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 new Austin Central Library by Lake|Flato and Shepley Bulfinch offers a multi-story, community-oriented central atrium as well as interior designs guided by access to natural daylight and other sustainability features. 

US Land Port of Entry, Columbus, New Mexico, Richter Architects 

A busy entry port into the United States, Richter Architects' designs incorporates a stylized treatment for the US-Mexico border wall as well as a sculptural roof topped with photovoltaic panels that "echo distant mountains."

Etsy Headquarters, New York City, Gensler

Gensler's headquarters for craft-oriented Etsy features "750 maker pieces, and over 1,500 materials and products [that] were screened to meet the strict criteria of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) Red List and other standards."

Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York City, Gensler 

Originally designed by Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates in 1968, the super atrium-containing office complex has been brought into the 21st century by Gensler via a top-to-bottom renovation focused on improving " functionality, transparency, and accessibility."

John W. Olver Design Building, Amherst, Massachusetts, Leers Weinzapfel Associates

The John W. Olver Design Building utilizes cross-laminated timber (CLT), passive lighting and ventilation strategies, and a focused approach to interior environmental engineering in order to minimize its overall energy use. 

Keller Center - Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago, Farr Associates and Woodhouse Tinucci Architects

For the project, which repurposes an existing Edward Durell Stone-designed facility, Farr Associates acted as Design Lead and Architect of Record while Woodhouse Tinucci Architects worked as Collaborating Architect and Interior Designer.

Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Lake|Flato Architects in association with Unabridged Architecture 

This 20,000-square-foot educational complex contains outdoor classrooms, laboratories, administration offices, assembly spaces, exhibition areas, and a pedestrian suspension bridge and is designed with low-impact materials selected to minimize pollution in the event of large storm events and flooding. 

The Six, Los Angeles, Brooks + Scarpa

Brooks + Scarpa's seminal housing project employs passive design strategies that include optimized natural ventilation orientation, windows designed to maximize daylighting, and solar hot water systems. The building, according to the architects, is designed to be 35% more efficient than California's Energy Code requires.

UPCycle, Austin, Texas, Gensler

The UPCycle complex repurposes an existing steel structured recycling facility into a collection of creative offices complete with interior living room, sustainable materials, and public art displays.

Environmental Nature Center and Preschool, Newport Beach, California, LPA

AIA Jurors also designated Environmental Nature Center and Preschool, Newport Beach, California designed by LPA as a "Top Ten Plus" award recipient for its "exceptional post-occupancy performance data." The complex has operated as Net-Zero building since it opened in 2008.