The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment has unveiled its top ten green projects of 2016, with the winners due to collect their awards at the AIA Convention to be held in May.

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Now in its twentieth year, the award recognises and raises the profile of the most environmentally sustainable architecture and design projects. This year firms which entered the competition were required to sign up to the AIA’s 2030 Commitment, a pledge to reduce energy usage by 60% from the baseline established in their 2003 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey.

The Winners in 2016

This year the top ten green projects were named as:

•       The Biosciences Research Building in Galway, Ireland – Payette with Reddy Architecture and Urbanism
•       The Center for Sustainable Landscapes in Pittsburgh – The Design Alliance Architects
•       The Dixon Water Foundation Josey Pavilion in Decatur, Texas – Lake/Flato Architects
•       The Exploratorium at Pier 15 in San Francisco – EHDD
•       The H-E-B at Mueller in Austin, Texas – Lake/Flato Architects with H-E-B Design and Selser Schaefer Architects
•       The J. Craig Venter Institute in La Jolla, California – ZGF Architects
•       The Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation in Berkeley – Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
•       The Rene Cazenave Apartments in San Francisco – Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects
•       The University of Wyoming Visual Arts Facility – Hacker with Malone Belton Able
•       The West Branch of the Berkeley Public Library – Harley Ellis Devereaux

The AIA also awards one Top Ten+ Award, which this year went to the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, Oregon, designed by Cutler Anderson Architects and SERA Architects.

Greener Architecture Is the Future

With more and more people becoming interested in green issues, the prestige which this award confers on architectural projects is more significant than ever before.

Thanks to advances in 3D visualisation, designers are able to model and ‘test’ buildings before they are built, which means that combining green design practices with traditional architectural craftsmanship is easier and more attractive than ever before. With companies such as www.redandgray.co.uk breaking new ground with 3D modelling, more energy-efficient, intelligently designed buildings are becoming the norm.

It is clear that the future of architecture lies in designers’ abilities to adapt and use new visualisation technologies to achieve more eco-friendly and sustainable buildings.