New Calgary Representative

The RAIC Alberta Chapter executive committee is pleased to introduce Bob Stirling as our new representative for the City of Calgary. There is still one vacancy for Calgary to be filled. If you are interested in volunteering or know someone who might be please feel free to contact the Chairperson via this site.

Membership Renewal Notices

The latest records from the RAIC national office indicate a number of members from Alberta with outstanding membership dues, a portion of which goes to directly support the RAIC Alberta Chapter. Correspondence has been prepared for those individuals urging continued support to establish the organization as the voice for Architecture in Alberta. Please feel free to read the ‘about’ page of this site for more information on the role of the RAIC Alberta Chapter as distinguished from the Alberta Association of Architects. To those who have renewed your RAIC membership we thank you and look forward to continuing to advocate for you.

Green Alberta Website Launches

GreenAlberta.ca is a recently launched website and database listing “the best green building products manufactured or available in Alberta.” The initiative, supported by the Government of Alberta will help consumers make informed choices, guide architects and builders to suppliers of green building materials, as well as highlight Alberta green building product manufacturers. For more info please visit www.greenalberta.ca

Speak Up On Climate Change

Through the month of April a series of public consultation workshops on Alberta’s climate change response will continue throughout the province, providing an important opportunity for the architectural community to express the importance of green building as part of an overall strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

A series of 10 community workshops will be held throughout the province. An information package, which includes a workbook questionnaire and a fact book about climate change, is available to all Albertans through various locations, including MLA and Alberta Environment offices and libraries, and online. Those who are unable to take part in the workshops may also call 310-4455 to request the materials.

There is also the opportunity to respond by mail or the online questionnaire by April 25. Results of the questionnaires will be compiled and a draft action plan will be released over the summer for discussion, with a final plan to come in the fall.

A full workshop schedule with times and venues as well as links to the above mentioned materials can be found here with a partial summary of dates and locations is as follows:

April 10 Calgary
April 11 Red Deer
April 16 Fort McMurray
April 18 Edmonton

Edmonton Urban Design Awards

The Royal Architectural institute of Canada (RAIC) Alberta Chapter will be organizing the 2007 Urban Design Awards for the City of Edmonton this fall. Stay tuned for more information.

Tidal Waves, Tanks & Laser Beams

…just a few of the items seen on the tour of the Engineering Buildings at the University of Alberta. The tour leader, Phil Haswell, Director of Facilities, Engineering Faculty provided an informative and fast-paced tour of the three newest buildings within the Engineering Sector, the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), Engineering Teaching and Learning Complex (ETLC), the Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Facility (ECERF) and the Natural Resources Engineering Facility (NREF). While Phil directed the group and provided insight into some of the programming and scheduling challenges, Doug McConnell of Cohos Evamy and Marty Hodgson of Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd added anecdotes relating to the design and process. Thanks again to the University of Alberta for hosting and to the reception sponsors Cohos Evamy and Kasian Architecture Interior Design and Planning Ltd.