In the past few years, no single issue has revolutionized architecture more than sustainability. 

Buildings contribute 39% of all greenhouse gas emissions in New York City. Individual buildings, if designed intelligently, can therefore have an enormous impact on the sustainability of our built environment.

However, there is more to green building design than just energy usage or savings. When FXCollaborative renovated the Javits Center, we improved its overall performance and added new sustainable features, such as making the facility more bird friendly with the use of bird-safe glass. Today, bird collisions have plummeted by more than 90% at the Javits Center, a building which was once the biggest bird killer in New York City.

This type of visionary leadership is behind some recent major policy changes in New York City. I was proud to stand with mayor de Blasio as he signed Intro. 1632 into law, which mandates that individual buildings post energy-efficiency grades, much like health grades for restaurants. AIA New York fought firmly for this legislation. While more work must be done to develop the methodology to determine the grades, this is a big step forward as it makes visible to the public how sustainable buildings truly are.

My AIA New York Presidential Theme for 2018 is Architect|Activist. In line with this theme, I implore you to consider how the design and construction of every building impacts our industry’s mission to build more sustainably.

Architects, along with other building professionals, have a responsibility to our clients and our community. This puts the obligation on us to make our projects more sustainable—for the well-being of the environment and those around us. I hope you will join AIA New York in working towards this goal.

Guy Geier, FAIA, FIIDA, LEED AP is the 2018 president AIA New York and a managing partner at FXCollaborative, New York, N.Y.