Statement from AIA President Illya Azaroff, FAIA, on EPA’s Rescinding of the 2009 Endangerment Finding

February 12, 2026
AIA strongly opposes the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding and repeal associated greenhouse gas vehicle standards, a move that disregards science and undermines public safety.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) strongly opposes the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding and repeal associated greenhouse gas vehicle standards, a move that disregards science and undermines public safety. While the administration frames this as a “deregulatory victory,” it in fact threatens the economic stability and safety of the built environment.

For fifteen years, the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector has operated with a clear, science-based mandate to protect public health, safety, and welfare by investing in high-performance buildings, advanced materials innovation, and emissions-reducing technologies. This is because architects understand the role the built environment plays in air quality, carbon emissions, and ecological health.

Buildings alone are responsible for nearly 42% of annual global carbon dioxide emissions, but architects cannot tackle this challenge alone. The performance of a building is inextricably linked to the transportation systems and energy grids that serve it. By dismantling these standards, the EPA is injecting volatility into the $1.6 trillion construction industry and opening the door to further deregulation impacting the built environment. This policy reversal will continue to weaken the United States’ position as a global climate leader, undermine trust in the federal government as a reliable partner, and jeopardize decades of progress in reducing carbon emissions.

Architects are committed to practical, science-driven solutions that strengthen public safety, economic resilience, and environmental performance. AIA calls on federal leaders to uphold policies grounded in credible science and long-term risk management. Architects will continue to lead through design, but we urge federal partners to join us in recognizing the critical interdependence of transportation, energy, and the places Americans live and work.

Illya Azaroff, FAIA
2026 AIA President

AIA Opposes Proposed Department of Education Rule That Would Limit Federal Loans for Architecture Students

CALL TO ACTION:  Please have your firm write to the Department of Education opposing their rule change.

CLICK HERE to read the letter that AIA Los Angeles sent to the Department of Education.

Please note that we have officially submitted AIA|LA’s comment letter to the Department of Education opposing the proposed rule to reclassify Master of Architecture degrees. You can view our full submission here.

To read more about AIA National’s advocacy and Call to Action = AIA Opposes Proposed Department of Education Rule That Would Limit Federal Loans for Architecture Students

In our letter, we pivoted from a general plea for “fairness” to a hard-hitting economic argument. We framed the Architect not just as a designer, but as an “Economic Multiplier”—emphasizing that restricting the educational pipeline chokes off the construction sector, delays housing production, and hurts the national GDP.

Action Item: We Need Your Firm’s Voice:  While the Chapter’s voice is powerful, the Department needs to see that the business community is paying attention. Volume matters.

I strongly encourage you to submit a comment on behalf of your firm before the March 2, 2026 deadline. It takes less than 5 minutes.

Simple Instructions to Submit:

1. Go to Regulations.gov: [Link to Docket ED-2025-OPE-0944-0001]

2. Click: The blue “Comment” button.

3. Upload or Paste: You can copy/paste the text below or upload a PDF on your firm’s letterhead.

4. Submit.

Draft Template for Your Firm (Feel free to modify):

Re: Docket ID ED-2025-OPE-0944-0001 – Protecting the Construction Workforce

To the Department of Education:

On behalf of [FIRM NAME], a [SMALL/MEDIUM/LARGE] architecture firm based in Los Angeles, I write to oppose the reclassification of Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degrees under the proposed rule.

Our firm relies on a steady pipeline of highly trained, licensed professionals to execute complex construction projects that contribute to the national economy. Downgrading the status of architectural education and capping federal loans at $20,500 creates a bottleneck in our workforce supply chain.

Architecture is a high-liability profession centered on public safety. To maintain our nation’s global competitiveness and solve our housing crisis, we need a workforce equipped with accredited, professional degrees. We urge you to amend the regulations to explicitly include NAAB-accredited degrees in the definition of a “Professional Degree.”

Sincerely,

[NAME] [TITLE]

Thank you for helping us amplify this message.

The California Dream is Broken. Here is How We Redesign It.

By Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA

California faces an existential housing deficit of 4.5 million units. This is not a crisis of intent, but a crisis of obsolescence. We are attempting to solve a 21st-century emergency with a 19th-century process. The result is a math problem that doesn’t add up: we produce fewer than 80,000 homes annually against a need of 180,000. Our delivery mechanism is so fractured that development costs are 2.3 times higher than in competitor states, driven by 49-month timelines and an average of $29,000 in impact fees per unit.

The consequence of this failure is a deepening chasm of inequality, where over three million renters are cost-burdened and nearly a quarter of the nation’s unhoused population lives on our streets.

We do not need to just build more housing; we need to redesign the machine that delivers it.

California must pivot from a regulatory culture of restriction to a production culture of innovation. We must stop treating housing as a series of isolated, artisanal projects and start treating it as what it is: high-performance, scalable infrastructure necessary for our state’s economic and social survival.

To achieve this, we need a radical shift in how we govern, design, and build. We must move from a fragmented, low-productivity construction model to a high-performance, component-based assembly system.

Here is the blueprint.

1. The Systemic Shift: Housing as a Product: We must reverse fifty years of construction stagnation. The current “stick-built” ecosystem is too slow, too expensive, and too unpredictable. The future is not just about “shipping air” in rigid volumetric modules; it’s about a “Kit of Parts” strategy. We need mass-customizable, factory-built components—smart walls, floor cassettes, and integrated utility cores—that are precision-manufactured off-site and assembled on-site. This approach delivers speed, resilience, and the scale necessary to meet our deficit.

2. Modernizing Governance: The Digital State: Our regulatory framework is the single biggest bottleneck. We need to modernize how we govern construction.

• The Code: We must leverage the AB 130 code freeze to establish “Statewide Component Approval.” A state-certified wall system should be legal everywhere by right, preempting local re-engineering. This creates a universal interface, allowing a supply chain to flourish without being stifled by 500 different local amendments.
• The Process: We must close the municipal resource gap. Let’s adopt models like the Singapore Building & Construction Authority’s digital submission platform. We need to replace PDF plan checks with cloud-based Building Information Modeling (BIM) submissions for automated, AI-driven compliance.

3. Aggregating Demand: Supply Chain as Infrastructure: Housing developers often fail due to the cyclical nature of project-based financing, creating a “Volume Trap” for manufacturers. The state must intervene to de-risk the industrial transition. We can deploy “Demand Aggregation,” using state assets—universities, surplus land, and public housing authorities—to guarantee a baseline pipeline of orders. This provides the certainty component manufacturers need to invest in factories and innovation.

4. The Logistics Engine: Deploying AI: Managing millions of components across irregular urban sites is a logistical nightmare. This is where artificial intelligence becomes an essential tool. We must deploy AI-driven platforms to optimize site fit, calculate embodied carbon, and ensure constructability in real-time. AI can move permitting from months to minutes, simulating the building to optimize resources before a single shovel hits the ground.

5. Socio-Economic Resilience: The “New Trades”: This transition must be equitable for our labor force. We are moving from brute force to precision logistics. We must launch a “Digital Construction Corps” to upskill our trades from manual framing to digital assembly. This is not about replacement; it is about creating higher-wage, safer roles in component integration and advanced manufacturing.

The “California Standard”: Complexity is not the enemy; disorganization is. Our current system, with its redundancy of reviews and sequential funding sources, is designed to fail. We need digital simultaneity. We need a “California Standard”—a universal industrial component interface that allows for a “Lego set” of building parts to work together seamlessly across the state.

We must pilot “BIM-to-Permit” pathways and mandate AI-based “Green Lane” processing for projects that utilize pre-approved, low-carbon components. We must use our “stranded assets,” like vacant offices, as live training labs for retrofit strategies.

The time for incrementalism has passed. The crisis is here. We have the technology, the capital, and the moral imperative. What is required now is the political will to break the old machine and build a new one. Let’s get to work.

12 Recommendations for Advancing an Effective Implementation Strategy

These recommendations are synthesized from the Governor’s Briefing and the Tactical Addendum, providing a roadmap for state and local action.

STATE-LEVEL ACTIONS (Strategic Framework)

• Establish “Statewide Component Approval” By-Right: Leverage the AB 130 code freeze to create a universal “Industrialized Component Standard.” A state-certified component must be accepted by all local jurisdictions without re-engineering.
• Create a “Digital Twin” Submission Portal: Leapfrog current reforms by developing a cloud-based BIM submission platform (modeled on Singapore’s CORENET X) for automated, AI-driven code compliance, moving permitting from PDF-based reviews to digital validation.
• Deploy “Demand Aggregation” for Supply Chain Certainty: Use state assets (universities, surplus land) to guarantee a baseline pipeline for component manufacturers, de-risking the transition to industrialized construction and solving the “Volume Trap.”
• Mandate AI-Based “Green Lane” Processing: Scale AI tools statewide to optimize site fit and constructability, offering expedited permitting for projects using pre-approved, low-carbon component systems.
• Launch a “Digital Construction Corps”: Create a workforce development program to upskill trades in BIM logistics and digital assembly, using vacant commercial properties as live training labs for retrofit strategies.
• Decouple Financing Risk: Direct the new Housing Development and Finance Committee (HDFC) to create specific financing tracks for “componentized” projects that separate factory production risk from on-site construction risk.

LOCAL-LEVEL ACTIONS (Tactical Implementation – City of LA Focus)

• Reinstate a Deputy Mayor for Development Services: Appoint a “Development Czar” with the authority to compel coordination and resolve conflicts between siloed departments (LADBS, City Planning, LAFD, LADWP, BOE).
• Mandate Concurrent, Centralized Digital Review: Re-engineer the plan check process to require simultaneous reviews by all agencies on a single digital platform, abandoning the linear “department-by-department” model.
• Implement “Review Lock-In”: Prohibit departments from introducing new comments after the second round of corrections unless a critical life-safety issue is identified, preventing endless loops of re-review.
• Overhaul Architect Self-Certification: Expand and simplify the self-certification program for low-risk projects (like T/I), removing burdensome testing barriers and relying on professional licensure and affidavits.
• Create a Centralized “Crisis Response” Task Force: Establish a specialized unit for disaster recovery (e.g., fire rebuilds) with mandates to waive non-essential requirements and expedite clearances.
• Codify 2028 Olympic Streamlining: Make temporary expedition protocols—such as CEQA streamlining for public benefit projects—permanent city law for all affordable housing developments.

Online Resources to Support Proactive Next Steps

Industrialized Construction & “Kit of Parts” Strategy

• Modular Building Institute (MBI): Resources on modular and industrialized construction methods. modular.org
• Terner Center for Housing Innovation (UC Berkeley): Research and policy analysis on industrialized construction and housing affordability. ternercenter.berkeley.edu
• Autodesk Construction Cloud: Information on BIM and digital workflows for prefabrication. construction.autodesk.com

Digital Governance & AI in Permitting

• Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) – CORENET X: Learn about one of the world’s most advanced digital building submission systems. www1.bca.gov.sg/buildsg/corenet-x
• AI Tools:
  • Archistar.ai: An example of an AI platform used for property intelligence and site feasibility. archistar.ai
  • CanIBuild.AI
  • Podium.AI
  • More to add….
• GovTech Singapore: Resources on digital government transformation. tech.gov.sg

Policy, Code Reform, and Housing Data

• California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD): State housing data, policy, and programs. hcd.ca.gov
• Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) – Housing: Regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) data and resources. scag.ca.gov/housing
• AIA California – Advocacy: Information on statewide legislative efforts related to housing and practice. aiacalifornia.org/advocacy

Workforce Development & “New Trades”

• Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) – Workforce Development: Resources and programs for construction training and education. agc.org/workforce-development
• California Community Colleges – Advanced Manufacturing: Programs focused on advanced manufacturing skills relevant to industrialized construction. topcode.org (Search for relevant programs)
• National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS): Information on building science, technology, and workforce. nibs.org

Add more resources here…..

UPDATE FROM AIA CALIFORNIA

We’re proud to share that, as a result of AIA California’s ongoing advocacy, we’ve been invited to be at the table for the newly formed Assembly Select Committee on Housing Construction Innovation.

We’re grateful for the important work this Select Committee is doing—and especially thankful for the continued leadership of Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, AIA California’s 2025 Legislator of the Year, in taking on some of the toughest housing challenges facing our state.

AIA California was pleased to convene a group of architects actively working on innovative housing construction models to meet with staff from the Select Committee and the UC Berkeley Terner Center, sharing the architect’s perspective on housing construction innovation. The Committee, working in partnership with the Terner Center, is gathering expert input to inform a forthcoming report and policy recommendations to the Legislature.

Chaired by Assemblymember Wicks, the Select Committee is focused on identifying modern, cost-efficient, and climate-aligned construction approaches—from modular and prefabricated construction to new materials and technology-enabled design and review processes—that can help California close its persistent housing gap. We look forward to continuing to contribute our expertise as this work moves toward a white paper in early 2026 and a package of legislative proposals later that year.

Call for Entries: Innovate with the Santa Monica Mass Timber Accelerator

AIA|LA is delighted to officially partner with the City of Santa Monica on an exciting new initiative: The Santa Monica Mass Timber Accelerator.

As architects and designers, we constantly seek methods that marry aesthetic beauty with environmental responsibility. Santa Monica has long held a reputation as a regional leader in sustainability and innovation. Now, through the Mass Timber Accelerator, we have a unique opportunity to advance the City’s built environment by exploring the potential of high-strength, prefabricated wood products.

Why Participate? Southern California is poised to become a significant market for mass timber, yet widespread adoption requires pioneers willing to demonstrate its feasibility. This program creates a structured pathway for design teams to lead that charge. Mass timber offers tangible benefits to the building sector, including:

• Speed & Efficiency: Faster on-site assembly compared to traditional concrete and steel, leading to potential cost savings.
• Sustainability: A significant reduction in embodied carbon emissions, aligning with our urgent climate goals.
• Design Excellence: The creation of warm, biophilic environments featuring beautiful, exposed wood aesthetics.

Program Details & Support Part of the broader Accelerator Cities Program—co-funded by the Softwood Lumber Board and the USDA Forest Service—this initiative is designed to de-risk the adoption of new systems.

The program will competitively select up to five private development projects to receive funding and technical assistance. Selected teams will not be working alone; participants will receive expert guidance from WoodWorks regarding structural design, fire resistance, code compliance, and detailing. This is a rare opportunity to receive financial backing and high-level technical consulting to bring a mass timber project to life.

How to Apply: We invite all eligible design and development teams to apply. Whether you are looking to assess workforce capacity, explore Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) feasibility, or simply create the next landmark sustainable project in Santa Monica, we want to see your vision.

Key Deadline: Applications are due to the Office of Sustainability & the Environment by February 27th, 2026, at 11:59 PM.

Selected teams will be notified by mid-March 2026. Join us in shaping a more sustainable, efficient, and beautiful future for Santa Monica.

Download the Santa Monica Mass Timber Accelerator Application Guide Here

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Will Wright, Hon. AIA|LA
Director, Government & Public Affairs
t: 213.639.0764
e: will@aialosangeles.org
www.aialosangeles.org

*Disclaimer: The advice and perspectives shared here belong to the author and should not be considered official recommendations from AIA Los Angeles.