AIA's Earth Day Top Ten for 2002

On Earth Day, The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) announced this year’s Top Ten Green Projects. The winning projects represent a wide range of function and location, and employ an array of environmental strategies. This year’s awards program was juried, for the first time, by invited jurors from outside the Committee. They included Randy Croxton, FAIA, Croxton Collaborative; Sim Van der Ryn, Van der Ryn Architects; Horst Berger, City University of New York; and Guy Battle, Battle McCarthy.

The design of this bank was initiated and guided by the local community. The building utilizes extensive daylighting, natural ventilation, and locally sourced materials. The site design includes stormwater retention and native landscaping.

On Earth Day, The American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) announced this year’s Top Ten Green Projects. The winning projects represent a wide range of function and location, and employ an array of environmental strategies. This year’s awards program was juried, for the first time, by invited jurors from outside the Committee. They included Randy Croxton, FAIA, Croxton Collaborative; Sim Van der Ryn, Van der Ryn Architects; Horst Berger, City University of New York; and Guy Battle, Battle McCarthy.

Bank of Astoria

Manzanita, Oregon

Architect: Tom Bender

Contact: Tom Bender

tom@tombender.org

503/368-6294

The design of this bank was initiated and guided by the local community. The building utilizes extensive daylighting, natural ventilation, and locally sourced materials. The site design includes stormwater retention and native landscaping.

Building 850, Energy & Sustainability Showcase Project

Port Hueneme, California

Architect: CTG Energetics

Contact: Malcolm Lewis, PE

mlewis@ctg-net.com

949/790-0010

Building 850, home of the Naval Base Ventura County Public Works Department, includes renovated space as well as new construction. The project employs energy-conserving techniques such as daylighting, natural ventilation, and PV power generation, as well as water-saving measures including graywater reuse and a low-water-use irrigation system. Monitors track energy use and indoor air quality.

Camp Arroyo

Livermore, California

Architect: Siegel & Strain Architects

Contact: Henry Siegel

hsiegel@siegelstrain.com

510/547-8092

The structures at this environmental education camp are intended to supplement the sustainability-oriented curriculum. Low-tech strategies, including natural ventilation, passive-solar water heating, and a biological wastewater treatment system, were favored. Various buildings are made of wood, stabilized earth, and straw bales.

Edificio Malecon

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Architect: Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK)

Contact: Ripley Rasmus, AIA

ripley.rasmus@hok.com

314/421-2000

This office building, built on a brownfield site in Buenos Aires, employs numerous energy-efficient strategies. The building is long and narrow, with tapered west and east ends, minimizing solar gain and allowing the northern face (the primary solar exposure in the southern hemisphere) to track the sun. Its green roof provides insulation and captures stormwater.

Iowa Association of

Municipal Utilities

Ankeny, Iowa

Architect: RDG Bussard Dikis

Contact: Kevin R. Nordmeyer, AIA

knordmeyer@rdgusa.com

515/288-3141

This office building and training headquarters is energy-efficient and cost-effective. Landscaping includes a restored native Iowa tall-grass prairie, wetlands, and siltation pond.

National Wildlife Federation Headquarters

Reston, Virginia

Architect: Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK)

Contact: William Hellmuth, AIA

bill.hellmuth@hok.com

202/339-8700

The NWF relied on intensive payback-analysis in the design of its headquarters. The building is oriented for energy efficiency, with a curtainwall on the north side and a planted trellis—providing summer shade and winter exposure—on the south side. The site is landscaped with native plants.

Adam Joseph Lewis Center

for Environmental Studies, Oberlin College

Oberlin, Ohio

Architect: Wm. McDonough + Partners

Contact: Kevin Burke, AIA

kburke@mcdonough.com

434/979-1111

Designed as a teaching tool, the Lewis Center features extensive daylighting and natural ventilation. PV panels provide energy for the Center and a biological wastewater system treats sewage on-site for reuse in the building. Material choices include VOC-free paints and FSC-certified wood. Native landscaping includes an orchard and a created wetland.

Pier 1

San Francisco, California

Architect: SMWM

Contact: Dan Cheetham, AIA

kkowalski@smwm.com

415/546-0400

This restoration project turned a San Francisco waterfront warehouse into offices and public open space. Water surrounding the building is circulated through radiant tubes in the floor, moderating the temperature. Generated heat dissipates into the bay through a submersed condenser water loop.

Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center

Bainbridge Island, Washington

Architect: Mithun

Contact: Bert Gregory, AIA

bertg@mithun.com

206/623-7005

This multibuilding environmental learning center (see above) incorporates wastewater treatment, rainwater collection and reuse, active and passive solar panels, and natural ventilation.

Tofte Cabin

Tofte, Minnesota

Architect: Sarah Nettleton Architects

Contact: Sarah Nettleton, AIA

sn@sarah-architects.com

612/334-9667

The restoration of this 1947 cabin (see below) demonstrates energy-efficiency despite its challenging locale. Energy-efficient features include natural-stack ventilation, an air-to-air heat exchanger, a super-insulated envelope, and a geothermal heat pump. Materials, including locally quarried granite, were chosen for durability and aesthetics.