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AIA Michigan Newsletter

November - December, 2014
In This Issue
President's Message
Executive Director's Message
New Members!
The Grapevine
What's Buzzing
QBS Government Affairs Issue
Earn LUs Online at AIAU
New AIA Contract Documents Release
AIAMI / MAF Speakers Bureau
9th Annual Shutze Awards
Canstruction, December 4-12
Great Lakes Builders Show
2015 CAE Detroit Conference
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President's Message:
Paul Dannels I'm pleased to confirm that AIA Michigan is proceeding with plans to operate out of new office space in Midtown Detroit in the spring of 2015. This will mean safe accessible home in a new building occupied by peer organizations. Shared meeting space and gallery space will provide new opportunities for gathering and collaborating in a vital neighborhood that stands as the epicenter of Detroit's re-emergence. Savings in overhead costs of $30,000 per year will allow continuation of current member services and development of new member services, despite financial challenges that we see on the horizon. We are also working to finalize transfer of the Beaubien House to a buyer who can afford to invest in preservation and development of the historic home in ways that we could not.

It must be noted though, how deeply disappointing the sale of Beaubien House is for some of our members, so let me remind you of some key principals held by our Board with near unanimity throughout this year-long process.

1) Our staff, members, and guests need and deserve a safe, accessible, and easily maintainable headquarters.
2) Our occupancy costs have been far too high, for far too long, and need to be contained.
3) The Beaubien House faces a need for significant long-term improvement that we have no way to fund.
4) AIA Michigan is not charged by its members to be a landlord, developer, or land speculator.

Recognizing these principals, and seeking to act in the best interests of our members, the AIA Michigan Board was able to secure a very favorable offer for the building from a buyer who plans to preserve and improve the house for long-term use.

It should be noted that since the time that the Board acted to accept that offer, a petition was circulated to request a meeting to discuss the sale. The AIA Michigan Board put off finalizing the contract for forty days to allow that meeting to occur. At that meeting a year long effort of further study by a Committee of AIA and MAF leadership was proposed. The Board however did not agree that a decision should be delayed.

I thank all of those who have contributed toward the transition ahead of us. I'm grateful to those who have built this organization, and proud of those who will lead it in the exciting year to come.

Paul Dannels Signature
Paul Dannels, FAIA
Executive Director's Message:
Cathy Headshot

Since a newsletter was scheduled for this week we have combined the Monday Minutes! Please remember that December 11, 2014 is the AIA Michigan Board Transition Meeting followed by the Holiday Open House from 4:00p.m. to 7:00p.m.  Please mark your calendars for this event! Click here to RSVP!

 

AIA National is launching a national public awareness campaign on December 12. Follow AIA on Twitter at @AIAnational to watch the launch and retweet the video on December 12. The theme of the campaign is "Look Up" and you need to use the hashtag #ilookup on social media so the campaign can capitalize on the social influence of CACE.

 

Registration will be open in January for the AIA National Convention hotel room, (May 14-16) in Atlanta using the AIA Michigan room block! The AIA Michigan hotel choice for the Convention is the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. Click HERE for the 2015 Convention Website. Watch the Monday Minutes for more information.


View upcoming CEU Events with the AIA Grand Rapids Chapter HERE


The AIA Southwest Chapter has a few additional copies of this year's Design Awards booklet for sale at cost; $20 (+ shipping if needed). If you are interested in purchasing one, please email aiaswm@gmail.com

 

I would love to hear your ideas about our programs and events, so please contact me anytime and I hope to see you at an AIA Michigan event this month! 

New Members!

Welcome to our new members who joined, rejoined or transferred to 

AIA Michigan in November, 2014:

 

Heather N. Losey, Assoc. AIA
 Ann Phillips, Assoc. AIA
 Dax Thomas Richer, AIA
Nicole Stroebel, Assoc. AIA
Tae Sun Hong, AIA
Christopher J. Longe, AIA
Chandra D. Moore, Assoc. AIA
David W. Schervish, FAIA 

 

Welcome to AIA Michigan and we look forward to meeting you at future events!!

The Grapevine   
  • Gensler Detroit was awarded by Crain's Detroit Business as one of their 2014 Cool Places to Work in Michigan!
  • ASCE MICHIGAN selects New President and Officers - President: Carey Suhan, PE, President-Elect: Therese Kline, PE, Vice President: Steven Waalkes, PE, Treasurer: Melinda Bacon, PE, Secretary: Christopher Owen, PE, Past President: Ronald Goldie, PE,
  • One of our generous sponsors, George W. Auch Company, has been awarded a Top Workplace!
  • Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. promotes Cheryl J. Marion, PE to Senior Construction Manager, Mike A. Alsgaard, CPE to Senior Estimator, Bradley D. Peuler, CPG to Senior Geologist,  Joseph J. Peckham to Senior Programmer, and Stephanie L. Dodds, PE, Gary W. Louis, PE, Ted S. Perron, PE, Kyle M. Shaver, PE, Brian D. Phillips, PE to Senior Engineers.
  • WTA Architects promotes Erin L. Andrus, AIA and John A. Reis, AIA to Associates!
  • John Davids, AIA has joined the Stantec team! 
  • Penchansky Whisler Architects has moved! New address: 2080 South State Street, Ann Arbor
  • Hobbs+Black Architects promotes Dennis McGowan to Associate Vice President, Tom Dillenbeck, AIA to Associate Vice President, Claude Faro, RA, LEED AP BD+C to Senior Associate, and Carolyn Corbett, Richard Keuneke to Associates.
  • Neumann/Smith Architecture is growing their Detroit Design Studio Team! Additions include: Daniel P. Schneider, AIA as project manager, Nichole McNamara, AIA, LEED AP as project architect, and Eric Henry, Associate AIA, LEED GA as a project architect.
  • Quinn Evans Architects promotes Dan Curry, AIA, LEED AP, Thomas Jester, AIA, LEED AP, Patrick Roach, AIA, LEED AP to senior associates, Tracy Hucul, RA, Abby Tourtellotte, AIA to associates, Jennifer Henriksen, AIA, Christina Roach, AIA, LEED AP, Kathryn Slattery, AIA LEED AP to project manager. Elizabeth Barrett, AIA, Robert Fink, AIA and Kathryn Irwin, AIA to senior project architects, and Julia Siple, AIA to project architect.
  •  Stephen Auger + Associates Architects has hired Stephen Foster
If you have changed firms, won an award or have something 
or have something to tell AIA Michigan, 
please email aiami@aiami.com 
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What's Buzzing

Infographic: Designing for Health
In this interactive inforgraphic, explore six opportunities to achieve health through design strategies.




Winning Proposals of the "Reanimate the Ruins" of Detroit's Packard Plant Competition Announced.

Explore the winning proposals here!






APPS FOR ARCHITECTS - Grafio
Grafio provides the tools to organize data, ideas, produce diagrams or just about anything into a visually pleasing finished product.

QBS Government Affairs Issue
You may have heard the term "QBS", which is an acronym for "Qualification Based Selection". In short, it is a method for selecting design professionals that relies heavily on the qualifications of the firm as opposed to focusing solely on the fee. While private owners of course remain absolutely free to follow whatever selection process they wish, including an exclusive focus on the fees, units of government are often required to factor in additional criteria beyond fee. Indeed, the State of Michigan already employs a form of QBS where firms are shortlisted and ranked based on qualifications and the State thereafter negotiates with the listed firms to try and reach an agreement. At that point the negotiations do include reference to fees along with other factors, and if the State is unable to come to an agreement with the firm ranked the highest based on qualifications, it moves on the next highest ranked firm and so on.

Right now that selection criteria applies only to the State and projects the State undertakes directly. Our AESLC partners are proposing that we pursue legislation that would require that approach be employed by all units of government, including local municipalities, townships, and school districts. Since Government Affairs serves AIAMI membership, we seek your input on the direction you believe we should take when formulating policy for this proposed legislation. Please follow the link and review the power point presentation for additional information. Thereafter, please share whatever thoughts you may have with us directly.

Government Affairs Co-Chairs Fred Butters and Greg Metz can be reached at fred@butters-law.com and greg@lott3metz.com respectively. In addition, feel free to share any thoughts you may have with AIA Michigan Public Policy Director Dennis King. Dennis can be reached at dennis@dmkingconsulting.com

We expect our engineering partners to seek legislation in some form beginning in the 2015 - 2016 legislative session. Your prompt reply is therefore requested.

Thank you

The AIA Michigan Government Affairs Committee
Earn LUs Online at AIAU 
At AIAU, you can earn LUs online, on your schedule, from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. Stay on top of your field and your LU requirements with the most popular AIAU courses.
New AIA Contract Documents Release November 4th
The AIA announced the addition of eight new documents
to the AIA Contract Documents� portfolio. Six of these new documents belong to the Conventional (A201) family; the remaining two documents belong to the Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc) family and the Program Manager family, respectively. 
AIAMI / MAF Speakers Bureau: Call for Presentations
AIA Michigan and the MAF want to get the word out about the benefits architects provide to their communities. To accomplish this we are gathering passionate speakers to create the Speakers Bureau which, in conjunction with our local chapters, will bring exciting, informative presentations to organizations around the state. This is a great opportunity for our members to raise awareness about their firm's work and their passion while advocating for the architectural profession.

Applications are being accepted. Submit your application to aiami@aiami.com with a subject line that includes " Speakers Bureau" to be considered. If you are a member in good standing and would like to join the Speakers Bureau, please review the Call for Presentations and the Speaker Questionnaire.

Please visit the Speakers Bureau webpage and if you have any questions, contact the Speakers Bureau Task Force:
Ralph W. Moxley, AIA, LEED AP: home 616-676-0425, or cell 616-560-9174
Charles T. Bultman, AIA: office 734-214-0810, or cell 734-223-1358
Lonny S. Zimmerman, AIA: office 248-352-0099
Thomas R. Reder, AIA, LEED AP BD&C: office 517-272-9835, or cell 517-819-0622
9th Annual Shutze Awards Design Competition: Call for Entries

Canstruction, December 4 -12

Noel Night will be from 5-9pm and the awards will be directly following at 9pm on Sat. Dec. 6.

Great Lakes Builders Show

Excitement is building for the area's first homebuilding industry-only trade show-The Great Lakes Builders Show-debuting at Ford Field in Detroit, March 4 - 6, 2015. Builders, remodelers, design professionals and contractors are looking forward to connecting with the region's building product and service suppliers at this one-of-a-kind event! 

Register today at www.GreatLakesBuildersShow.com! 

 

Save the Date: 2015 AIA CAE Detroit Conference
APRIL 15-18, 2015

Take a tour through Detroit's educational, cultural, and recreational facilities! Details coming soon.
Is there something new you want us to know about you or your firm? 
Is there an event or project you want to share with the AIA Michigan Membership?
Email aiami@aiami.com and check out our calendar for the latest events!