Sustainability by Any Other Name

Sustainability and resilience are integral to the way we practice architecture today. As practitioners, we understand the critical imperative to mitigate the built environment's contribution to climate change, focusing our efforts on energy and emissions reduction; health, wellness, and equitable outcomes; and resilience to disruptions caused by extreme heat, increased flooding, sea level rise, and other climate hazards. This powerful momentum has felt curtailed since January 2025, when by executive order, the federal government began quickly stripping energy and climate initiatives from both its public-facing language and actual operations (including design and construction). Subsequently, firms who work with the federal government have had to pivot and rethink how to integrate these measures into their work, and this reframing has had a larger impact to our industry at large.

Join us to to hear candid perspectives about the impact of this quieting of climate action at the federal level to our work at the national and local scale. As design practitioners, how have we adapted? How do we continue to do this work, recognizing the cost of doing nothing? And how do we talk about our work in a way that resonates at the local, state, and national level, regardless of fluctuating political climate? Following the panel discussion, attendees and panelists will join breakout groups to share their experiences, provide feedback on how we can continue to progress, and report insights out to the larger group.

Speakers to be announced.