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AIA's Top Ten Green Building Projects for 2003

This year’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Top 10 Green Building projects were honored on May 1st at the National Building Museum and will be again at the AIA National Convention and Design Expo in San Diego, California on May 9th. They were chosen based on a positive contribution to their community, comfort for building occupants, and reduced environmental impacts through strategies such as: reuse of existing structures, connection to transit systems, low-impact site development, energy and water conservation, use of green construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality.The projects incorporate commonly used green building features: passive and active solar heating and cooling, natural ventilation, daylighting, high-efficiency lighting and appliances, and less common techniques of earth-sheltered or straw-bale construction. Winners include a spectrum of building types – new construction and renovation of office, retail, residential, academic, and institutional facilities. The Chicago Center for Green Technology, for example, is an ambitious LEED Platinum design that uses almost 50% less energy than comparable construction, gets over 17% of its energy from solar and used 36% recycled materials in its construction. All of tenants are involved in environmental-related pursuits including Spire Solar Chicago (solar panel manufacturer), Green Corps (landscape training) and […]

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Sustainable Islands

Rita Schenck of the largely rural island of Vashon, Washington, wants the Seattle’s suburb’s 10,000 residents to be completely energy-independent – producing their own renewable power – within a few years. Soon, her nonprofit Institute for Environmental Research and Education will ask residents to decide how they should combine solar, wind, composting and tide energy to wean themselves from fossil fuels. Someday soon, cars will run on island-produced power stored in the form of hydrogen. Sound far-fetched?Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen doesn’t think so. He pitched in $50,000 toward the completed first phase of the effort: cataloging all the ways the islanders use energy, and developing a practical tool (posted on the website) for communities everywhere to sue when taking their first step toward energy sustainability. Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation provided a grant to help pay for projects. But Schenck is still looking for $12 million to build demonstration projects. In the meantime, her organization teaches kids about green power, bringing in lectures on grid-connected solar power. Should she succeed, she hopes her island will become a model. “The only other example I can think of is an island off the coast of Denmark,” says Bentham Paulos, program officer of The Energy […]

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Rural Energy in Bangladesh

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Grameen Shakti quietly demonstrates impressive results by a grass-roots effort to bring solar electricity to the world's poorest people.

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