Tickets and Sponsorship Available for Region’s Largest Green Conference
To acknowledge Earth Day, the Committee on the Environment (COTE) of the AIA-NJ, has announced that registration is now open for its second annual East Coast Green Conference to be held in June.
This second annual conference, to be held at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, N.J., on June 23, will continue the conversation from last year’s event regarding how design professionals can help clients meet the Architecture 2030 Challenge. Architecture 2030 is a U.S. based, non-traditional environmental advocacy group focused on protecting the global environment by using innovation and common sense to develop–and quickly implement–bold solutions to global warming.
“What better time to open up registration for a conference whose main focus is on sustainability in architecture and construction than on Earth Day,” said Michael Hanrahan, AIA, president of AIA-NJ. “The goals of both are to raise public awareness about the environment and the path to carbon neutrality.”
East Coast Green will be held in conjunction with AIA-NJ’s first “COTE Top 10 Awards,” which will recognize outstanding built work in the area of sustainable design.
The conference will be preceded on June 22, by a full day of workshops sponsored by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). A Green Building Expo featuring green building products and materials will also be held in conjunction with the conference.
This year’s educational tracks include the technicalities of sustainability, where we learn the details; the manifestations of sustainability, where we see ideas come to life; and the renewal of sustainability, where the old becomes reborn.
“Riding on the coattails of last year’s hugely successful East Coast Green conference, AIA-NJ has decided to host another one,” said Hanrahan. “With last year’s success, we’ve been able draw the industry’s top players for the workshops and lectures. This year’s event is sure to be the region’s biggest and best green conference.”
Keynote speakers include Betsy del Monte, principal and director of sustainability for Beck, an integrated real estate firm providing architecture, construction and development services; J. Wylie Donald, partner and co-chair of the Climate Change and Renewable Energy Specialty Group at McCarter & English LLP, a firm of over 400 lawyers with an office in Newark, N.J.; Mark MaGrann, CEO and founder of MaGrann Associates, a New Jersey-based professional engineering firm specializing in energy and building performance in residential construction; and Jay Perantoni, AIA, principal at SSP Architectural Group, a New Jersey leader in high-performance design, applying an integrated architecture/engineering approach to the creation of environmentally responsive and operationally efficient facilities.
Over the two-day event, more than 20 courses will be offered, all of which are submitted for AIA and United States Green Building Council (USGBC) continuing education credit.
To register, visit the East Coast Green website at www.aia-nj.org/ECG and click the “Register to Attend Here” tab. Registration rates can be found on the website as well. Pricing varies depending on the package — two-day pass, one-day pass or a la carte items. “Early Bird” rates are available through June 9 as well as discounts for AIA members and students.
Electronic submissions for the “COTE Top 10 Awards” will be received until May 31 and winners will be announced at East Coast Green. For more information, or to submit a project, visit the website at www.aia-nj.org/COTEtop10.
Sponsorship and exhibit opportunities are also available for the event. Sponsors will have the opportunity to increase their company’s visibility in the “greening” consumer markets, as well as to network with leaders and present their products and applications to an audience of early adopters and industry leaders.
For information on exhibiting or sponsorship, visit the ECG website or e-mail Verity Frizzell, AIA, LEED AP, at ECGsponsors@aia-nj.org.
The AIA New Jersey Board of Trustees worked late in to the night on June 13th at its regularly scheduled meeting which was held at the Warner Student Life Building at Brookdale Community College, the site for East Coast Green. In addition to general AIANJ business the Board discussed the SDA, ASID and other closely allied professional organizations. We also discussed the 2012 AIANJ Calendar of Events, which includes: the IRC Seminar, East Coast Green, Design Day, The League of Municipalities, and the Business and Ethics of Architecture. Reports of recent activities were provided by Committee Chairs from L&GA, AIA National Small Firms, APAC, Public Awareness, Membership Committee, RAD, and others. All AIA New Jersey Sections were dutifully represented.
