BTES | Building Technology Educators' Society

The Building Technology Educators’ Society announces its call for the 2013 biannual conference. The committee is accepting proposals for venues and organizers/ conference chairs in two phases.

Phase 1: March 1, 2012 - Maximum two-page letter of intent emailed to Terri Boake tboake@sympatico.ca including some of the items listed in the full proposal below.

Phase 2: April 1, 2012 – Detailed full proposal emailed to Terri Boake tboake@sympatico.ca.

Timing
The BTES board has determined that the preferred timing for the event is August 8 – 10, 2013 (Thursday – Saturday). This is due in part to the timing of the International Conference on Structures in Architecture held in Guimareãs, Portugal, from July 24-26, which many of our members are expecting to participate in.

There is no set format or length to the full proposal. Following, however, are considerations to be explicitly addressed:

Conference co-chairs
Due to the amount of effort involved in organizing a conference it is anticipated that this is a shared effort between two or three individuals, however if someone is enterprising enough to undertake this on their own s/he is welcome. In any event, chairs must be current dues-paying members of the organization.

Conference Theme
In keeping with the mission statement of the BTES, we are an organization striving to promote both construction and structural technology initiatives in architectural education, as well as the best pedagogic practices as we teach future generations. What particular take do you have on the topic and how does this form a focal theme for the conference?

Cost
To encourage the best attendance, the BTES strives to keep the conference registration fee low. The first BTES in 2006 in Maryland was $275, and the most recent in Toronto was $375. We recognize that cost will be a factor of location, however in no case should it be more than $400, which will include at least lunch and dinner meals for the majority of the time. To subsidize the cost of the event, BTES conference organizers have secured sponsorships in the past to cover meal(s), keynote speakers, venue charges, and the like. Although not required, please outline a rough financial plan and budget for the conference considering potential departmental and sponsorship contributions.

Location / Accessibility / Amenities
Every location has its unique character. What are the special attributes about your hosting site that provide a specific draw? In line with keeping costs low and attendance up, we also prefer that the site be within reasonable distance to a major airport.
Closely tied to the location is consideration for what supplemental amenities your site may provide…perhaps spectacular natural scenery or a world-class city suitable for a vacation stay prior to or after the conference. In addition, if any conference activities such as building tours, walking tours or hands-on workshops are being considered, please include this as an amenity of the location. If there are unique features of the format of the conference such as panels, interactive roundtable work sessions, sharing of teaching gifts, etc. clearly identify these as amenities of your planning.

Housing
Again in keeping with lower costs, what are the options for low-cost housing? Previous conferences have made dormitory accommodations available. Inexpensive hotels nearby are another possibility.

Keynote Speakers
There are of course no guarantees of who you may want to promise for a keynote speaker or speakers until the deal is closed, however you may have special personal connections with important individuals that you can capitalize on.

Proceedings
Each BTES conference has recorded proceedings provided to participants. The BTES Board prefers that paper proceedings be available at the time of the conference for attendee reference in physical or digital format or both. You may also consider proposing to make proceedings available digitally and for order in a printed version on lulu.com or other self-publishing site. If you are planning on trying to publish proceedings through a book publisher, this should be indicated as well.

Further Planning Expectations
In addition to the unique branding that your conference proposal will provide, there are several events that must take place during the meeting that your proposal needs to recognize and accommodate:
In every BTES conference, one plenary session must be devoted to a business and planning meeting to address the specific concerns of our organization, including discussions about the next conference, tentatively expected to occur in 2015.

In addition, following the tradition established in the recent Toronto conference, there will be an emerging faculty award, presentation by the recipient, and a junior faculty mentoring session.
Thank you for your interest in preparing a proposal. The biannual conference is both a highlight as well as one of the most important events within our organization. Your efforts are valued and provide an important contribution to the organization.

For an example of a conference program, visit BTES Toronto 2011 at http://www.btesonline.org/toronto.html.

Again, on behalf of all of us, I want to thank Paul Zorr and Gil Snyder for their service and look forward to our new direction under Terri Boake.

President-Elect James Doerfler, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

Board Member, Marci Uihlein, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Board Member, Tom Leslie, Iowa State University

Thanks everyone!

Ryan Smith - BTES President

1. In the first year, the President-Elect works closely with the 2012 President, Terri Meyer Boake, in envisioning, developing and executing the mission of the BTES and the goals of its members.
2. The President-Elect aids in organizing and carrying out the bi-annual conference and its associated membership meeting with the conference
organizers for 2013.
3. In the second year, as the President, he/she shall be the principal executive officer of the Corporation and, subject to the control of the Board of Directors, shall in general supervise and control all of the business and affairs of the Corporation.

1. Its Board of Directors shall manage the affairs of the Corporation.
2. The number of Directors serving on the Board of Directors has been fixed at five.
3. Each Director of the Corporation shall, at all times, be a member of the
Corporation.
4. The elected persons shall serve with Linda Brock, Rashida Ng and Patrick
Tripeny who have served one year of their two-year term.

ACSA 100th Annual Meeting
Special Session: Building Technology Educators’ Society

“Diffusion research traces the flow and change of new ideas from their originator to potential users.”[1]

At the onset of the energy crisis, American architect and daylighting consultant Steve Ternoey illustrated the relevance of theories of diffusion research to the field of architecture technology innovations. Diffusion research considers how social systems adapt in response to the diffusion of new information, tracing the evolution of an idea as it transforms from an original concept into widely accepted practice. This process of diffusion includes two constituencies: innovators, who invent the initial idea, and adopters, who adapt and shape the idea according to a continually expanding set of broader issues along the way. As nascent Stechnologies persist, they are reinvented in response to progressively more broad applications and considerations, undergoing additional modifications with each subsequent application. This natural process of diffusion provokes a field of continual change until the original invention no longer embodies a unique identity and is thereby folded into common knowledge and widespread practices.

Today, building technologies are rapidly evolving due to an increasingly diverse field of innovations. Stimulated by the global mandate for more ecologically sustainable buildings, a diffusion of emerging technologies is being invented, shaped, transformed, and then reinvented towards the production of buildings that coexist in greater harmony with nature. As we look forward to another 100 years of architectural education, we must prepare our students to work collaboratively as bothinnovators and adopters towards the production of architecture that simultaneously delights and performs. Architects of the future must be prepared to critically evaluate buildings both qualitatively and quantitatively as integrated processes within design. What pedagogical methods must we reconsider as we prepare students for practice within this profession of continually shifting information? What critical skills must future architects possess in order to provide leadership within a profession of rapid innovation and change? How do we best engender these skills within future architects? To that end, this session invites papers that demonstrate effective pedagogies and research towards the reinvention of architecture technology education. Papers are encouraged from (but not limited to) the following topics:

Building Information Modeling
Design-Build Models
Integrated Design Practices
Net-Zero Energy Buildings
Performance Assessment Tools
Structures Education within Design

The session organizers will accept papers (maximum 5000 words) for blind peer review that explicitly address the theme of Diffusion Research. All submissions should also include a 250-word maximum abstract and appropriate key words.

Papers shall be submitted by email to Rashida Ng [rng@temple.edu] or Patrick Tripeny [tripeny@utah.edu]. Refer to the BTES website for additional information and formatting guidelines. All papers will undergo a blind peer-review process. If you are interested in serving as a paper reviewer, please notify one of the session chairs by email.

Detailed instructions regarding the formatting of papers is included in the document links below. We ask that all paper submissions use the WORD DOCUMENT, or WORD TEMPLATE, to ensure that the proceedings will be available at the conference. Referencing to be Chicago Style.

Accepted papers will be presented at the ACSA Conference, be published in Connector, the BTES Online Forum, and be available on the BTES website. Authors of accepted papers must be paid members of the BTES and must be registered attendees of the ACSA 100th Annual Meeting. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by email.

[1] Steve Ternoey. “The Patterns of Innovation and Change,” in Rethinking Technology: A Reader in Architectural Theory, ed. William W. Braham and Jonathan A. Hale (London: Routledge, 2007), 290-293.

The Equinox Summit
This major conference that was working to plan energy related policies to the year 2030 invited Terri Boake to represent the architectural perspective in a series of live panel discussions aired on TVOntario the week of June 8, 2011. This episide was titled "The Way We Live".

Overview
Building technology education plays a pivotal role in the development of professionally prepared and socially responsible students. It draws from an ever-expanding array of disciplines and its practice requires dedicated skill and learning to both enchant and inform. The path to success in our challenging future lies within the seeds of invention and innovation planted through committed and creative teaching of building technology, as we both gain new knowledge and confirm the value of established practices.

Description
This award recognizes demonstrated excellence in teaching performance and innovation during the formative years of an architectural teaching career in building technology education.

Criteria
The BTES is sponsoring a biennial award that recognizes outstanding teaching ability and commitment demonstrated by an emerging faculty member. Faculty submissions should convey how their teaching in the specialty areas of environmental control systems, construction methods and materials, structural systems, or other building science and technology subject disciplines have breached new ground and inspired student engagement in building technology and its impact on architectural design.

Eligibility
Faculty must teach at a professional program in architecture, architectural engineering, construction or allied building science program with a maximum of 15 academic semesters or 22 academic quarters of full-time teaching experience or a maximum of 10 years of part-time teaching experience. Faculty members who have already received tenure or hold the rank of full professor or its equivalent are not eligible for this award. Part-time faculty and faculty with adjunct or other non-tenure related appointments are eligible. Any faculty member, administrator, or student may nominate a candidate for the BTES Building Technology Teaching Award-Emerging Faculty.

Nomination Documentation
All material must be submitted by May 19, 2011 at 5:00 pm CST, to gsnyder@uwm.edu.

Selection & Presentation
Applications will be assessed by a jury composed of one member of the BTES national leadership and two distinguished building technology educators, none of whom shall be associated with any of the nominations. One nominee will receive this biennial award; repeat nominations are encouraged. The jury, in any year, may choose not to bestow the Building Technology Teaching Award-Emerging Faculty. Winners will be recognized at the BTES biennial meeting where the BTES will present award certificates and winners will present some aspect of their teaching. The Building Technology Teaching Award winner will receive a $1,000 stipend to cover registration, travel and lodging for attending the BTES biennial conference.

2010-11 Creative Achievement Award recognizes a specific creative achievement in teaching, design, scholarship, research, or service that advances architectural education.

The Wiley Faculty Network is where authors conduct free webinars to instructors to help them in their teaching. Ed Allen and Joe Iano will be conducting and event on Graphic Statics and Sustainable Concrete Construction. Below are links for registration and more information. These will be posted to the BTES website as well.

Book – Form and Forces: Designing Efficient, Expressive Structures (September 2009)
978-0-470-17465-4

Form and Forces, a recent title by educator and author Ed Allen, uses the techniques of graphic statics throughout because of their power, transparency, universality, and ease of use. Teaching these techniques is simple because both instructor and students can use a set of packaged step-by-step lessons that are available on line free of charge. A set of interactive demonstrations called Active Statics goes a step farther to allow experimentation with the diagrams. The same set of simple graphical tools is used to find form and forces for trusses, cables, arches, and bending moment diagrams. It even provides a way to find out what is going on inside structural bodies for which mathematical tools are not available, including approximate forces and stresses. Best of all, graphic statics simultaneously finds forces and efficient forms for structures, empowering both instructor and student to design elegant, exciting long-span bridges and roofs.

Book – Fundamentals of Building Construction (December 2008)
978-0-470-07468-8

We will examine aspects of concrete production and relate them to considerations of energy consumption, waste recycling, greenhouse gas emissions, and other sustainable building concerns. Images and anecdotes from site visits to two local cement production facilities constitute a significant portion of the talk. The goal is to encourage thinking beyond overly-simple assumptions, to develop thoughtful, informed attitudes toward green issues.