Year in Review 2023
Explore important AIA firsts, expanded membership demographics, community developments, advocacy wins, key organization milestones, awards given and received, and more in AIA’s annual review.
Annual AIA report
We are deeply proud of the impactful work AIA and its members led in 2023. Our commitment to excellence led us to enhance operational efficiency, ensuring improved service to our members while meeting the evolving needs of the profession and sustaining financial stability. AIA remains dedicated to empowering architects to spearhead initiatives that address society’s most urgent challenges, placing the climate crisis, and social inequities in the built environment at the top of the list. We will continue to forge connections that amplify our impact within the broader AEC industry.
—Emily Grandstaff-Rice, FAIA, 2023 AIA President
—Lakisha Ann Woods, CAE, AIA EVP/CEO
AIA by the numbers
21,000 attendees hosted by KC’s across 13 in-person events and over 80 virtual courses, webinars, and town halls.
The AIA Conference on Architecture and the Women’s Leadership Summit provided unparalleled opportunities for learning and networking. Leadership represented the institute at several international conferences, including the UIA World Congress of Architects, the 20th Asian Congress of Architects (ACA20), the Colegio de Arquitectos de Costa Rica and the Royal Institute of Canada (RAIC) Conference on Architecture. We strengthened our ties with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) by renewing our Memorandum of Understanding.
AIA leaders testified in support of federal bills and won recognition of the role of architects in more effectively leading the building sector to address climate initiatives more expeditiously
Selected federal efforts:
10% revised fee limitation raised from 6% for federal design and construction projects within the purview of the Department of Defense (DOD) in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The effort began in 2015 and continued with the AIA’s Federal Architecture Task Group and Public Architects Committee 2015-2023.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the first tranche of Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ), which was a result of AIA’s successful effort on the Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ) Act. AIA was a key supporter of the legislation and submitted public comments in FEMA’s Request for Information (RFI).
AIA’s bipartisan engagement in advancing the Supporting Small Business and Career and Technical Education Act culminated in the legislation being unanimously reported out of the relevant House and Senate Committees and scheduled on each chamber’s legislative calendar.
EVP/CEO Lakisha Woods, CAE, joined congressional leadership to announce the formal reintroduction of the Green New Deal for Public Schools. AIA worked with the National Parent Teacher Association and Congressman Jamaal Bowman’s office to craft the bill, which would provide every student equitable access to a safe, healthy, and welcoming learning environment.
EVP/CEO Lakisha Woods, CAE, addressed the Congressional Hispanic Caucus about the design community’s role in creating a more just and equitable environment. Lakisha invited the group to collaborate with AIA on key areas of policy alignment.
Our honors and awards feature member contributions and influence in design excellence, sustainability, and social responsibility. Recognizing outstanding achievements in design, sustainability, and social responsibility, our honors and awards celebrate the impact of our members.
AIA leadership encouraged NCARB to eliminate the rolling clock for licensure and advised them of our Stop the Clock campaign. Soon after, we celebrated the decision by NCARB to retire the 5-year limit. The campaign inspired over 90 individuals to share their experiences about how the rolling clock affected their journey to licensure.
Our new Future Focused series, weekly videos that highlight the work, contributions, and leadership of female and minority architects, garnered an average of 11,000 views across seven platforms.
AIA leaders introduced architecture to the next generation with highly engaging, hands-on design activities at the Girl Scout Convention, attended by more than 10,000 troop leaders, volunteers, staff, parents, and partners.
Our involvement with the Embodied Carbon Harmonization and Optimization (ECHO) Project led to a draft of the basic minimum requirements of a common framework for embodied carbon reporting.
A livestream of 2024 President Kimberly Dowdell’s inauguration received over 4,500 video views.
Milestones
Construction began on AIA's Global Campus for Architecture & Design. The campus will be an international hub for design innovation and excellence.
COP28 was AIA's third delegation to the United Nations Climate Change Conference where we connected with decision-makers and partner organizations to advocate for policies that support decarbonization and climate adaptation. AIA delegates were featured speakers at seven events and met with three senators and other climate-action officials. We also hosted our first Design Thinking, Global Standards & Integrative Solutions for a Net Zero Built Environment.
AIA was proud to partner with America ByDesign for season 1 of their new architecture series, syndicated in the top 20 broadcast markets in the U. S. This is in addition to primetime broadcasts on CBS in New York and Los Angeles and streaming in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
Growth
The dynamic Conference on Architecture exceeded goals. We created a Materials Pledge Working Group and are aligning AIA’s 2030 Commitment and Materials Pledge with other allied profession pledge programs into a harmonized industry framework. This allows us to calculate our progress and data in the same way. With ownership of hundreds of buildings across the U.S., we welcome the thought leaders in the General Services Administration.
AIAU
- 40% increase in revenue over 2022
- 19% increase in total users over 2022
- 31% increase in courses with registrations over 2022
Conference on Architecture
- 25%+ attendance growth
- 26% operating net revenue growth
- 12% growth in net square footage sold on the expo floor
- 18% growth in total number of exhibiting companies
Continuing Education
- Recorded 1.37 million hours of member continuing education
Women’s Leadership Summit
- The record-breaking Women’s Leadership Summit had 900 attendees, with over 200 people on the wait list.
AIA Communities by Design
- Supported 150+ requests and had 20 program engagements involving over 2,000 participants.
AIA 2030 Commitment
- 1,300 companies
- 18% increase in signatories
- 23k+ projects
- The newest edition of the 2030 Commitment by the Numbers Report shows the results of our collective and sustained action.
AIA Materials Pledge
- 257 companies signed – a 24% increase over 2022.
Architectural Billings Index (ABI)
- 10% growth in subscribers
- 25% revenue growth
Additional areas of growth
- 200 Government Services Administration members onboarded under an organizational membership.
- 45,000 followers gained across several social media channels.
- Recruited 11,598 new members during 2023 (included in the above total). Both counts are new records for a single year.
Awards received
The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) awards showcase our success in harnessing the collective power of members to benefit society.
- ASAE Gold Circle Award, Membership Recruitment category
- ASAE Gold Circle Award, Conference category
- ASAE “Power of A” Gold Award Leadership Academy
- ASAE “Power of A” Gold Award Community Disaster Resilience Zones Act Campaign
- ASAE “Power of A” Gold Award AIA’s Buildings Are Infrastructure Campaign
- ASAE “Power of A” Silver Award Academy of Architecture for Health Student Design Challenges
- ASAE “Power of A” Silver Award Guides for Equitable Practice
Published
In 2023 AIA published 2030 By The Numbers which measures annual performance of the architecture and design community toward its goal of carbon neutral buildings by 2030, The Architect's Journey to Specification which details key findings on how architects learn about materials, interact with product manufacturers, and make informed material selections, and the Compensation & Benefits Report, the architecture industry’s most comprehensive report on salary, hiring, and benefits trends.
