AIA honors exceptional designs with its COTE Top Ten Awards

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) is announcing this year’s recipients for its highest honor, the COTE Top Ten Awards. Complete details for each project are available on AIA’s website.

COTE bestows the award annually on 10 design projects that have expertly integrated design excellence with cutting-edge performance in ten key areas. The COTE Top Ten winning projects illustrate the solutions architects provide for the health and welfare of our communities and planet.

In order to be eligible, project submissions are required to demonstrate alignment with COTE’s rigorous criteria, 10 measures that include social, economic, and ecological values. The five-member jury evaluates each project submission based on the effectiveness of their holistic design solution and metrics associated with the 10 measures. This year’s COTE Top Ten Awards recipients are as follows:

Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas | Lake|Flato Architects + Shepley Bulfinch Joint Venture
U.S. Land Port of Entry, Columbus, New Mexico | Richter Architects
Etsy Headquarters, New York | Gensler
Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York | Gensler
John W. Olver Design Building, Amherst, Massachusetts | Leers Weinzapfel Associates
Keller Center - Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago | Farr Associates (Design Lead & Architect of Record) and Woodhouse Tinucci Architects (Collaborating Architect, Interior Designer)
Marine Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi | Lake|Flato Architects in association with Unabridged Architecture
The Six, Los Angeles | Brooks + Scarpa
UPCycle, Austin, Texas | Gensler

Jurors also designated one project as a Top Ten Plus recipient for its exceptional post-occupancy performance data. This year's recipient is:

Environmental Nature Center and Preschool, Newport Beach, California | LPA, Inc.

Visit AIA’s website for more information on the COTE Top Ten Awards program.

In conjunction with COTE, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) has selected the COTE Top Ten for Students, honoring exceptional student design projects showcasing innovation in sustainability. View the winning designs on ACSA’s website.

“The students being honored should be commended for their work and design intelligence. They provide great hope that future architects will have the skills and solutions to make our world better by integrating beautiful design with equitable climate action for human and ecological health,” said Julie Hiromoto, AIA, chair of COTE. “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how necessary and valuable innovative design solutions are for healthy built environments.”

Since committing to environmental stewardship last year, architects have made notable progress in the climate action fight. Visit AIA’s website to learn more about all the climate action progress being made, including our first Climate Action Plan.

Learning objectives After reading this article, you should be able to: Understand issues of thermal performance and energy efficiency in relation to window and door systems; describe optimal detailing of the window-wall interface and how it contributes to building performance, sustainability, and occupant well-being; understand how durability contributes to sustainable windows/doors; and list sustainable O&M requirements for window and door systems.

| Jul 21, 2011

Falling Architecture Billings Index reflects decrease in design demands

This months Architecture Billings Index (ABI), provided by the American Institute of Architects, is almost a full point lower than last month’s reported score. June’s reading of 47.2 was short of the required 50 to achieve billings increases, making July’s reading of 46.3 an unwelcome sign of market tidings.