Robert Burns has recently retired from his position as a Principal with Commonwealth Architects in Richmond, Virginia after a distinguished forty-year career. Serving as the firm’s Director of Historic Architecture, his primary area of expertise is in the preservation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings. 

Currently serving as 2025 Chair for the AIA’s Historic Resources Committee Advisory Group, Robert has participated on several panels and written numerous articles on the topic of sustainable design for historic preservation, including a chapter on that subject for the CSI’s Sustainable Design and Construction Practice Guide. 

Robert holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, cum laude, from Washington University in St. Louis and a Master of Architecture degree from Clemson University. 

A nationally recognized expert on sustainability, Carl Elefante serves as principal for Quinn Evans Architects in Washington, DC, a full-service architectural firm with special expertise in the preservation, expansion, and adaptive use of historic buildings and sites.

Carl has brought his expertise to projects across building types, including the renovation of Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Museum; design of Ames Hall at George Washington University; collaboration with William McDonough + Partners on the School of International Service at American University; renovation of the Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History; and renovation of Baltimore’s Peabody Institute.

Carl has been an active member of the AIA at the local, state, and national levels. Nationally, he represented the Middle Atlantic region on both the AIA Board of Directors and Strategic Council, and has worked closely with the AIA Committee on the Environment, the Historic Resources Committee, and the Sustainability Scan Advisory Group. He also served as President of both AIA Maryland and AIA Potomac Valley.