaking the format each year! 

Click here for more information on our speakers.