Join the Board of Directors of the AIA Potomac Valley chapter for the chapter’s first virtual Annual Membership Meeting followed by a Matterport virtual tour of LEAFHouse, our Solar Decathlon award-winning chapter house. This is a free event for members of the AIA Potomac Valley Chapter; members of other AIA chapters and nonmembers are welcome to purchase tickets.

The Annual Membership Meeting will include presentation of the 2021 Budget, elections of officers and directors, and special recognition awards. Plan now to attend virtually and settle in with your choice of food and beverage to learn what your chapter has accomplished in 2020 and its plans for 2021.

The virtual tour will be conducted via Zoom and using Matterport technology to provide a 3-D walkthrough of LEAFHouse, the chapter house for AIA Potomac Valley. The presenter will be onsite and, during Q&A, will be able to show additional features of LEAFHouse via computer camera and Zoom. Leading Everyone to an Abundant Future House (LEAFHouse) was designed and built by a University of Maryland team for the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2007.

LEAFHouse is a leading example of sustainable design and is instructive for anyone wishing to learn more about sustainable design, building, and ongoing usage. LEAFHouse continues to be a living laboratory for innovative, sustainable technologies. In addition, as a 14-year-old building, LEAFHouse offers a real-time example of the challenges to maintaining and updating these technologies over time.

1 LU/HSW

Learning Objectives

1. To expose architects and design professionals to design concepts and styles that allow buildings to blend with their surroundings, create indoor and outdoor usable spaces and flow, serve multiple functions, and embrace sustainable technologies.
2. By being exposed to a successfully completed project that received Solar Decathlon awards, attendees will learn design techniques that will result in a healthier and safer ecosystem, e.g., maximizing the use of natural light, specifying non-toxic and non-polluting construction materials, harvesting renewable energy, implementing a unique liquid desiccant waterfall, etc.
3. Attendees will learn how a sensitively designed facility can contribute to the emotional, psychological, and physical well-being of occupants and users by incorporating the beauty and flow of nature into the indoor space and by integrating flexible use into its design.
4. Attendees will learn how the purpose and mission of an organization’s home can be conveyed by design features that reflect these same values and the sense of the community they serve.
5. Attendees will learn the challenges of developing and updating sustainable technologies, including liquid desiccation, living canopies, algal turf scrubbing, and ongoing maintenance such as siding, lighting and HVAC.

The Matterport virtual tour of the chapter's LEAFHouse is provided courtesy of AIA PV Annual Partner Precision Property Measurements (PPM). 

ADD A CONTRIBUTION TO THE MARYLAND ARCHITECTS PAC WHEN YOU REGISTER. EVERY DONATION HELPS US HAVE A STRONGER VOICE IN ANNAPOLIS ON ISSUES THAT AFFECT OUR LIVELIHOODS!

Zoom meeting instructions are included in the registration confirmation, and will be provided to all registrants by email reminder the day before the online Annual Meeting.