AIA Assesses Sustainability In 10 Cities

WASHINGTON — The American Institute of Architects is targeting 10 cities to receive technical advice on how to make their communities more eco-friendly under its Sustainable Design Assessment Team program.

The Institute will send a group of eco-design experts to each city for a preliminary visit, followed by a three day visit from a multidisciplinary team that will create a report to outline each community’s strengths and weaknesses in regard to sustainability, and its opportunities and obstacles to change, according to the AIA.

“In its fourth year, the SDAT program continues to evolve by offering detailed solutions for neighborhood revitalization, transportation infrastructure challenges and a host of economic and environmental issues facing communities all over the country,” says Joel Mills, director of the AIA Center for Communities by Design. “The volunteer architects and other team members are able to provide invaluable consulting services on how to better utilize local assets, ideas for how to transform blighted areas and ways to make these communities more pedestrian friendly.”