Each year, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) selects the ten best green buildings. Since this will be the report’s 20th year, the organization has a large enough sample size to find some key takeaways from the projects it has recognized.
"Lessons from the Leading Edge" is a study of the 200 Committee on the Environment (COTE) Top Ten Award winning projects since 1997. The report tracks energy efficiency, water conservation, and indoor environmental quality and evaluates design quality and environmental performance.
“Top Ten winners are an extraordinary group of case studies from the leading edge of sustainable design over the past two decades,” Lance Hosey, FAIA, lead author of the report and a member of the COTE Advisory Group, said in a statement. “The projects have been studied and published widely as individual projects, but never as a group—until now. What we found is that Top Ten winners are outpacing the industry by virtually every standard of performance, but they also exemplify the integration of design excellence and sustainable performance.”
The report offered recommendations for architects (“Drive greater awareness of the health impact of building materials and need for better indoor air quality,” for example) and it noted green projects trends. Projects effectively reduce water and often exceed AIA 2030 Commitment targets for energy savings. They tend to be located in urban areas and skew more towards the West Coast of North America.
"Lessons from the Leading Edge" is being released before the 2016 Top Ten Green Project awards, which will be announced April 22.
Related Stories
BIM and Information Technology | May 20, 2016
AIA and Autodesk introduce new feature to automate 2030 Commitment reporting data
The new automated connection will allow the more than 350 AIA 2030 committed firms to report their project and portfolio performance to the DDx directly from Autodesk Insight 360.
Green | May 16, 2016
Development team picked for largest Passive House project in North America
The 24-story curved building would be 70% more efficient than comparable housing in New York City.
Green | Apr 27, 2016
Top 10 green building projects for 2016
The Exploratorium at Pier 15 in San Francisco and the West Branch of the Berkeley Public Library are two of the projects recognized by AIA COTE as the top green buildings of 2016.
Codes and Standards | Apr 25, 2016
GSA adopts SITES land development and management rating system
Federal agency will use for properties with and without buildings.
Green | Mar 15, 2016
Living Future Institute launches Biophilic Design Initiative
Goal is to transfer biophilic design theory to real-world applications.
Green | Mar 11, 2016
GE wants to use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as a means of storing solar energy
Carbon dioxide has been captured and stored by scientists for years, but now GE has a novel idea for how to put this stored CO2 to use.
Green | Feb 29, 2016
Nedlaw Living Wall Biofilter creates green space for manufacturer's showroom
The 640-sf living wall biofilter provides cleansed air for the office building and provides a stunning focal point in this modern space.
Green | Feb 18, 2016
Best laid plans: Masdar City’s dreams of being the first net-zero city may have disappeared
The $22 billion experiment, to this point, has produced less than stellar results.
Green | Feb 1, 2016
Supreme Court ruling on demand response expected to benefit smart grid
Ruling allows PV owners and other small energy generators to continue to be paid wholesale rates for power they generate.
