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Superlative green designs recognized by AIA's COTE Top Ten Awards

2020-05-21T14:38:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has announced the winners of the annual Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Awards highlighting "projects [that] integrate high design with advanced performance in ten key areas."

In order to be nominated, submitted projects must "demonstrate alignment with COTE’s rigorous criteria, 10 measures that include social, economic, and ecological values." The 2020 winners follow.

Jurors for the awards program included: Robert Berkebile, FAIA of BNIM Architects, Roy Decker, FAIA of Duvall Decker Architects, William Horgan, Assoc. AIA of Grimshaw, Vivian Loftness, FAIA, of Carnegie Mellon University, and Andrea Love, AIA, of Payette.

2020 COTE Top Ten Award winners

Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas, Lake|Flato Architects + Shepley Bulfinch

The Austin Central Library. Image courtesy of Nic Lehoux.

The new Austin Central Library by Lake|Flato and Shepley Bulfinch offers a multi-story, community-oriented central atrium as well as interior...

AIA COTE announces 2017 Top Ten Green Projects

2017-04-19T19:10:00-04:00

In time for Earth Day this Saturday, the AIA and the Committee on the Environment (COTE) announced the Top Ten Green Projects for 2017. Established 21 years ago, the rigorous awards competition recognizes projects that best demonstrate sustainable design excellence.

The jury selected projects by firms like Sasaki, ZGF Architects, Payette, Mithun, and HOK, while SmithGroupJJR won the COTE Top Ten Plus honor. In light of the AIA's recently published climate-change principles, the winning projects conveyed a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems and technology, as well as positive community impact, improving comfort for building occupants, and design strategies used to reduce environmental impact. Here are the 2017 winners:

Chatham University Eden Hall Campus; Richland Township, Pennsylvania
Architect: Mithun

Photo: Bruce Damonte.

Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; Washington, D.C.
Architects: Payette and Ayers Saint Gross.

Phot...

Leaders in architecture tend to be LEED-accredited, AIA study reveals

2017-04-04T19:17:00-04:00

What sets apart high-performing architecture firms from their award-lacking brethren? Not surprisingly, a commitment to excellence, which according to the AIA is measured by several factors, including an emphasis on sustainability and diversity. While the full report details the findings from a study of the past twenty years of COTE Top Ten Award-winners, the top eight habits of these firms are:

Unanimous signing of the AIA 2030 Commitment
Significantly high project performance for energy, water, and other metrics
Energy modeling, daylighting modeling, and post-occupancy evaluations as standard practice
Geographic concentration (47% on the West Coast)
Medium size (average staff number of 75)
A high percentage of women in staff (46%) and leadership positions (34%)
Low staff turnover (under 10%)
A high percentage of staff with LEED accreditation (48%)

See the newly revealed 2016 AIA COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2016-04-22T18:47:00-04:00

Just in time for Earth Day, the AIA and the Committee on the Environment (COTE) revealed a new set of Top Ten Green Projects for 2016. Over the last two decades, the annual awards program is considered to be the profession's most rigorous awards program for sustainable design excellence throughout the U.S. The jury chose the projects that best convey a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology.

Here's a peek of the winners:

Rene Cazenave Apartments; San Francisco by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects and Saida + Sullivan Design Partners, Associated Architect

H-E-B at Mueller; Austin, TX by Lake|Flato Architects, H-E-B Design + Construction, Selser Schaefer Architects

The J. Craig Venter Institute; San Diego by ZGF Architects

Find the rest of the projects on Bustler.

AIA + COTE showcase new set of Top Ten Green Projects for 2015

2015-04-25T11:36:00-04:00

The AIA and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) search the U.S. for sustainably designed projects that convey a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology in the annual Top Ten Green Projects. Now in its 19th year, the program is considered to be the most rigorous program of its kind in sustainable design.

The jury evaluated the projects according to various criteria including the project's positive contributions to their communities, improving comfort for building occupants, and how design strategies were applied to reduce environmental impact.

In addition to the Top Ten-winning projects below, the Federal Center South Building 1202 designed by ZGF Architects Top Ten Plus Award. Previous Top Ten winners get a chance to scoop this extra special award, which demonstrates through quantifiable metrics the impact of sustainable design and technology.

(Cover image)
University Center – The New School; New York City
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP

↓ The Bu...

AIA announces the 2014 COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2014-04-22T21:05:00-04:00

Since it's Earth Day, here are the 18th annual Top Ten Green Projects just announced by the AIA and their Committee on the Environment (COTE). The awards program is the best known in the field for recognizing excellence in sustainable architecture and ecological design. Additionally, AIA and COTE awarded one project as the Top Ten Plus Project, which honors a past Top Ten Green Project that demonstrates through quantifiable metrics the impact of sustainable design and technology.

The winners will be honored at the AIA 2014 National Convention and Design Exposition in Chicago this June.

Have a look at this year's winning projects below.

Pictured above: Arizona State University Student Health Services; Tempe, Arizona
by Lake|Flato Architects + Orcutt|Winslow

Bud Clark Commons; Portland, Oregon
by Holst Architecture

Bushwick Inlet Park; Brooklyn, New York
by Kiss + Cathcart, Architects

Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt (EGWW) Federal Building Modernization; Portland, Oregon
by SERA Architects in association with Cutler Anderson Architects

Gateway Center - SUNY-ESF College of Environmental Science & Forestry; Syracuse, NY
by Architerra

John & Frances Angelos Law Center; Baltimore
by Behnisch Architekten and Ayers Saint Gross

Sustainability Treehouse; Glen Jean, West Virginia Design
by Mithun (Architect); BNIM (Executive Architect/Architect of Record)

The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters; Los Altos California
by EHDD

U.S. Land Port of Entry; Warroad, Minnesota
by Snow K...

AIA Selects 2013 COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2013-04-22T21:13:00-04:00

The top ten examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions have been selected by the American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) today. The COTE Top Ten Green Projects program, now in its 17th year, celebrates projects that are the result of a thoroughly integrated approach to architecture, natural systems, and technology.

Frank Harmon Wins Honor Award for AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design

2012-11-28T16:59:00-05:00

November 28, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon Architect PA, a multi-award-winning firm in Raleigh, NC, has received an Honor Award from the North Carolina Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA NC) for the design of the new AIA NC Center for Architecture and Design in downtown Raleigh.

Already praised by the media as a “heroic gesture” (Metro Magazine), a building “that behaves like the skilled diplomat it was designed to be,” (News & Observer), and “an ode in zinc and cypress, and an inviting treatise on transparency,” (Huffington Post), the building is located on an oddly shaped, previously unused lot in downtown Raleigh near the State Capitol and Government Complex.

According to Frank Harmon, FAIA, the building and landscape were conceived of as “one interlocking system” with the help of Charlottesville, VA, landscape architect Gregg Bleam, FASLA. “The landscape is an extension of the building and the building is an extension of the landscape,” Harmon said. ...

The 2011 COTE Top Ten Green Projects

2011-04-15T00:49:28-04:00

The AIA and it's Committee On The Environment [COTE] have selected the top 10 buildings that exemplify environmentally-minded architecture and design. These projects and their architects will be honored in New Orleans at the 2011 AIA National Convention.

These buildings are chosen because of their "positive contribution to their communities, improve comfort for building occupants and reduce environmental impacts through strategies such as reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact and regenerative site development, energy and water conservation, use of sustainable or renewable construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality."

Here are the chosen projects in no particular order:

Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles
BROOKS + SCARPA (formerly Pugh + Scarpa)
Mixed-use | New construction | 32,000 ft2 (2,970 m2) | Completed April 2010

Cherokee Studios is a mixed-use, market-rate infill development pending LEED Platinum status. What sets this project apa...