Asheville, N.C.'s, growing reputation as a center of excellence for weather and climate change information will attract industry professionals from across the Southeast this fall, thanks to a new educational opportunity to help participants identify the role of architecture in addressing climate change risks.

The city, which boasts the largest repository of climate and environmental data in the world at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, will host some of the country’s top climate scientists for “Climate Resilient Design in the Southeast: Designing to New Executive Orders on Climate Adaptation.” The daylong educational program on Nov. 6 at the downtown U.S. Cellular Center will offer attendees an understanding of the latest on climate science and opportunities to reduce vulnerability through mitigation and adaptation.

Presenters for the course include Thomas Carl Peterson, an internationally recognized climate scientist who has spoken extensively on the science of climate change and how it affects everyday endeavors. Recently retired as principal scientist at NOAA/NCEI, he was a lead author on the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report, published in 2007.

“Architects will design the buildings that provide resilience to the more extreme storms, more frequent heat waves, periods of drought, and more intense precipitation anticipated for the future climate in the Southeast. Architects clearly have critical roles to play in meeting the objectives of President Obama’s recent executive orders on climate,” says Peterson, whom Foreign Policy magazine named one of the top 100 Leading Global Thinkers of 2013 for his work on explaining extreme events from a climate perspective.

Scott Shuford, author of Planning for A New Energy and Climate Future, published by the American Planning Association, will also speak at the event.  

“With more than three quarters of the electricity generated in the United States going to heat, cool and power buildings, architects can play a major role in reducing greenhouse gases coming from electric power plants through energy-efficient design,” says Shuford, who serves as development services director for Fayetteville, N.C.

The event is co-hosted by the Asheville section of The American Institute of Architects (AIA Asheville) and The Collider, a new initiative that brings business and science together to develop high-tech products, services, solutions and educational programming related to global climate change adaptation and resiliency.

Open to the public (with AIA-accredited continuing education units available for design professionals), the course will incorporate problem-based learning and draw from numerous case studies. Climate scientists will address how climate change is affecting buildings. Architects who have incorporated climate factors in commercial, institutional and residential structures will speak about methods used. Attendees will gain hands-on experience in accessing and using new tools for siting, design, and construction of new infrastructure in what will be future floodplains, and will also learn about designing to withstand extreme weather, stronger winds, hotter temperatures, drier soils and rising seas.

Cost for the course is $195 and space is limited. Click here for more information or to register.