2021 Legislative Session Update

The spring session of the Illinois Legislature ended on May 31, 2021. AIA Illinois was able to pass a number of important bills that are now on the way to the Governor’s desk for signature. These include, a HB 247 CMS-Bird Safe State Buildings to require bird-friendly building materials and solutions to be used on all Illinois buildings (both new construction and renovations); renewal of the River Edge Redevelopment Zone (RERZ) Historic Tax Credit for another five years, this vital historic preservation incentive for our river communities in Aurora, East St. Louis, Elgin, Peoria and Rockford was set to sunset at the end of 2021; as well as legislation on procurement reforms.

Equally important was that AIA Illinois was able to stop a very damaging bill HB 680 that would have introduced monetary bidding into the initial Qualification Based Selection (QBS) process. Had this bill gone through, it would have effectively eliminated QBS as a process in Illinois.

Also on a broader scale, some ethics reform was passed by the legislature as was approval of new state legislative maps for next year’s elections. The state budget was also approved. Lastly, the Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) did not pass, but it appears a deal has been struck which may bring the legislature back in a few weeks for a special session to potentially pass a version of this AIA Illinois backed climate change and comprehensive clean energy bill.

We THANK our Industry Coalition partners as well as Landmarks Illinois for their joint advocacy and leadership on our legislative efforts. We couldn't do it without them!

As always, our EVP Stacey Pfingsten and legislative team of Nekritz/Amdor and Steve Andersson, will continue to advocate for, and protect, the interest of AIA Illinois members.

Build a better Earth Day with better buildings

By American Institute of Architects Published in the Illinois Times, Thursday, April 29, 2021

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

Having recently celebrated Earth Day, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the world's largest design organization, is asking architects, design professionals, building industry partners, civic leaders and the public to join us in our effort to create a zero-carbon, resilient, healthy and equitable built environment. One way to make a big difference is joining us in our support of the Clean Energy Jobs Act.

Rising global temperatures are causing climate-related natural disasters, and one of the biggest culprits is in plain sight – buildings. In total, buildings account for about 40% of annual fossil fuel carbon-dioxide emissions (CO2). That makes buildings responsible for more CO2 emissions than cows, cars or the manufacturing industry. Building materials, construction and ongoing operations, by contrast, produce most of the rest. In Illinois we are suffering from our own climate crisis. In the last few years, we've seen an increase in major flooding, record-breaking Lake Michigan water levels, higher temperatures and a rise in tornadic activity.

We must act now to stop this emergency.

In just a few weeks, Illinois lawmakers will take action on a bold new comprehensive energy policy to greatly improve energy efficiency in buildings and ramp up renewable energy development. The Clean Energy Jobs Act (CEJA) will put our state on a path to 100% renewable energy by 2050, cut carbon emissions from the power sector and create much-needed jobs and economic opportunity in every part of Illinois.

Big challenges call for big ideas.

AIA Illinois is a member of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition and strongly supports the Clean Energy Jobs Act. We are particularly excited to see the Building Energy Performance Standard for state buildings in CEJA. These standards, which may also be adopted by local jurisdictions, are flexible and drive innovative solutions. The Clean Energy Jobs Act also supports efficiency programs to fix health and safety problems like faulty wiring and poor indoor air quality in low-income homes. These programs will improve residents' health and create training and small business development opportunities in these communities.

AIA architects throughout Illinois are working to curb our carbon addiction. We are challenging ourselves to create new high-performance buildings that are passive, all electric, and produce zero CO2 emissions. As of 2020, over 130 Chicago firms have signed on to the AIA 2030 Commitment – a holistic, firm-wide, project based, and data-driven pledge, aimed at making all new buildings and renovations carbon-neutral by 2030.

It is our personal and professional responsibility, as leaders in the design and construction industry, to make the business and financial case to our clients and to help them better understand and support integrating renewable energy sources into all buildings, making them more sustainable, resilient and economical. AIA Illinois will continue to provide trainings related to cost-effective energy efficiency, recycling and use of repurposed materials; we will work to update our statewide codes where it makes sense, and lobby for historic preservation tax credits to promote the adaptive reuse of buildings and to reduce the carbon footprint of new construction.

We can all do more.

Climate change will become irreversible soon. We must change how we design and build projects. We hope you will join us and support policies, like the Clean Energy Jobs Act, that align with our shared goal to reduce and eliminate carbon in the built environment.

Stand with us.

Contributed by Fred Brandstrader, AIA, 2021 AIA Illinois board president, Jessica Figenholtz, AIA, LEED, AP, 2021 AIA Chicago board president, and Karen Shoup, AIA, 2021 AIA Prairie Illinois board president.

COVID-19 UPDATE: Three Regions Enter Tier 2 + Vaccine Rollout

Governor JB Pritzker announced late last week that three regions in the state can move to reduced COVID mitigation levels, and a rollout of vaccine distribution plan. Governor Pritzker announced that the state will move forward with an aggressive Vaccine Plan with hundreds of additional providers coming online in the coming days as the state moves to complete Phase 1A. The state anticipates substantially completing Phase 1A this week and moving into Phase 1B of the Vaccine Plan on January 25, 2021, at which point residents over the age of 65 and frontline essential workers can receive the vaccine.

Effective immediately, Region 1: Northern Illinois, Region 2: North-Central Illinois, and Region 5: Southern Illinois – will move down into Tier 2. Each of these Tiers serves as a way to ensure that we prevent or slow down any potential surge of infections in response to more things opening up. You can see all the details of each Tier at the IDPH website at Dph.illinois.gov/COVID19.

Chicago Tribune: How can Seniors Sign Up?

CDC COVID Tracker

View Vaccine Rollout FAQs Here

View Vaccine Admin Data Here

IDPH Vaccination Planning Guide