Yesterday, the American Institute of Architects announced the winners of its 2009 Honor Awards. As noted in the press release about the winners, projects range from commercial, religious buildings to residential settings. It’s an impressive list of winners from all over the world. These winners will be honored at the AIA Convention which is held in San Francisco this year - April 30 through May 2.

Award programs such as the esteemed AIA Honor Awards are wonderful for the trade community. They not only recognize the innovative and talented people in the industry but they also allow these people to inspire their peers. And winning awards not only gives you industry recognition but they also allow you to market something extra to your clients.

I’ve heard that there’s an industry standard that if there’s an award program, find a way to apply to it. But there’s no denying the fact that applying for awards programs with a professional portfolio takes time and sometimes money. Are you taking advantage of the many award programs offered in the industry? And if not, why?

-Maureen

RD&B magazine sent a survey to readers in November 2008 to get insight into the industry. The results were interesting - some surprising and some expected. One statistic that wasn’t necessarily surprising was that 72% of respondents said their green practices will increase in 2009. And with that, only 1.5% of respondents said they don’t use green practices at all.

Codes and laws regulating green/energy-efficiency seem to becoming the standard. EPA now has its WaterSense program to regulate water-saving products; LEED helps builders certify their projects as green; and more associations are providing resources on green topics. But at some point does green building simply mean good building?

I met an architect on my flight home from the American Institute of Architects Conference this past May who believes strongly in building sustainably. This architect builds mostly commercial structures which can be found in Dubai, China, Saudi Arabia, and the U.S., just to name a few. He doesn’t think that designing green or sustainable structures means they have to be small. He also doesn’t believe that you have to make people live in communal societies. This architect felt strongly that you can still design and build the buildings you want, but it just requires more thinking and engineering involved. One thing he said that stayed with me is that you can’t tell Americans they can’t have their dream home just because you want to design or build green. You can give them their dream homes as well as do good for the planet.

-Maureen

The Dow was down again yesterday which seems to be a weekly occurrence. But despite the issues on Wall Street, the American Institute of Architects released its compensation survey at the beginning of November with promising results. According to the release, “… a nearly six percent annual increase in average compensation for architecture positions between 2005 and 2008, the strongest period of growth since AIA began collecting compensation information in 1990.” This sounds like positive news! Especially with all the negative news we hear about the housing market. Click here to view the complete report.

So, are the survey results realistic with what residential architects and designers are experiencing in the custom home industry? Has your compensation increased?