High-Profile: March 2026 | Page 32

32 March 2026

Trends and

Hot Topics

It Takes a Village: Rethinking Caregiving Support in Architecture

By Alya Staber and Silvia Colpani
Architecture is a profession defined by collaboration, long hours, and intense project cycles. Yet behind the work are people balancing increasingly complex lives— raising children, caring for aging parents, or supporting loved ones through health challenges. Today, 70 % of U. S. employees are engaged in some form of unpaid caregiving, a reality that is reshaping workforce dynamics across industries, including architecture.
For many firms, caregiving is treated as a personal rather than organizational issue. The result is often ambiguity, stigma, and career disruption— conditions that fuel burnout, stalled advancement, and attrition. These outcomes don’ t just affect individuals; they weaken teams, erode institutional knowledge, and undermine
firm resilience.
After navigating caregiving transitions ourselves, we knew there had to be a better way. In 2024, alongside colleague Elona Habipi, we launched It Takes a Village, a research initiative supported by the American Institute of Architects’ Future Forward Grant. Our question was straightforward: How can architecture firms support employees with caregiving responsibilities while strengthening retention and productivity?
Over the course of a year, we convened a series of facilitated workshops with employees, firm leaders, and HR professionals from small, mid-sized, and large firms. Participants shared experiences and opinions about leave, reintegration, and longterm caregiving while trying to sustain professional momentum. Across firm sizes, common themes emerged: unclear expectations, limited flexibility, inconsistent communication, and a persistent cultural mindset that frames caregiving leave as an
inconvenience— or worse, a vacation.
The outcome of this work is the It Takes a Village Framework, a modular, scalable guide designed to complement a firm’ s existing policies and benefits. Organized across four phases— pre-leave preparation, leave, post-leave reintegration, and long-term support— the framework emphasizes shared accountability, transparency, and flexibility. It provides practical tools such as checklists, sample questions, and defined responsibilities for employees and employers.
Flexibility is key— as a strategic necessity, not a perk. Flexibility in terms of work time and place is essential for any organization that values its people and its future. It allows firms to retain talent, foster diverse leadership and futureproof their practices. The ultimate goal is cultural change— where caregiving support is embedded in firm operations, rather than handled as ad hoc exceptions. We’ d like to see policies and attitudes so normalized and clear that a framework is no longer needed.
The need for this shift is only growing. Caregiving demands have more than doubled since 2020, and more than half
of today’ s working caregivers anticipate increased responsibilities in the next five years. Notably, men now make up more than half of full-time working caregivers( a recent gender flip that speaks to how many women have simply dropped out of the workforce in the face of caregiving demands), underscoring the importance of normalizing caregiving across genders and career stages.
“ Caregiving while working” is not a temporary challenge— it is a defining feature of the modern workforce. Addressing it thoughtfully is not just good policy; it is good practice. When firms get it right, everyone benefits. Clear communication, shared responsibility, and humane systems reduce burnout, support equitable career pathways, and position architecture as a leader in workplace practice.
The It Takes a Village Framework, offering firms a practical, research-backed guide for building more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable workplaces can be downloaded at https:// issuu. com / youngarchitectsforum / docs / it _ takes _ a _ village _
Alya Staber is associate, and Silvia Colpani is project designer at Jones Architecture.

Interstate’ s Electrical and Building Management Checklist for Daylight Saving Time

schedules have successfully migrated to the new time. Finally, check and update the clocks on older fire alarm and card access systems to maintain accurate operational data and ensure all security logs are correctly timestamped.
By John Henry
Daylight Saving Time( DST) is the perfect opportunity for commercial building owners and managers to be proactive with their electrical and automated systems. As we spring forward an hour on March 8, a comprehensive review of your building’ s systems ensures energy efficiency, system reliability, and tenant safety as we transition into the warmer months.
Here is an essential checklist to prepare your facility:
Adjust and Sync All Time-Sensitive Controls
The primary task is updating every timerdriven system to reflect the one-hour jump. This starts with manual adjustments to mechanical time clocks for all interior and exterior lighting, including parking lots and security fixtures, while ensuring any temporary winter overrides are cancelled. For modern facilities, it is critical to perform a Building Management System( BMS) verification to confirm that lighting sweeps and HVAC occupancy
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Optimize Lighting and Climate Sensors for Spring
With sunset occurring an hour later, your building’ s“ brain” needs a seasonal recalibration to avoid energy waste. Inspect all exterior photocells to ensure they aren’ t activating too early in the evening and verify that occupancy sensors are functioning correctly to minimize usage in unoccupied zones. If your building uses daylight harvesting controls, confirm they are dimming interior lights appropriately as natural spring sunlight increases. This is also the time to transition your HVAC settings. Ensure your system is ready for cooling setpoints so that the building isn’ t fighting itself by heating in the chilly mornings and cooling during the warmer afternoons.
Prioritize Safety and Compliance Reliability
The biannual time change serves as a vital reminder for life safety maintenance and regulatory compliance. Conduct full-load testing of emergency generators, UPS systems, and battery-backed emergency lighting to ensure they are ready for unpredictable spring storm outages.
Proper sensor calibration for Daylight Saving ensures your building isn’ t“ over-lighting” unoccupied or sun-drenched zones. Integrating natural light with automated dimming is a low-effort, high-impact maintenance step for any 2026 facility management plan.
Additionally, replace the batteries in any standalone smoke detectors, carbon monoxide alarms, and thermostat backups throughout the facility. Finally, verify that your fire alarm control panel( FACP) reflects the correct time, as even a minor time-sync error can complicate troubleshooting and documentation during a fire marshal inspection.
Document and Clean for Efficiency
Maintaining a detailed log of all manual changes and sensor calibrations is critical for future troubleshooting, insurance compliance, and LEED reporting. Beyond digital updates, advise your maintenance staff to perform a spring cleaning of all exterior light lenses, reflectors, and sensors. Winter salt, grime, and debris can significantly reduce light output and sensor accuracy; a quick cleaning is a low-cost, high-impact step to ensure maximum visibility and efficiency as outdoor activity increases during the spring months.
Take the time now to proactively schedule these maintenance check-ins to prevent system failures, reduce energy waste, and secure the continued reliability of your essential building infrastructure throughout 2026.
John Henry is project manager at Interstate Electrical Services Corporation.