The Studio 12: Chaaaaarge!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (47.2MB)

Subscribe: iTunes | Android | RSS

Teagan Andres MIT ’08, joins us for a passionate chat about the California Architects Board, the California Supplemental Exam, and we throw in a little green stuff for flavor. Also, what’s the licensing process if you don’t have an accredited degree?

Don’t forget to tell your friends about us, join our Facebook Group, leave reviews on iTunes and vote for us on Podcast Alley!

Show Notes

• We break from tradition this week to talk with Haley’s roommate Teagan.
  • Teagan graduated in 2008, with a four year unaccredited undergrad.
  • She is originally from Connecticut and went to school in Boston.
  • After graduation she headed to Fresno to work for Darden Architects.
• She is also currently enrolled in Boston Architectural College (BAC), in the distance masters program. The program is designed for people like her that don’t have an accredited degree and are currently employed. She started in Jan. 2010 and should be done in Jan. 2012.
  • The program has a strong online component, most of the assignments and discussions take place online.
  • Teagan flew out to California to interview at Darden Architects and Haley was one of the people from the firm that she met with and gave her a tour of Fresno.
• She is currently in the middle of reporting her IDP hours but is holding off on taking her AREs. When she is done with her masters program she plans to start her AREs.
  • Her goal is to be licensed by the time she is 28, seeing that there are no hang ups.

News / Discussion

• Fires!
  • Theta Chi House on Upham at about 12:40, Mon Morning
    • http://920kvec.com/Fraternity-House-Fire-in-SLO-An-Accident/6578414
  • Piedmont Lumber Yard, Walnut Creek, Sat Morning
    • http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14674966
    • http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/east_bay&id=7331391
    • http://cbs5.com/crime/lumber.yard.fire.2.1561562.html

• Home Construction down from last month but up slightly from last year
  • http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/16/news/economy/housing_starts/

• Off Topic, best Craigslist Ad ever! (language may not be appropriate for your kids)
  • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/19/the-most-amazing-craigsli_n_468664.html

• Tim’s CSE Experience – Okay so I could seriously rant about this for an hour
  • More CAB maddness. Changed testing center from Walnut Creek to Burlingame, South of the SF airport.
    • Testing letter sent on Feb 12th had the hotel address as 250. When I Googled for directions it showed the hotel was on a bridge, thats when I knew something was up. The CAB website had the correct address of 150.
    • The website had BART directions pointing to the former testing site in Walnut Creek!
  • Not all complaints, staff was very nice
  • Met Chuck Crotser (He says “Hi” Haley) – Haley says “HI” right back!!
  • Many Architecture Alumni, Dan ’05 (flew in from Australia), Jakie ’03, Jose? ’92
  • Overall the test seemed incredibly random in parts and very repetative in others. Test seems more like luck of what questions you get than anything else.
    • From ARE forums: “3 robots read pre-written questions and the exam taker [tries] to come up [with] an answer that matches that on a standard answer sheet”
  • CSE pass rate ~45% or ~50%
    • can’t find a verifiable source for this statistic
  • Bar exam pass rate ~70% (for graduates of CA ABA accredited schools)
    • http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Statistics/JULY2005STATS.pdf
  • Do I think I passed? No … Maybe? Yes?
  • Should the test be changed to a written format?

More LEED / Green discussion

• LEED Support Slips Again in Construction Industry
  • http://www.environmentalleader.com/2010/03/12/leed-support-slips-again-in-construction-industry/?graph=full
  • More than half of all respondents indicated that a LEED Gold rating increased project costs by four percent or more, while nearly 30 percent of respondents reported the costs of LEED Gold rating at significantly lower than four percent.

• Rain, even urine, would help make Bullitt HQ city’s ‘greenest building ever’
  • http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2011354845_bullitt16.html
  • Goal is to create net-zero building for energy and water
  • Requires changes to potable water laws
  • “Living Buildings”
    • 24-29% cost increase – per the USGBC report also mentioned in the prior article
  • Resource Cost of building an entirely new structure vs. upgrading their old un-insulated historic building.