by Brianna Crandall — May 4, 2011—The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO) rolled out its new Design Excellence initiative April 26, 2011. With input from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), OBO is adopting Design Excellence as both a tool and a solution to advance a new generation of secure, high-performance, and sustainable diplomatic and consular facilities that support the conduct of American diplomacy, officials say.
AIA’s 21st-Century Embassy Task Force, commissioned by OBO and made up of leading architects, engineers, landscape architects, ambassadors, diplomats, Foreign Service personnel, architectural historians, public art experts and key members of OBO, released a report in 2009 that informed the new program.
Design for Diplomacy made recommendations to improve the way embassies are designed and to ensure the integration of all functional goals including safety and security, aesthetics, energy efficiency, sustainability, flexibility of functions and work spaces, accessibility, historic preservation and user productivity.
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) also sponsored a briefing May 4 for Congressional staff and press on how sustainable design practices and operations can effectively reduce the consumption of resources at U.S. Embassies and other diplomatic facilities, while enhancing security. The briefing explored sustainable building initiatives at U.S. Embassies and how sustainability and security result in design excellence.
