There's a lot more green on a tree than just its leaves! At this month's 4WDD ISA-Certified Arborist Scott Gregory will talk about assessing the economic and environmental benefits of the urban forest. In April, Scott successfully defended his master's thesis, "Quantifying Street Tree Function and Distribution: Analysis of Environmental Services, Population Characteristics, and Sidewalk Uplift in the City of Chico, California". His thesis entailed inventory of 34,950 street trees, stumps, and available planting sites within the City of Chico and subsequent data analysis to quantify environmental services provided by the City's street trees. By identifying public and private trees in adva

Please join us on Wednesday evening, May 25th beginning at 5:45pm at the AIA Central Valley Chapter office for the this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (4WDD). Gus Fischer, Architect and Partner with Dreyfuss & Blackford Architects will present their project, The California Independent System Operator (CA ISO) Headquarters facility. Gus will discuss how they are achieving LEED Platinum and its impact on the culture and community. This secure 275,000 SF complex on a 27 acre site is a consolidation of the organization’s operations, offices and public education components and just completed construction. The event is FREE and open to anyone. Refreshments provided. Please RSVP to info@

How can we design ‘greener’ landscapes in Sacramento?  With the growing focus on water conservation, responsible use of resources, and the impacts of the built environment on human health and well-being, the conversation about what makes a site design ‘green’ is being elevated to a higher level. From pre-design and planning through construction and operations, a new rating system, dubbed ‘SITES’, has been developed which sets the bar for what we can do to design more sustainable places.  Developed to be incorporated into future versions of the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, SITES is currently in its pilot project phase.  Please join us on Wed

In the residential sector, a building that produces as much energy as it consumes, or a Net Zero Energy (NZE) Building, is increasingly technologically viable. Yet, to achieve true scalability, these high-quality, efficient and architecturally advanced buildings must be coupled with affordability. Please join us on Wednesday Evening, Feb 23th beginning at 5:45PM at the AIACV Chapter Office for this month’s 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (4WDD) where Shilpa Sankaran and Taeko Takagi of ZETA Communities will discuss an innovative approach to achieving affordability with offsite precision-building. The team will also present project case studies and live energy performance tracked by the DOE

AIACV / UDA Present: Open Design Dialogue   What does the future of Architectural Design hold for our City? This is an open discussion about the role that architecture and design plays in our regions post-recession rebound.   Free Admission Wednesday, Oct. 27th Doors open at 5:30pm Program from 6:00-7:30pm AIA Central Valley Chapter Office 1400 S Street (Enter on 14th Street)  

Please join us once again for this month’s Fourth Wednesday Design Dialogue (FWDD) as we discuss Original Projects with Nathan Wieler. Nathan Wieler, originator of projects like the Dwell Home, Modern Birdhouses, The Greenbelt House, Harvest Farm Community, Development Supported Agriculture, and Zoom Culture talks about the stories behind each project, along with lessons learned and applied to his new collaborative venture Original Projects. Topic: “Original Projects” Date: Wednesday, August 25th Time: 5:45 – 7:30 PM Location: AIACV Chapter Office – Gallery, 1400 S Street (please enter on 14th Street) Info: Free Admisson Please click on the link to view the flyer    

Please join us once again for this month’s Fourth Wednesday Design Dialogue (FWDD) as we discuss the Aspen Project with Randy Sater of Teichert Land Co. Topic: “Aspen Project” Date: Wednesday, July 28th Time: 5:30 – 7:30 PM Location: AIACV Chapter Office – Gallery, 1400 S Street (please enter on 14th Street) Info: Free Admisson Please click on the link to view the flyer

At the next 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue, City of Sacramento Senior Planner – Jim McDonald will be reviewing the City’s General Plan, comparing the 1988 version and it’s evolution into the 2030 General Plan. Jim will also be discussing the implementation of the Blueprint, creation of neighborhoods, recognition of urban design, support for transit and complete streets policies. Additionally, we will review a number of the City’s key implementation tools, including: Pedestrian Friendly Street Standards, Pedestrian & Bicycle Master Plans, the City’s Revised Level of Service Policy and the Shovel Ready Development Program. Presenter: Jim McDonald – Senior Planner, City of Sacramento Topic

Please join Urban Design Alliance for our 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue, May 26th from 6-7:30pm, to discuss current development projects along Sacramento Riverfront.   Featured guest include staff from the City of Sacramento (Rachel Hazlewood and Beth Tincher), the City of West Sacramento (Katy Jacobson) and local historian William Burg.  This dialogue will provide a historical context for past landuses and activities on the riverfront and how they relate to redevelopment today.  Speakers will also discuss opportunities and challenges to riverfront development.  Topic: On The Riverfront: Exploring Sacramento’s Evolving Riverfront Presenters: William Burg, Rachel Hazlewood and Beth Tinch

Please join us once again for this month’s Fourth Wednesday Design Dialogue (FWDD) as we explore the American Suburbs with Sacramento Architect, and recent TEDx Sacramento presenter David Mogavero: Experimental design may not seem appropriate for Sacramento’s Central City, but the unique set of constraints existing in a less-urban fabric is an ideal setting. Among Sacramento’s suburbs exist great opportunities, where the outcome has the potential for huge impacts on the region. It’s here that design challenges and a convergence of cultures are giving way to a unique new paradigm. Reduced traffic congestion and access to affordable housing are just a few of the results when we explore th

Sacramento resident and architect David Sarti posed a contentious question at Thursday night's Urban Design Alliance meeting: Why do Sacramento neighborhoods resist modern architecture? The question spurred an hour-long dialogue that shifted several times among a group of 50 people. It touched on everything from the nature of different Sacramento neighborhoods to form-based architectural codes to the definition of modern architecture itself. But first, Sarti, who recently moved to Sacramento after living in a house he built in Seattle, showed how small urban developments can transform a neighborhood. His "Little Red House," which he built in Seattle in 2006 for around $200,000, including

Urban Design, and more specifically infill design, has become one of the most desired types of development in the central city and surrounding residential neighborhoods. With continued concerns about the city's design review process, lack of neighborhood support and a host of other issues, architects often find it challenging to fully expressing themselves through their architecture. After living and practicing architecture in Sacramento for several years, David Sarti of Flex Architecture will reframe this discussion, focusing on his "Little Red House" and discussing the opportunities created by building small, asking the question: "Why is Sacramento so slow to embrace modern Architecture

The Urban Design Alliance has invited Howard Chan, the City of Sacramento’s Parking Services Manager, to speak about the Central City Parking Master Plan Update at it's monthly Design Dialogue. Parking is a significant component of any urban development project and impacts the quality of urban spaces. Please join us for an interesting conversation with Howard Chan. Topic: The Central City Parking Master Plan Update Presenter: Howard Chan, City of Sacramento, Parking Services Manager When: Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 5:45pm Where: AIA Conference Room, 1400 S Street (enter from 14th Street; accessible)   Howard’s talk will cover: Central City Parking Master Plan Update *Backgro

Sacramento architecture can and should be designed for the city's climate, architect and green builder Matthew Piner said Wednesday. With its temperate Mediterranean climate, Sacramento usually experiences hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Its location on two rivers in a valley between the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Pacific Ocean contributes delta breezes to cool off most summer nights, he said at a monthly architectural design forum, Design Dialogue, sponsored by the Urban Design Alliance of Sacramento. Builders here — the same as builders throughout the world — once worked with Sacramento's natural climate to keep people comfortable when they sought shelter inside houses and

4th Wednesday Design Dialogue (FWDD) WHEN: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 ... 6-7:30 p.m. (doors open at 5:30 p.m.) WHERE: AIA Conference Room, 1400 S Street (enter from 14th Street; accessible) PRESENTER: Matthew Piner, Owner/Principal, PinerWorks Architectural & Building Group TOPIC: Integrating Climate + Form: A Valley City in Paradise ... please see attached flyer and feel free to post it in your workplace, if such posting is authorized. PROGRAM DETAILS: How do designers' and builders' responses to climate become elements of architectural form and style? Sacramento architect and green builder Matt Piner will discuss examples from local, global, and historical perspectives on certain

A group interested in shaping Sacramento's architectural future had quite a challenge Wednesday night: discussing how to design urban infill in a city whose buildings are viewed as largely mediocre. Figuring out where to go from here is the whole point of the Design Dialogues, sponsored monthly by the Urban Design Alliance and the Sacramento chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). On Wednesday, 40 design and planning professionals, community residents and others met at the AIA offices to discuss how to move the city's structural landscape forward despite the architectural challenges of designing infill projects. The 90-minute dialogue was a give-and-take between participa

On Wednesday night around 40 urban agriculture advocates, gardeners and Sacramento residents gathered at the Sacramento chapter of the American Institute of Architects to discuss a subject that has been on many Sacramentans' minds lately. This month's topic for the 4th Wednesday Urban Design Alliance (UDA) Design Dialogue was "Design Challenges in Urban Agriculture." Those who attended were divided into groups for an interactive workshop that involved designing a faux-garden despite a list of challenges given to them. While mulling over the different scenarios and solutions, participants snacked on fresh fruits provided by Soil Born farm, appropriate fare given the night's theme. Bill Ma

Urban Design Alliance-Sacramento (UDA) presents 4th Wednesday Design Dialogue: When: March 25, 2009, 6:00-7:30 p.m. Where: AIA Conference Room, 1400 S Street (wheelchair accessible) Admission: FREE EVENT, open to anyone who cares about design.  Please come early, several displays to view! Panel Presentation -- UDA has asked the two developers on the panel -- Jeremy Drucker and Aaron Zeff -- to describe what they initially saw, including where, that inspired them to come up with a comparable development concept for an alley in Sacramento. Tom Pace, the City of Sacramento's Long Range Planning Manager, will comment on alley concepts he has seen in a variety of locations; in addition, he w