NJDCA Seminars Offered On Energy Codes

Seminars are being offered in multiple locations around the state on the NJ Energy Codes for both residential and commericial use. Course locations in Atlantic City, Cherry Hill and Edison.

June 8, 2011 in Cherry Hill, NJ
OR June 15 & 16, 2011 in Atlantic City, NJ

NJDCA presents: “THE PATHS TO COMPLIANCE WITH THE 2009 INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONSERVATION CODE FOR RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION” (D146/B565)

AIA-NJ is supporting the NJDCA’s efforts to offer training on the energy conservation codes adopted here in NJ. This course is free to attendees. The description is below.
The 2009 International Conservation Code contains multiple methods by which compliance with the requirements for energy conservation in residential construction can be demonstrated.

These paths range from a fairly rigid, prescriptive path to a much more flexible performance based path. Other, mandatory provisions of the IECC must be complied with regardless of the compliance path chosen. Enforcement of the IECC requires a solid understanding of the distinct requirements of, and differences between each path. This seminar will provide that needed understanding.

To register for this course contact the Education Unit in the Division of Codes and Standards of the Department of Community Affairs : educationunit@dca.state.nj.us Please include your name, phone number, course code and training date. Or call 609-984-7820 for more information. Confirmations will be sent two weeks prior to the training dates.

OR

June 9, 2011, 8:30am in Edison, NJ

NJDCA Presents: “THE PATHS TO COMPLIANCE WITH ASHRAE STANDARD 90.1 FOR COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION” (D147/B566)

AIA-NJ is supporting the NJDCA’s efforts to offer training on the energy conservation codes adopted here in NJ. This course is free to attendees. The description is below.
ASHRAE 90.1 provides two paths by which compliance with the energy conservation requirements for commercial construction can be met. Enforcement of either requires a solid understanding of the requirements of the prescriptive path, while enforcement of the performance based design path requires an additional understanding of the baseline design assumptions mandated by ASHRAE 90.1 This seminar provides both.

To register for this course contact the Education Unit in the Division of Codes and Standards of the Department of Community Affairs : educationunit@dca.state.nj.us Please include your name, phone number, course code and training date. Or call 609-984-7820 for more information. Confirmations will be sent two weeks prior to the training dates.

Changing Role of Architects in Disaster Response

A major natural disaster occurs, on average, 10 times a year, with minor disasters striking as frequently as once a week. These include floods, tidal waves, tornadoes, ice storms, fires, landslides, hurricanes, and earthquakes, and the damage can range from a few uprooted trees to the near-obliteration of entire communities. In the aftermath, architects immediately contemplate how best to participate in the rebuilding— indeed, this was never more true than following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, when the outpouring of interest and willingness to contribute were overwhelming.

More than 600 AIA members nationwide volunteered, registering on the AIA Web site and offering to step forward and assist wherever needed.

The question was (and is): How can the AIA and its members best be of use?

Three Stages of Disaster Assistance
Disaster assistance typically occurs in three stages:

Emergency: The first response, it relies on quick action and involves providing emergency shelter, medical assistance, food, and other such services. This stage can last two to three weeks.

Relief: Short-term housing, health services, and employment counseling are provided. Formal assessment of damage begins with examinations of buildings, including analysis of historic properties and other structures. This stage may last up to six months.

Recovery: This stage is characterized by rebuilding, with an emphasis on long-term comprehensive planning to enhance the physical fabric of the community. Regulatory changes may be necessary to mitigate the effect of future disasters. This period may last three years or more.

NJ Municipality Master Plan Reviews

When 10 is Fewer than Six

Reprinted from ARCHITECT MAGAZINE Newswire
May 20, 2011

Earlier this month, N.J. Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation that allows the state’s municipalities to review their master plans every 10 years instead of the previously required six. Steve Prisament reports that Absecon, N.J., planning board member Rob Reid is opposed to the change. “It would be irresponsible of any municipality to ignore the proper maintenance of their master plan and land development ordinances for 10 years no matter what the law allows,” Reid says. He describes the new law as “poor planning.”

Read Full Article:
http://www.shorenewstoday.com/snt/news/index.php/pleasantville/pleasantville-general-news/11594-absecon-planner-advises-against-10-year-wait-for-master-plan-reviews.html

Robin L. Murray Elevated to AIA’s College of Fellows

National Architects’ Association Honors Local Architect

Robin Murray, FAIA

Robin L. Murray, FAIA, PP, LEED AP, of Trenton, N.J., was among 104 AIA members who were recently elevated to its prestigious College of Fellows. Murray, a member of AIA-NJ and AIA-Central, was recently invested at a ceremony in New Orleans, La., during the 2011 AIA National Convention.

The honor, which entitles recipients to use the designation FAIA after their names, is awarded to architects for their individual achievements, as well as significant contributions to the profession and practice of architecture on the national level. There are currently 2,700 fellows within the membership of 80,000, only 300 of them women.

“We are honored that a member of our chapter has received this recognition,” said Michael Hanrahan, AIA, president of AIA-NJ. “Robin’s elevation to fellow is well deserved. She has contributed countless hours to AIA-NJ in various leadership positions, has been an inspiration to her students and has worked tirelessly to promote the profession of architecture.”

Murray, principal of rlm architect in Trenton, N.J., was the only architect in New Jersey to be distinguished with the honor of fellowship this year, and was selected to receive the honor because of her professional and volunteer leadership in sustainability, smart growth and livable communities.

Her practice, which is primarily focused in Mercer County, N.J., but stretches to northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania, specializes in sustainable master planning, smart growth and high-tech facilities.

“It’s an honor to be recognized as a fellow of the AIA,” said Murray. “As much time and effort as I’ve dedicated to the AIA over the years, I’ve received more back. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the AIA and AIA-NJ.”

Murray could be described as a revolutionary. In addition to her architectural work, she has been a driving force for women in architecture for more than 30 years.

At the time she entered the profession, only two percent of architects were women. Today, with the help of architects such as Robin Murray, women represent about 12 percent of the 80,000 architects in the country, said Hanrahan.

“Growing up, I knew I wanted a career,” said Murray. “And when I took an architecture course in eighth grade, I knew I wanted that career to be in architecture, despite the fact that I had never met a female architect — at least, not until after I graduated from Cornell University. That’s why I’ve always made an effort to encourage and help women who are interested in architecture, and to show them that we do exist.”

Murray participated in career days for over 20 years, has mentored women throughout her career. She was president of AIA-NJ in 2000, becoming only the second woman to hold the position in 105 years.

She also served as regional director of AIA-NJ and is currently the president of the tri-state Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance, a coalition of government, private and non-profit organizations that helps good smart growth projects gain local approvals.

Professionally, in the past year Murray participated in a brownfield remediation for a new park facility in Trenton, in which her firm designed the renovation of a 1900s-era industrial manufacturing building into a new recreational facility.

In 2002, she created the master plan for Garden State Park, a downtown redevelopment project in Cherry Hill, N.J. The plan involved the revitalization of a former racetrack into a new town center with 1,200 housing units, retail and civic uses and 1 million square feet of commercial space.

Murray has also designed eight Panera Bread restaurants throughout the state, two of which won awards.

Murray’s work has been recognized with awards and published nationally by the Urban Land Institute and the American Planning Association. She has taught architecture, urban design and planning at both Rutgers University and the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She is also a former deputy executive director of the Office of Smart Growth, a division of the N.J. Department of Community Affairs.

In Memoriam – Ralph Lerner

Ralph Lerner, former architecture school dean, dies at 61

Ralph Lerner, a longtime faculty member and former dean of Princeton’s School of Architecture, died of brain cancer May 7 in Princeton. He was 61.

Lerner joined the University faculty in 1984 and transferred to emeritus status in 2008. He was dean of the School of Architecture from 1989 until 2002.

He is survived by his wife, Lisa Fischetti; a son, Sigmund; a daughter, Esther; a sister, Judith Lerner Brice; and two brothers, Alan and Marc.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, June 3, at the Princeton University Chapel.

Read full article:
http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S30/52/34K74/index.xml?section=topstories

Memorial contributions may be made in Lerner’s name to The Cooper Union Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture and the Graduate School of Design at Harvard. For more information, email vidler@cooper.edu at Cooper Union and lernerfund@gsd.harvard.edu at Harvard.

OR The AIA New Jersey Scholarship Foundation
c/o Robert Zaccone, AlA
212 White Avenue
Old Tappan, N.J. 07675

The Power of a Story II

By Jerome Leslie Eben, AIA

AIA NJ Regional Director ’11-‘13

Apparently many of you enjoyed my article last month entitled The Power of a Story and told me so.  Therefore, the communication that I had hoped for in my very first article as your Regional Director is finally happening! As the saying goes “keep those cards and letters”……………E-mails coming!   When Rob asked for this month’s article, I thought why not write The Power of a Story II?

For many years I have worked in my home community of West Orange on its Downtown Alliance as a member of the board, always with the hope that we could be bringing the downtown as I have often stated “back from the brink”!  Both this statement and the downtown itself have been viewed as a negative, though in my mind bringing something back to what it may have once been (vibrant) can in fact be a good thing.

My community’s downtown snakes basically along an approximately two mile main street aptly named Main Street. An extension of the downtown goes a bit further in a mostly residential area along Valley Road aply named so because it is in fact the valley of what is known as the first mountain aptly named so, because it is the first of two mountains!  Of course if you were talking to my counterparts, the Regional Directors out west they would tell you that these are really only two hills!

This past Sunday May 1^st which as it turns out will long be remembered for something more important than the above geography lesson, my wife, Marsha who as many of you know worked at the World Trade Center for more than 20 years, (though a dental appointment, kept her out of the office and harm’s way on that fateful morning), took in a new world premiere play entitled The Tallest Building in the World.  Maybe some of you caught the splendid review that was in the Sunday NY Times. The play was written by Matt Schatz and is directed by Troy Miller and tells the story of the building of the World Trade Center, which if only to hold the record ever so briefly as the tallest buildings in the world and destroyed by the hands of terrorists just over a generation after being completed in 1974.

The premier was here in West Orange, where the Luna Stage Theater Company, which did a splendid job of telling this story with just five professional actors (some playing multiple roles), is the newest tenant in what had long been a vacant old industrial brick structure, tastefully renovated by HANDS, a non-profit design-builder.  They specialize in difficult development of housing and commercial property in urban areas. Not unlike the story of the construction of the WTC buildings, this extension of the West Orange downtown corridor is an area that is in transition, and was formerly known as ‘the valley’, sharing a common municipal line with neighboring Orange. More recently it has and is being positively promoted as the Valley Arts District.

The new village concept is a breath of fresh air in what a century ago was the “hat capitol of the world” an old manufacturing area that had certainly seen better days and now with this most recent renovation, is positively coming “back from the brink”!  Always a home to good Italian restaurants and coffee clubs, the Hat City Kitchen, is a restaurant featuring local live music was recognized in NJ Monthly Critics’ Pick as their New Best Restaurant!

The responsibility for this new area belongs to a group of true stakeholders that include but are not limited to long-time residents, artists, local government, public and private funders.  This is truly becoming a live/work area and the Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Act has brought in an additional $150 million in private development.

The play has many great lines and as the review stated, “reminds us of the public’s complicated emotional relationship with the World Trade Center as architecture”.  I am sure as architects we all can relate to the message this play is conveying.  It runs through May 15^th, so if you are not going to the convention, take it in not only the play but a new and vibrant urban area and most certainly where you can see the Power of this Story II stand tall as the WTC once did and will again, soon.

Jerry

jebenaia@aol.com

Stockton College to cut ribbon on landmark campus center by KSS Architects

$65 million, 153,000 square-feet project is largest in College’s history

KSS Architects is excited to announce that The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey will be celebrating the opening of its new campus center with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sat., May 7.

The $65 million, 153,000 square feet campus center will become a welcoming living room as well as a one-stop shop for the entire campus and student community. Formerly, Stockton College lacked a central gathering place for students to gather, eat, study, hang out, and shop. The campus center provides spaces and amenities to serve all of these activities and more. Its program includes: student services, food court, cafe, game room, theater, formal and informal gathering spaces and offices.

One of the most impressive spaces in the building is the 48-ft high Grand Hall atrium and entrance. Two eye-catching, large-scale art installations were designed for the space: a soaring, full-height black granite fireplace featuring etchings of Stockton College’s history by artist Larry Kirkland and four murals painted by Stockton professor emeritus David Ahlsted.

KSS Architects, with associate architect VMDO Architects, began designing and planning for the campus center in 2005. In recognition of the College’s emphasis on environmental stewardship and its idyllic setting in the Pinelands of New Jersey, the architectural design incorporates many sustainable and nature-inspired elements. Daylighting fills the entire building through expansive skylights and windows. Natural materials, include wood, concrete and stone bring elements from the outdoors inside. The distinctive colonnade at the building facade is topped with cross-bracing structural steel reminiscent of outstretched tree limbs and—not coincidentally—Stockton College’s iconic three-pronged tree logo.

Though its building footprint is large—spanning 572 feet from end to end—the campus center contains spaces of a variety of scales as appropriate to the function. The open Grand Hall excels as a large gathering and event space while the cafe provides intimate spaces for conversation and relaxing.

The project broke ground in May 2008 and is pursuing LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Construction work will continue through the summer to finalize the details of the building, which will be welcome students in the fall.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for Sat., May 7, at 11:30 a.m. The event follows Stockton College’s morning commencement ceremonies.

Photo credit: KSS Architects LLP

Maryland Approves IGCC for Statewide Use

In April 2011, Maryland’s legislature passed a bill adopting the International Green Construction Code (IGCC) as an option for use by the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development and local governments effective March 1, 2012. Maryland is the first state to approve IGCC in this way.

Click on link below to read more:

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/article.cfm/2011/4/29/Maryland-Approves-IGCC-for-Statewide-Use/

Contemporary Food Market in the Philippines Receives Design Award

The Landmark by Hugh Boyd Architect

The Landmark Designed By Hugh A. Boyd Architect

A Southeast Asia department store food market designed by Montclair, N.J.-based Hugh A. Boyd Architect has won a Merit Award in the “Interior Architecture” category from AIA-NJ.

The award for the 93,000 square-foot food market and eatery in Manila, Republic of the Philippines, was announced this past September at AIA-NJ’s annual “Design Day” conference at Bally’s Atlantic City in Atlantic City, N.J. The design award was presented at the annual AIA-NJ awards dinner to be held in January 2011 in Princeton, N.J.

“We are excited to see projects being created at this high level of innovation and quality by New Jersey firms,” said Jason Kliwinski, AIA, LEED AP, 2010 president of AIA-NJ. “I am honored to recognize these architects for their dedication and commitment to their craft and to the architecture community.”

Hugh A. Boyd, FAIA, principal and sole architect of the firm, had never been to Asia when Elizabeth Cheng, CEO of Philippines-based Landmark Department Stores, asked him to design their colossal-sized, basement-level grocery store. Cheng approached Boyd after having seen his design for the Grand Central Market in Grand Central Terminal in New York City in a book.

“I had no idea of the scale of the project,” said Boyd. “The square footage was so much larger than what we had ever done in the States.”

Boyd, a Massachusetts native, became a preservation architect in New England upon returning from a yearlong university study program in Rome, Italy. He moved to New Jersey to accept a position creating shops inside the historic buildings of New York City’s South Street Seaport and by the end of the project had decided to specialize in food retail and restaurant design.

Before planning started, Landmark sent Boyd to Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China, and Bangkok, Thailand, to get inspiration and to study the product, quality and style of work that is typical of these types of grocery stores.

“It is typical in Asia for department stores similar to our Macy’s or Nordstrom to have a supermarket or grocery hall,” explained Boyd. “The supermarkets there are upscale, gourmet and intimate. They spend a greater amount of money and focus more on the design and look than we do in America.”

Boyd started designing the food market in the summer of 2008, traveling to the Philippines every three months for a week at a time to oversee the design, development and construction and working with the engineers on every detail and code regulation. The market, which opened earlier this year, is roughly the size of an American-style Walmart.

The biggest challenge was the imagination needed to create a space that would transform the cavernous, windowless basement located below the five-story Landmark department store into a pleasant shopping environment, Boyd said. Structural columns and 11-foot ceilings, considered oppressive compared to the 20-foot ceilings of most supermarkets, were additional challenges.

Boyd used layers of glass and tile, vertical shapes and hidden perimeter lighting to create the illusion of windows. The ceiling is made up of two layers to create false ceiling height, a visual trick whereby the actual ceiling was painted black and a layer of rounded, three-dimensional white cut-outs is floated just under it, creating the impression that ceiling is higher than it is.

To highlight the food, improve traffic flow and make the shopping experience entertaining, he used wrap-around aisles, floating kiosks, slick surfaces and concrete walls to break up the space. Theatrical spotlights highlight the food, as well as cut down on energy consumption in a country that has some of the world’s highest electricity rates. For color and graphic pop, Boyd used paintings with a tropical motif and sea-inspired jewel-tones.

AIA-NJ announced a total of 11 design awards at the gala, to see the other award winners goto www.aia-nj.org

Earth Day Marks the Opening of Registration for Second Annual East Coast Green

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.