#WFH Sustainability & an Interview w/ Kristi Byers, AIA
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| Kristi Byers, AIA |
- the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level."the sustainability of economic growth"
- avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance."the pursuit of global environmental sustainability"
Definitions from Oxford Languages
the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
Sooooo...
We are now almost 12 months since shutdown, 14 months since it Covid became a "Houshold name" and since #KBIS #IBS, when we were all gathering in Las Vegas, for me for the unheard of third time in 18 months.... It might have been the last in person conference that i will have been to, perhaps ever... hopefully not, but the reality hit me when I was told by the AIA San Diego Chapter that AIA National would not be having large in person events until October 2021.
For the past two years, i have attended the KBIS IBS Show in Vegas, I really don't enjoy Vegas, I don't gamble, I don't drink and I don't like the exploitation of women's bodies as a commodity. Ok, I have a glass of wine a week which has been pointed out to me isn't really drinking...
ok, i was mostly there to get away...
This last year, I flew in late and went to the room and my friend was already in bed and so i went down and had dinner next to one of those odd couples that are all over Vegas and it makes you think...
I might feel like a prostitute when I practice architecture, but at least I don't bill myself out as one...
and if you feel that desperate, please give me a call because I know that I have said that I don't want to mentor anyone, but I would make an exception to the rule if you needed another way to make money.
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| Tim Burton, right there in front of me signing a book for my son. |
So I didn't go to the show right away, I went to the Neon Museum to get a book signed by Tim Burton for my son who is wildly fascinated with animation. I stood in line with hundreds of people and could literally get right next to the man himself. And then I got a Lyft and they picked up another person and dropped him off at a methadone clinic and then went off to the Las Vegas Convention Center and met with one of my friends and then saw another speak at an event and then met my other friend and walked the show and then went to dinner and ate chinese food at ______ where we sat around a table and spun the food around and ate off of communal plates and walked through restaurants and shopping malls and the strip and the hotel and the casinos and went to sleep and I looked out over the golf course and Vegas and thought well this was a nice break...
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| He found me based on this photo |
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| Marvin Skylight that I want... |
And then everyone went home and some didn't feel so good...
And then came Friday, March 13th, Friday the 13th and then
SHUTDOWN...
And then I was at the building department with a client as they freaked out and I as the architect wondering:
"Should I be here? I know housing is essential but am I an essential worker? Am I here illegally? Am I allowed to be working or am I allowed to be out in public? How am i supposed to conduct business? Am i putting my family in danger? Why did I let those clients in my car? Should I be meeting with clients? How do we now work from home when I can no longer leave the home?"
And i sent them home because I was really thinking that their project and their health was more important than my own...
And I just couldn't take listening to it anymore....
How am I supposed to live like this?????
I have been asking Kristi Byers, AIA to interview for a while now, I might have met her before, but I remember this meeting with her at the Billie Tsien and Tod Williams Lecture, it was supposed to be just Billie, but Tod decided to join her and it was a wonderful lecture that included a man who asked a question about the project and he had actually worked on the project as the Acoustician who Tod had been raving about during a part of the lecture when he was talking about the auditorium in which we were sitting. Afterwards some of us were talking to Billie and Tod walked up and I asked him if he could take our photo with Billie and here it is. And this is when I remember that I met Kristi. We had coffee one day afterwards, which of course now seems like it was not only a million years ago but that it was way easier to plan than it does now. Kristi is LEED certified and has run her practice on the forefront of Sustainability and on the forefront of how to run a practice during COVID WFH as you will hear in the interview.
Kristi Byers, Architect and Founder AIA, LEED AP BD+C
Kristi’s design eye, technical expertise and consensus-building leadership skills have been honed over her 22 year sof project and community leadership experience on commercial, industrial, civic, university, K-12, mid- and high-rise,mixed-use, residential and master planning projects throughout Southern California and across the U.S.
Sustainable design and healthy buildings have always been a passion for Kristi. She became a LEED Accredited Professional in 2007 and has served as LEED Coordinator or LEED Project Manager on several notable, sustainably-designed projects around the country. Government and corporate clients have sought her expertise for educating their staff about sustainability, greening their building operations, strategizing for building and site purchases and planning for future sustainable renovations.
An active member of the architectural community, Kristi has served on the American Institute of Architecture San Diego Chapter’s Board of Directors in roles that ranged from Public Advocacy Commissioner to President; and the American Institute of Architects California Council Board of Directors, Council Repositioning Committee and Advocacy Advisory Committee. She has been a member of the Urban Land Institute (ULI), Downtown San Diego Partnership, United States Green Building Council (USGBC) and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW). She is a LEAD San Diego Core Curriculum Graduate and has served as a subject matter expert for the writing of the LEED Exam and the California Architects Supplemental Exam. She enjoys staying connected to San Diego’s academic institutions and has taught as a visiting professor at San Diego State University (2014) and adjunct professor at Woodbury University.
Kristi Byers
AIA LEED AP BD&C
Kristi Byers, Architect APC
619.359.0235 (o)
619.599.5984 (c)
Interview w/ Kristi Byers, Click here
A lot has happened to us in the past year, a lot of change. At least for me, And the importance of finding someone who is stronger than myself to discover that I was stronger than most. And that I can be alone and it will be ok.
That it's ok to trust someone you don't know very well, when you can't rely on others you do.
In Architecture, we use the term sustainability to define buildings and materials that will live on,
In this past year, we have pushed the boundaries of those terms to define
who we were,
who we are,
who we will become...
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| September 25, 2018 "#whatanarchitectdoes when they go to the jobsite" post asbestos abatement |
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| April 14, 2020 #whatanarchitectdoes when they are at the Salk looking at the black busses hoping for a cure |
We are Sustainable.
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