In this issue:
· AIA Launches New Resource on Changing Codes
· Call for Submissions: Opportunity for AIANY Members to Display Work in Subway Station Exhibition
· AIANY, ENYA Host ARE Boot Camp & Graphic Workshops
· Legislative Wrap Up — New York State

AIA Launches New Resource on Changing Codes

AIA has updated its Codes and Standards Resource Center, with information on the work AIA has been doing with the International Code Council (ICC). The site includes current advocacy campaigns, progress on adopting international codes throughout state and local chapters, and a thorough explanation of how the newly drafted Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) is different from the current guidelines. The website also offers an update on the International Green Construction Code, another initiative that the AIA and the ICC co-sponsor.

Call for Submissions: Opportunity for AIANY Members to Display Work in Subway Station Exhibition

AIANY announces a call for submissions for the 2009 New York Now exhibition. The member showcase usually takes place at the Center for Architecture, but this year the show will be in the West 4th Street subway station. The Center has rented the subway station’s poster vitrines, and hopes to fill the station with great architecture.

New York Now (10.01-31.09) will include projects of all scales and types presenting the scope and quality of work being done by Chapter members in NYC today. AIANY members are invited to participate by submitting a recent project for display in the subway station. All entrants will also be included in an online exhibition, and will have the opportunity to include their full portfolio in the Center for Architecture library for the duration of the exhibition. There is limited space available and submissions will be accepted on a first come, first served basis.

Registration closes and submissions are due 08.26.09 by 5:00 pm. Read more here, and register here.

AIANY, ENYA Host ARE Boot Camp & Graphic Workshops

Beginning February 2009, AIANY and its Emerging NY Architects (ENYA) committee launched a pilot Boot Camp Review program to get intern architects in shape for the Architect Registration Examination (ARE). This summer, ARE Graphic Workshops (based on the ARE 4.0 graphic vignettes) were added to its class offerings. The sessions, led by recent testers and licensed Chapter members, consist of a brief overview of vignettes, strategies, tips and tricks, and sample vignette reviews. There are still some openings for the remaining sessions, which take place Mondays through 08.31.09. Click here to register for the next available session. Also visit the Chapter’s new Licensing website by clicking here.

Legislative Wrap Up — New York State

As the legislative session comes to a close in New York, a few votes were of particular note to the state’s architecture community. Of the legislation supported by AIANYS, the Historic Preservation Tax Credit, which provides a financial incentive for rehabilitation projects, was signed into law earlier this month. SED (Office of Professions) Licensure made it through both houses, but has not been signed by Governor Paterson. QBS (Qualifications-Based Selection of Professional Design Services), which would have required public authorities to begin commission negotiations with the most qualified architectural and engineering professionals before turning to other firms, was approved in the Assembly, but died in the Senate. The Alternative Project Delivery, Good Samaritan Act, Green Schools, Non-Design Professional Ownership, Smart Growth, and Statute of Repose did not make it out of committee. The AIANYS’s legislative agenda also included some opposition positions. In part through AIANYS’s lobbying efforts, Construction Threshold, Damages for Delay, and Professional Certification, Prohibition were all killed. Read more on AIANYS’s government affairs website.