When Lake|Flato Architects decided to add a 10-kilowatt solar array to its building, the company sailed through CPS Energy's rebate application process. The architecture firm hoped the size of the array would allow it to send electricity back into the grid on days the office was closed.

It was only after the firm had installed a $40,000 system, around $14,000 after CPS and federal rebates, that employees said they heard some ominous words from a CPS inspector: I have made a huge mistake.

Lake|Flato had inadvertently uncovered a quirk in the burgeoning effort to add more solar panels downtown. You can install solar, but if you're downtown, you can't produce excess power and sell it back into the grid because of a risk that resulting surges could cause power outages.

Lake|Flato worked with CPS before installing anything providing its address and CPS account number to make sure the firm would qualify for its solar rebate. A CPS inspector pre-approved the project but somehow didn't realize the company was downtown until coming to the property for a final inspection.

It was only when CPS came for the inspection that this came up, said Heather Holdridge with Lake|Flato. I don't know how he only realized that (this) was downtown at this moment.

It turns out that a glitch in the CPS computer system wasn't flagging downtown addresses as being part of the downtown electric grid.

Only a few buildings have solar arrays in the downtown grid generally defined by CPS as the area within Interstate 10, Interstate 35 and U.S. 281 so this is a relatively new issue, said Lanny Sinkin, executive director of the nonprofit Solar San Antonio.

It's the early stages of things, Sinkin said. You learn.

So far, there have been at least two lessons.

Across the street from Lake|Flato, the recently renovated 1930s-era Hipolito F. Garcia Federal Building & U.S. Courthouse bumped into the same issue with its 50-kilowatt array.

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Solar bumps into grid issues downtown

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Photography by Alex Ulam

While Canadian architecture has had its moments on the world stagethink Moshe Safdie or Arthur Ericksonthe prevalent feeling among a generation of up and coming architects these days is that were stuck in a backwater when it comes to innovative building design. It feels a little bland or a little polite, says Johanna Hurme, a founding partner of the Winnipeg-based firm 5468796 Architecture, We are constantly trying to define what Canadian architecture is.

Hurme is part of a team of three curators who organized the Canadian Pavilions exhibition this year at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale; they call themselves the Migrating Landscapes Organizer (MLO) and are hoping the exhibit, whose theme is Im/migration, will reinvigorate the Canadian design scene by exploring the architectural potential of the immigrant experience. Their show is the culmination of a year and a half of competitions and exhibitions, from which 18 finalists were chosen to represent Canada.

Curators Sasa Radulovic, Johanna Hurme, Jae-Sung Chon outside the Canadian pavilion (Barbara Zanon/Getty)

For the purposes of the exhibition in Venice, the shows curators Hurme, her colleague Sasa Radulovic from 5468796 Architecture, and Jae-Sung Chon, an architecture instructor from the University of Manitobahave completely transformed the permanent Canadian Pavilion, one of 29 national pavilions in the Giardini della Biennale, a large lagoon-side park where most of the international architecture festival takes place. Much of the space in and around the pavilion has been filled with lumber cut in four different lengths, which acording to the curators, is meant to evoke Canadas pluralistic cultural landscape where newcomers are welcome to express their own distinctive experiences. One of the dangers of global architecture is its dominance, says Chon. It is very trendy and fast moving. But if you step back and look at your hyphenated condition as a starting point, there is a much more rich condition that you can bring to the table.

Using this expansive and malleable landscape made of lumber, the 18 teams of Canadian architects and designers have installed their various models, which consist of dollhouse scale structures, sculptural objects, and figurines, though some teams have just rearranged the lumber to make their architectural statements. Each model is positioned alongside a tablet device with a video of one of its authors recounting the story of immigration that inspired the work.

In one video, Felix Tue, a Canadian architect from Romania, recounts a story about a space that remained outside my new house, organic and inaccessible like a childrens game from the past.

In another, Amirali Javidan, a Canadian architect from Iran, recalls the chants of Allah O Akbar from the rooftops of a densely packed Iranian city where he lived during the revolution against the Shah. He draws a contrast to the suburban neighborhood of detached houses with pitched roofs in Edmonton, Alberta where he later moved to, and where the buildings never spoke.

Travis Cooke and Jason Kun, two Canadian architects born in Canada, describe the Winnipeg Condition, in their video. Thats the provincial ache of wanting to be elsewhere even when a place is your home.

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Canada digs deep at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale

by Cheryl Tay

SQFT Architects beat 30 competitors to emerge as winner of the design competition for the upcoming Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre (pictured), announced Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Vivian Balakrishnan.

The announcement was made during the public forum and exhibition, Rethinking Hawker Centres, held as part of Singapore Institute of Architects' (SIA) yearly Archifest, reported AsiaOne.

The captivating design by SQFT Architects shows practicality, making use of natural lighting, while preventing heat and glare. Apart from maximising natural ventilation, the proposed hawker centre will also provide shelter from the rain.

Expected to be completed by late 2014, the upcoming Bukit Panjang Hawker Centre will accommodate 20 market stalls, 20 cooked food stalls and 20 lock-up stalls. It will also be the first of seven new hawker centres to be constructed under Budget 2012.

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SQFT Architects wins hawker centre design competition

Citizen architects struggle to find jobs

BAME PIET Staff Writer

"The recession has decimated the architecture profession, with firms closing or laying off large numbers of employees, architects are left jobless for months or years, and many end up leaving the profession entirely.Others are now leaving the country to seek opportunities elsewhere," said Moapare.

He cautioned that this brain drain threatens to reverse the gains the country has made. "Graduates are also finding it difficult to be absorbed into the market. This is a cause for concern to us and we will continue to engage our stakeholders to mitigate this problem.

We thus urge all corporate entities whether local or Botswana-based multi-nationals and property developers to employ the services of local architects to retain work in Botswana," he said. Moapare's revelations come at a time when government is also complaining about shortage of skilled manpower in the construction industry from engineers, architects, quantity surveyors, land surveyors and others, resulting in serious delays in completion of government projects.

"Our most serious challenge currently is to continue our collaboration with government for the Architects Regulation Council (ARC) to carry out its mandate of regulating the profession," he said. He lamented that the ARC faces financial challenges making it impossible to appoint a Registrar or to develop the rules and regulations necessary for regulating the architectural profession.

"The status quo means that we continue to operate in an unregulated environment. This is bad for business as anyone can operate as an architect without being subjected to rigorous scrutiny to ensure that they hold requisite qualifications and experience to serve the public," he said.

However, it is not all doom and gloom and there have been achievements made in the adoption of the Architects Registration Act of 2008, which provides the statutory framework for the registration of those wishing to practice architecture in Botswana.

AAB, he revealed, is also working with the University of Botswana Architecture Department, other design schools, and the Botswana Bureau of Standards to improve the construction industry in Botswana.Meanwhile, since its inception in 2003, the UB Department of Architecture and Planning has produced 41 graduates 2008 (4) 2009 (8), 2010 (9), 2011 (14), 2012 (6). It takes five years to train an architect.

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Citizen architects struggle to find jobs

Sunday, October 21, 2012

THE Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA) - Cebu Section is hoping for the full implementation of RA 9266 or the Architecture Law to protect their profession.

According to architect Dioscoro Alesna Jr. of PIA-Cebu Section, the law should be strictly implemented in the country to draw a clear line between architecture professionals and other aligned professions like civil engineering.

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The problem with civil engineers is the biggest challenge the sector is facing now, Alesna said. He said there are civil engineers who now design projects, which is supposed to be the task of architects.

Although both professionals may seem to have overlapping functions, architect Germain Ang of PIA-Cebu said each has completely different tasks and specializations.

People may think we are only limited to drawings but the practice of architecture entails more than that, said Ang, stressing that they coordinate with their clients from the conceptualization to completion of the project.

Architects, she said, ensure that the project is constructed based on how the clients envision it.

On the other hand, civil engineers function is to compute the structural stability of the project. They will see to it the project and the design will stand, Ang said.

The PIA-Cebu section announced they will be hosting the 80th PIA National Convention in Feb. 21 to 23, 2013.

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Architects seek full implementation of law

ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Information Architects Corporation (IACH) announced today that the corporation continues to develop significant Heath Care Resources in a multi-layered consolidation effort with Logica Healthcare Group (www.LogicaHealthcare.com). This new addition to the IACH family represents another solid revenue stream in one of the fastest growing segments of the Healthcare Industry. The acquisition includes, but is not limited to, a 500 seat Healthcare and Data Management Center, TeleMedicine Systems for remote patient monitoring, an Interactive Healthcare TV channel, a Healthcare TV media management company, along with a system for Medical Device Reprocessing for over 12 FDA-approved single use devices (SUDs). IACH is continuing to put a solid Healthcare foundation in place to build from.

Tom Jaspers, CFO of Information Architects, states that "The integration of Logica into IACH, with its various positions in the health care field, allows us to continue adding to our medical services portfolio and enhances our future earnings potential. We are very excited to have Logica's management and operations teams join us as we continue to build the Company for 2013 and the future."

Jerome Rifino, President, Logica Healthcare Group, states that "Logica Healthcare addresses the delivery of wellness services to patients from the viewpoint of the healthcare administrator. Logica is aligning the application of breakthrough healthcare technologies with the needs of patient care professionals to meet rising costs of service without needing to sacrifice FTE healthcare practitioner effectiveness in their organizations. This results in improved patient satisfaction and more effective care delivery. Patient education is as critical to healthcare as nurse education and physician engagement. Logica Healthcare Media BowseCareTV bridges the gap between mere treatment and full participation of the healing process. Logica Healthcare solutions will eventually touch every aspect of the patient-doctor experience, from telemedicine data management to interactive ongoing doctor-client relationships on a global basis."

CORPORATE PROFILE

Information Architects Corp. (IACH) is a worldwide Medical and Life Settlement company.

"Forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 may be included in this news release. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future results or events. Information Architects Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise. There are important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to risks associated with changes in general economic and business conditions (including in the information technology and financial information industry), actions of our competitors, the extent to which we are able to develop new services and markets for our services, the time and expense involved in such development activities, the level of demand and market acceptance of our services, changes in our business strategies, and the purchasing activity or lack thereof by registered web mall members.

*For more information contact Tim Connors @ 858-568-7059

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Information Architects Corporation continues to set a solid foundation for the Healthcare Industry with the addition ...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - The Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau is starting the search for architects to help improve the Robinson Center.

The Arkansas Symphony uses the music hall more than any other organization, which makes improving the acoustics the center's main priority.

"You want to feel the rumble in the base of your seat," says Symphony Music Director Philip Mann.

As CEO of the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, Gretchen Hall says they want to completely redesign and expand the Robinson Center.

"The capacity is 2600 and we are looking at losing a few hundred seats in this, but it will enhance the seats and will bring seats further in the back closer to the stage," says Hall.

The renovations will provide a more intimate feeling. Hall says the 75-year-old facility needs better lighting, more storage, updated restrooms, and a bigger lobby.

"It's a beautiful lobby. It's very small. We're looking at expanding that," says Hall.

While searching for the right architects to provide newdesigns, the iconic facade should remain relatively the same.

The hope is that beautifying the interior and enhancing the acoustics will help the symphony, but also other performances like the ballet, comedy and opera.

"(It will) give a new experience for all listeners of orchestral music in Central Arkansas," says Mann.

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Little Rock seeking architects for Robinson Center redesign

In an audio-visual presentation, Lewis urged Caribbean architects to look more closely at strategic planning and positioning their firms in order to compete effectively in an aggressive market. Since architecture represents enormous financial and human resources, Lewis recommended that Caribbean Architects look more closely at how they present architecture to the public, and suggested the need for good quality architectural photography as an effective means to achieve that objective.

Laventille, Trinidad (PRWEB) October 15, 2012

However, built examples of contemporary architecture are few and far between so the general public is not yet comfortable to know what is well-designed contemporary architecture or poorly designed modern buildings. I outlined some initiatives that I think are critical to achieving Joy of Architecture and some thoughts on how we can go about developing a Caribbean identity and Evolving Contemporary Architecture. said Lewis.

Presenting contemporary Caribbean architecture is a delicate art that needs to not only seduce its audience but also to portray architecture in a form that appropriately reflects the enormous level of financial and human resources needed to produce better buildings.

Lewis described the nature and scope of a comprehensive marketing plan necessary in todays competitive marketplace and went on to demonstrate how architectural photography is essential to the strategy and how good quality photography can go a long way in terms of showcasing contemporary architecture.

Today the public can now view architecture in many forms of media; including social media, internet marketing and even more traditional media such as newspapers, brochures, architectural and trade publications and even published books. Its not enough to produce good design, although this is important for us architects. It is necessary to present architecture in an appealing way so as to explain good design and its benefits. The public needs to understand what we do and why we do it - well photographed architecture forms the basis for this dialogue. commented Lewis.

During the course of his research and cataloging buildings within the region Lewis has this to say about emerging trends observed I am seeing definite signs of a new trend in design which suggests to me that we are at the beginning of a new wave of architecture in the Caribbean, broadly described as a contemporary design movement

He then went on to explain that he had decided that a well-designed book showing 40-50 fine examples of contemporary architecture would go a long way towards providing the public with a single reference point to see what has been done here in the Caribbean. Lewis then presented a mock-up of a new book he is working on called Contemporary Caribbean Architecture that will showcase up to 50 selected projects in the Caribbean and is due to be published in 2015. But the future of contemporary architecture also requires changes by architects themselves, particularly in the processes they use.

Contemporary architecture has become far more complex in the last 20 years and architects also need to keep up to date with rapid developments so as to continue to be relevant and serve their clients with state of the art design. Two critical tools that can help architects produce better buildings are 3D CAD modeling or BIM and sustainable design.

Describing some of the benefits of using an integrated approach with 3D modeling he summarized the following example on a small 5,000 square foot building our firm designed using BIM we detected some 1,800 conflicts in the design coordination with other consultants. A significant reduction in design coordination conflicts can yield substantial time and cost saving during construction.

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Brian Lewis of ACLA:WORKS Shares New Directions for Contemporary Caribbean Architects at FCAA Conference in Barbados

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Oct 16, 2012) - Mortgage Architects is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Sylvain Poirier as Lead Planner in Montreal, Quebec.Sylvain cited the reputation and visionary mind set of the management team at Mortgage Architects as key reasons for joining.

For over 2 decades Sylvain has been working in the financial field, operating one of the largest independent brokerages in Quebec."CUSTOMERS FIRST" is the key rule of conduct that guided Sylvain from the very beginning of his career. Today, it is the satisfaction of thousands of customers, supported by him throughout their personal and professional projects that reflect his noble motto.

Deeply involved in the emergence and development of new skills in his professional field, Sylvain Poirier has worked as an editor and has taught Mortgage Brokering at theCollege de l''immobilier du Qubec. He has served as Vice President for a major Canadian alternative lender and has also acted as a consultant forCAAMPandOACIQ.

We are honoured and thrilled to welcome Sylvain and Pentagone Services Hypothcairesour Mortgage Architects Professional Broker Network said Luisa Simonetti, VP- Quebec Region.A seasoned broker, he is well respected with the lender & the mortgage broker industry.He will be a great addition to our Quebec Brokers team.

Mortgage Architects is a national mortgage brokerage with a national network of brokers across Canada and offices in Toronto, Mississauga, Vancouver, Calgary, Laval and Halifax.

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Sylvain Poirier of Pentagone Services Hypothecaires Joins the Mortgage Architects Broker Network

Sustainable design is practically status quo now, but many clients are still unfamiliar with the lexicon surrounding building performance. Enter the architect. With this increased emphasis on energy efficiency, the onus of communicating and even assessing a buildings performance is starting to fall on the architect.

In the past, architects may have deferred to the engineer or dedicated energy modeler for the information, says Jim Hanford, AIA, the energy-efficiency leader in Miller Hull Partnerships Seattle office. But integrated design and increased client awareness are blurring the distinction in roles. As architects, were being asked to give more information about the performance we expect out of our projects, Hanford says. Energy modeling is how we can do it.

Assessing the performance and operations of a building is new territory for most architects. To help introduce architects to the relatively technicaland potentially intimidatingtopic, the AIA recently released An Architects Guide to Integrating Energy Modeling in the Design Process, a document that covers the building energy fundamentals and provides step-by-step instructions to predictingand hopefully reducingthe energy consumption of buildings.

Available as an online download for free, the 86-page guide was written, compiled, and reviewed by a committee of architects, sustainability experts, and building-science officials, as well as staff members at the AIA. The guide covers a range of topics on energy modeling, says Sean Quinn, Associate AIA, a sustainable design specialist based in the Washington, D.C., office of HOK. It gives a nice breakdown of the reasons why we care [about building energy performance] and definitions of key metrics such as energy use intensity and benchmarks, which are some of the things that confuse people the most, Quinn says.

The guide not only serves as a primer for energy modeling newcomers, but is also informative for people with experience in the process. For tech-y guys like myself, Quinn says, the review of energy modeling software toward the end of the guide is great because we have many designers who want to learn more about this stuff. The guide, he says, provides advice such as if you're trying to accomplish x, then look at this tool.

Other topics covered include a background on the role of energy modeling in the design process, baseline best practices, and suggestions on how architects can take a leading role in the energy discussion, from a projects conceptual design to post-occupancy. The guide also explains how architects can offer energy modeling as both a value-added service as well as an ongoing service.

The guide wont turn its readers into energy modeling experts. But it should empower architects to become integrally evolved in the [energy modeling] process, Hanford says. Too often we let the engineering side run with it, and in some cases they dont fully understand the intent of the design, or its hard for them to model. We need to be involved to ensure they're representing the architecture and design intent as best as it can be done.

Beyond the technical, financial, and business aspects, learning about building energy performance and modeling will also benefit design, Hanford says. In the past, energy modeling has been used by most firmsand ours as wellas a means to confirm the decisions that we've made and to quantify how much better we're performing than a typical building. As were working on more low-energy buildings and higher performing buildings, this offers an opportunity to drive design decisions.

As with any technology, the tools used for energy modeling are evolving every day. The AIA anticipates developing the second phase of its energy modeling guide next year, pending budget approval from its board this December.

Quinn, for one, looks forward to increased compatibility among building design and energy modeling software programs, which he says would streamline the workflow significantly. Hanford, the energy-efficiency veteran from Seattle, is optimistic about several upcoming programs that he is currently beta testing. Software programs that offer qualitative, simple, but still informative output, he says, could help encourage more designers to participate in energy modeling.

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AIA Releases Energy Modeling Guide for Architects