This month, Robotic Parking Systems staff were pleased to participate in the 2024 American Institute of Architecture (AIA) Conference on Architecture & Design.
The conference took place between June 5 and 8 in Washington, D.C. home of the AIA’s new global campus. The city houses several AIA chapters and international leaders in architecture, design, and manufacturing. DC was additionally appropriate since Washington, DC is the first LEED-Platinum city in the world. It has been rated the top city in the United States for green space by the Trust for Public Land, and the city’s development projects increasingly focus on green initiatives.
At the event, author Arthur C. Brooks delivered a keynote speech on achieving happiness.
“Only two things about your job will bring you reliable joy: The fact that you believe you are earning your success and that you are serving other people,” said Brooks, who co-authored the New York Times best-seller Build the Life You Want with Oprah Winfrey.
Serving others through architectural design
The concept of service and responsibility was present throughout the conference. A significant emphasis was placed on facilitating communication and knowledge sharing with the purpose of finding solutions to designing a better, more sustainable and livable world. It included workshops as well as dedicated expo-only hours each day.
Robotic Parking Systems CDO, Ram Ramasubbu and VP Sales, Ben Kugler, attended the event and spoke to hundreds of interested participants about the fully automated parking system of Robotic Parking.
“The event was really incredible,” said Ben Kugler. “It was terrific to meet so many AIA and AEC professionals from all over the world. AIA provided participants with an expansive view of architectural options, concerns and priorities.”
The AIA 2024 is the industry’s largest expo with over 15,000 in attendance. Through networking, education, events, tours, the event fostered cross-industry collaborations and solutions between licensed architects, design professionals, associates, engineers, contractors, interior designers, landscape architects, firm owners, owners/clients, emerging professionals, and beyond to showcase the strength of the AEC industry.
Uniting toward better outcomes highlights the value in each other’s unique skill sets and positions architects, designers, engineers, and builders as leaders designing a better world, together.
AIA Experiential Zones
This year, for the first time, the expo hall was divided into five experiential zones.
These new experiential zones fostered learning about emerging trends and connection to peers with common goals.
The zones included:
The Inspire Zone: Sustainability, new ideas and approaches, and social change
The Innovate Zone: Design software and systems, AI, generative design, design simulation, AR/VR, digital twinning, building automation, and the metaverse
The Design Zone: Interior architecture, interior design, design awards, design trends, and designing with AI
The Build Zone: Wood, metal, and concrete construction, project collaboration, material science, sustainable materials, automation, additive construction, and prefab construction
The Prosper Zone: Practice management, investing, firm finance, careers, business development, and succession planning
Each zone featured new and innovative technology as well as interactive experiences. The information booth for Robotic Parking Systems was appropriately situated between the Design and Innovate zones. From here, Ben Kugler and Ram Ramasubbu shared information about how Robotic Parking Systems solves problems for architects and developers including issues directly addressed in the AIA’s framework for design excellence
Robotic Parking Systems and AIA Framework for Design Excellence
The AIA Framework consists of 10 principles that provide guidance toward an environmentally sustainable, healthy and equitable built environment. Robotic Parking Systems specifically addresses two of these principles: Design for Ecosystems and Design for Well-being.
Best Practices for Design for Ecosystems include: enhancing the urban tree canopy and covering as much of the non-building area as possible with a broad diversity of native plantings, especially species that attract pollinators.
Robotic Parking Systems require a much smaller footprint than concrete parking lots. This leaves more space for green.
Many of the best practices for Design for Well-being address air quality such as the reduction and elimination of emissions. In the eco-friendly Robotic Parking System, there are no running vehicles. This virtually eliminates all toxic emissions produced in a concrete parking structure. In fact, the estimated emissions reduction and energy saved in a 1,000 space robotic parking garage includes an annual savings of 13,750 gallons of gasoline and 146 tons of toxic emissions including hydrocarbons (HC), Nitrogen Oxides (NOx), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). An additional 120 lbs of highly toxic tire and brake dust pollutants are also eliminated by using electro-mechanical machinery to move cars inside the garage.
Learn how Robotic Parking Systems could elevate your project
Architects and developers interested in learning more about Robotic Parking Systems can reach out at the link below. Providing basic design information will allow one of our expert engineers to create a custom parking design for your review. The initial design is provided at no cost so there is no risk.
See how our automated system compares in footprint and cost to conventional parking.