Architecture

Gallery: Red, white and ... green - the USA's best sustainable architecture

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The New United States Courthouse, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is one of the 2018 COTE Top Ten Awards winners
Bruce Damonte 
Albion District Library is located in Toronto, Canada
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library was designed by Perkins+Will
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library is one of the busiest libraries in Toronto
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library features a large solar panel array on its roof
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library's solar panels produce around 9 percent of its required electricity
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library also boasts other sustainable additions, including heat source pumps, efficient glazing and low-flow plumbing
Doublespace Photography
The interior of Albion District Library is light-filled and comfortable
Doublespace Photography
Albion District Library was designed by Perkins+Will
Doublespace Photography
Inside Albion District Library
Doublespace Photography
A novel seating area in Albion District Library
Doublespace Photography
Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild and Commons is located in Santa Rosa, California
Celso Rojas 
Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild and Commons has a green roof
Celso Rojas 
Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild and Commons was designed by WRNS Studio
Celso Rojas 
Inside Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild and Commons
Celso Rojas 
Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild and Commons is powered by a solar panel array
Celso Rojas 
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House is run by a not-for-profit organization
Bruce Damonte
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House provides free temporary housing to families of seriously ill children
Bruce Damonte
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House is rated LEED Platinum
Bruce Damonte
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House was designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Bruce Damonte
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House is run by a not-for-profit organization
Bruce Damonte
Inside the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House
Bruce Damonte
The Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House
Bruce Damonte
The Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building is rated LEED Platinum
Lake|Flato Architects
The Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building is located in Atlanta, Georgia, and was designed by Lake|Flato Architects
Lake|Flato Architects
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School is located in Washington, D.C.
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School includes indigenous plants that support migratory insects and birds
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School was designed by Studio Twenty Seven Architecture
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School features stormwater capture and reuse
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School is certified LEED Platinum (a green building standard)
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School is located in Washington, D.C.
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School features stormwater capture and reuse
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Inside the Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School
Anice Hoachlander, Hoachlander Davis Photography
Kieran Timberlake transformed a former beer bottling factory in Philadelphia called the Ortlieb's Bottling House into a new sustainable office
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House features a focus on natural daylight and passive ventilation
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House's renovation has resulted in the reduction of mechanical ventilation costs by 70 percent
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House was also awarded the Top Ten Plus honor for exceptional post-occupancy performance
Michael Moran/OTTO
Local firm Kieran Timberlake transformed a former beer bottling factory in Philadelphia called the Ortlieb's Bottling House into a new sustainable office
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House features a focus on natural daylight and passive ventilation
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House's renovation has resulted in the reduction of mechanical ventilation costs by 70 percent
Michael Moran/OTTO
Ortlieb's Bottling House was also awarded the Top Ten Plus honor for exceptional post-occupancy performance
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center has a rooftop solar panel array that provides all required electricity
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center was designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center is located at the edge of San Francisco Bay, an historic US Army warehouse at Fort Mason
Bruce Damonte
San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center is a new hub for expanded arts education and public engagement
Bruce Damonte
San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center has a hydronic heated floor
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center has a rooftop solar panel array that provides all required electricity
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center was designed by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
Bruce Damonte
The San Francisco Art Institute - Fort Mason Center is located at the edge of San Francisco Bay, an historic US Army warehouse at Fort Mason
Bruce Damonte
Sawmill is located in California's Mojave Desert
Kevin Scott/Olson Kundig
Sawmill is a sustainable single family home
Kevin Scott/Olson Kundig
Sawmill is designed to stand up to the severe climate of the Tehachapi Mountains
Kevin Scott/Olson Kundig
Sawmill runs completely off-the-grid
Kevin Scott/Olson Kundig
The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum was the first purpose-built art museum in the USA, built in 1859 to the design of architect James Renwick, Jr.
Kevin  Reeves;  Courtesy  of  DLR  Group|Westlake  Reed  Leskosky
The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum renovation achieved a 50 percent reduction in annual energy use
Kevin  Reeves;  Courtesy  of  DLR  Group|Westlake  Reed  Leskosky
The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum renovation replaced and improved major building infrastructure, enhanced historic features, and improved flexibility for exhibitions
Kevin  Reeves;  Courtesy  of  DLR  Group|Westlake  Reed  Leskosky
Inside the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Kevin  Reeves;  Courtesy  of  DLR  Group|Westlake  Reed  Leskosky
The New United States Courthouse features a rooftop photovoltaic array
Bruce Damonte 
The New United States Courthouse, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is one of the 2018 COTE Top Ten Awards winners
Bruce Damonte 
The New United States Courthouse is LEED Platinum
Bruce Damonte
View gallery - 59 images

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has revealed the sustainable buildings that make up this year's COTE Top Ten Awards winners. As always, it's a strong selection of top-tier green architecture by some of the best firms in the business.

Now in its 22nd year, the COTE Top Ten Awards highlights projects that exemplify design excellence and environmental performance by architecture firms licensed in the United States (though the project itself can be located anywhere in the world). The winners will be honored at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2018 in New York City, June 21-23.

Notable projects this year include Olson Kundig Architects' Sawmill family home, pictured below, which is designed to withstand the harsh climate in California's Mojave Desert and runs totally off-the-grid with a solar panel array.

Sawmill runs completely off-the-grid
Kevin Scott/Olson Kundig

Other standouts include Keiren Timberlake's Ortlieb's Bottling House, a renovation of a Philadelphia beer bottling plant that involved turning it into an energy-efficient office for a growing company. In addition, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill's New United States Courthouse in Los Angeles reduces its grid-based energy requirements with solar panels and a rainwater capture system.

Head to the gallery to see each of the winners of the 2018 COTE Top Ten Awards.

Source: AIA

View gallery - 59 images
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2 comments
jshaw
I'm tired of flat-roofed boxes.
ePhoto1
Agree with jshaw. This is painfully boring.