Amplifying Expertise and Knowledge Sharing

Greetings from the AIA California Office,

I don’t know if you remember but, last fall, one of my earliest “Working for You” messages discussed the advantage of the AIA California-hosted discussion group: ADU Technical Network.

It is an active, drop-by-with-your-questions-or-expertise, conversation where members connect to share or obtain vital knowledge regarding this vastly popular typology.

But recent activity demonstrates just how tremendously valuable the platform is as a tool that not only connects member expertise and actions but connects to work by other groups working on these same issues. Here is what happened:

The policy director for Casita Coalition (dedicated to making it easier to build small homes) is Jared Basler, AIA. Jared is an AIA member with ground zero-like participation in the evolution of ADUs in California. He dropped by the Basecamp discussion with an at-a-glance information on a new bill signed into law, SB477 ADU Code Reorganization.

Signed into law by Governor Newsom, the update doesn’t change ADU law but reorganizes it across code sections.

For members of the Basecamp group—not too late to join, by the way—Basler uploaded a well-organized table created by Casita Coalition that indexes where these ADU-related coded elements are located.

For example: height requirements was in 65852.2 is now in 66321; Coastal Act—was in 65852.2 l; now in 66329 and so on. (And yes, as you’ll see in the table at the bottom of this email, the table includes links to each code element).

It’s a terrific reference document for architects working on ADUs and JADUs. And an example of how AIA California-hosted networks facilitate information and knowledge sharing across the profession in California.

This type of cross-pollination doesn’t just happen in the ADU Technical Network. AIA California hosts a Housing Network and a Women in Architecture Group too. Want to join? Click on the group below:

Housing NetworkWomen in ArchitectureADU Technical Network

Promoting and facilitating knowledge sharing across the profession is just one more way AIA CA is working for you. Have ideas of other groups we should develop? Let me know.