The AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE) revealed yesterday the winners of the 2018 COTE Top Ten Awards. The 22nd annual program recognizes buildings that exemplify the cutting edge of sustainable design. This year’s honorees are:

• Albion District Library (Toronto)
• Georgia Tech Engineered Biosystems Building (Atlanta)
• Mundo Verde at Cook Campus (Washington, D.C.)
• Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House (San Francisco)
• New United States Courthouse (Los Angeles)
• Ortlieb’s Bottling House (Philadelphia)
• The Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.)
• Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture (San Francisco)
• Sawmill (Tehachapi, California)  
• Sonoma Academy’s Janet Durgin Guild & Commons (Santa Rosa, California)

The jury, which included Kevin Schorn of Renzo Piano Building Workshop, Julie Snow of Snow Kreilich, and M. Susan Ubbelohde of LOISOS + UBBELOHDE, selected projects based on design and environmental performance metrics, including percentage of the site area designed to support vegetation, actual consumption of potable water, and actual consumed energy use intensity. Until last year, juries had largely relied their decisions on a mix of metrics and predicted performance. The change in criteria follows architect Lance Hosey’s retrospective report on previous award recipients, which determined an increase in the size of sustainable projects and laid out a plan for the committee to further encourage sustainable practices. The metrics have been updated to quantify a number of measures, such as the green building rating systems and existing standards.

San Francisco-based Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects won awards for two projects: the Nancy and Stephen Grand Family House, a temporary housing facility for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families, which features high-efficiency lighting and a solar hot water system; and the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture, home to the San Francisco Art Institute, for its rooftop photovoltaic solar system and special ventilation system. The firm has now received 10 COTE Top Ten Awards.