COTE Meeting Minutes for October 2002
October 9th, 2002
BSA Building, 52 Broad Street, Fifth Floor

In attendance: Greg Albertson, David Damon, Lynne Deninger, John DiModica, Ken Fisher (Co-chair), Sean Joy, Richard Keleher, Lila Khalvati, Chris Leary, Michael McHugh, James Mitchell, Maureen O'Neil, Michael Oullwan, Doug Rand, Randy Yerzyk

Announcements:

The 10 Shades of Green exhibit will opened at the McCormick Gallery of the BAC on September 26 and will run through November 1. The opening night reception and lecture on October 2, 2002 was very well attended. We are still seeking volunteers to assist with dismantling the show during the weekend beginning Friday November 01.

The BSA held the annual retreat this past weekend. Ken Fisher represented COTE. The purpose for the retreat is to provide the opportunity for broader thinking on a range of topics that could be relevant to the BSA and the future of the profession. The three topics this year covered 1) What strategies should we be exploring and what action can we take that would position the design and building professions to lead this region (and his country) to a more sustainable future? 2) There are many social issues related to density and smart growth; (relative to the Boston Globe's feature, "The Big Idea") what two topics should be proposed? What are the key messages? 3) Relative to the question of diversity within the profession of architecture, what is the vision for 2020 and how do we get there? What models in other industries might work for architecture and design? (Note: the COTE agenda as it develops should provide the leadership for the BSA on topic one)

The November COTE meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 20th at 8am at the Gensler office, 133 Federal Street, Fifth floor (this date and location was selected in lieu of the November 13th scheduled date which conflicts this year with BuildBoston).

Discussion:

The October COTE was dedicated to committee person presentations of their research on regions of the country, which are viewed as environmentally progressive.

The State of Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh: Michael McHugh
Austin, Texas: Doug Rand
Mid Western States (MN, MI): Lynn Deninger
Sacramento, CA (SMUD):Randy Yerzyk
Various Projects within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Maureen O'Neill
Commonwealth of Massachusetts initiatives: John DiModica

These presentations as well as information gathered by other committee members (but, not presented at the October meeting) will be summarized in tabular form and posted on the COTE website for reference.

The Committee will continue this discussion at the November meeting with the goal of building a model through which the Committee can help establish Boston and Massachusetts as leader in sustainable thought and practice.