AIA Announces 2017 COTE Top Ten Awards

April 24, 2017 — The American Institute of Architects (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE) has selected the 2017 recipients of the Top Ten Awards, the industry’s premier program celebrating sustainable design excellence. Now in their 21st year, the Top Ten Awards highlight projects that exemplify the integration of great design and great performance. Submissions are required to demonstrate how the project aligns with COTE’s rigorous criteria for social, economic, and ecological value. This year’s recipients will be honored at the 2017 AIA Conference on Architecture this week in Orlando.

New for 2017 

For this year, COTE substantially revised its Measures of Sustainable Design, the criteria judges use to evaluate projects. New topics include impact on health, wellness, and economy. In past years, criteria was based largely on predicted performance, not actual performance as measured after occupying the buildings. Since 2014, past Top Ten recipients have been invited to submit post-occupancy data and narratives to be recognized with a single COTE Top Ten Plus award each year. In 2017, these separate tracks are merged.

The 2017 Top Ten

The awardees and the architectural firms are as follows:

• Bristol Community College John J. Sbrega Health and Science Building; Fall River Massachusetts / Sasaki
• Brock Environmental Center; Virginia Beach, Virginia / SmithGroupJJR
  (Top Ten Plus honor for exceptional post-occupancy performance)
• Chatham University Eden Hall Campus; Richland Township, Pennsylvania / Mithun
• Discovery Elementary School, Arlington Public Schools; Arlington, Virginia / VMDO Architects
• Manhattan Districts 1/2/5 Garage & Spring Street Salt Shed; New York City / Dattner Architects and WXY architecture + urban design
• Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University; Washington, D.C. / Payette and Ayers Saint Gross
• Ng Teng Fong General Hospital & Jurong Community Hospital; Singapore / HOK, USA; CPG, Singapore; Studio 505, Australia
• NOAA Daniel K. Inouye Regional Center; Honolulu / HOK with Ferraro Choi & WSP
• R.W. Kern Center; Amherst, Massachusetts / Bruner/Cott & Associates
• Stanford University Central Energy Facility; Stanford, California / ZGF Architects LLP