List of Top Ten Green Projects of 2008 unveiled

Washington, April 24 : The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected ten projects in 2008 as outstanding examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment.

1. Aldo Leopold Legacy Centre (Baraboo, Wisconsin; The Kubala Washatko Architects) - The LEED Platinum headquarters for the Aldo Leopold Foundation consumes 70 percent less energy than a usual building and achieves net-zero-energy performance. Extensive day lighting and passive ventilation boost the energy savings, reports Environmental News Network.

2. Cesar Chavez Library (Laveen, Arizona; John Birkinbine, AIA, Line and Space, LLC) - The Library, situated next to an artificial lake in the Arizona desert, consumes uses earth berms to provide thermal mass and regulate temperature, while large overhangs and sunshades allow day lighting with little solar heat gain. Rainwater is collected and used to irrigate the neighbouring park.

3. South Lake Union Discovery Centre (Seattle, Washington; Miller|Hull Partnership) - This is currently located in a Seattle park, where it sits on concrete piers to lessen its impact on the site. Designed to be disassembled and relocated, the building features extensive daylighting and air-source heat pumps for heating and cooling.

4. Pocono Environmental Education Center (Dingmans Ferry, Pennsylvania; Bohlin Cywinski Jackson) - This building features extensive day lighting, passive ventilation, and passive solar gain. Native grasses were used for landscaping, and a small wetland north of the site was preserved to help filter storm water.

5. Garthwaite Center for Science and Art (Weston, Massachusetts; Architerra, Inc.) - This centre features a locally fabricated, exposed timber frame structure and polished concrete floors, among other environmentally responsible materials. A boiler fed by wood pellets, provides 80 percent of the building's heating needs; the building was expected to use 38 percent less energy as compared to conventional building.

6. Macallen Building Condominiums (Boston, Massachusetts; Office dA, Burt Hill) - The building features two green roofs, once of which is irrigated with collected storm water runoff. The project recieved a LEED innovation point for collecting and treating cooling tower blowdown water for irrigation.

7. Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex (Hillsborough, California; Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects) - This three-building complex, constructed into a hillside, was designed to consume 69 percent less energy than a conventional school building; a 30-kW photovoltaic array provides 24 percent of the project's electricity. Waterless urinals, dual-flush toilets, and low-flow fixtures contribute to a 50 percent savings in indoor water use.

8.Queens Botanical Garden Visitor Centre (Flushing, New York; BKSK Architects) - This building has rainwater collected from the roof, which flows through a series of channels until it reaches swales filled with native wetland species that filter the water; the treated water is piped to a fountain that feeds a stream that flows through the site. The centre also features integrated photovoltaics and siding made of western red cedar certified to Forest Stewardship Council standards.

9.Sculpture Building and Gallery (New Haven, Connecticut; KieranTimberlake Associates) - The building located at Yale University features an innovative curtainwall system that incorporates solar shading, triple-glazed, low-emissivity glazing, and a translucent, double-cavity spandrel panel. The spandrel panel has an insulation value estimated to be greater than R-20 while maintaining 20 percent visual light transmittance.

10.Lavin-Bernick Center (New Orleans, Louisiana; Vincent James Associates Architects) - in this student centre at Tulane University, windows were added to increase the available daylight and allow natural ventilation; mixed-mode operation in temperate months was expected to decrease cooling requirements in the perimeter spaces of the building by 42 percent.

ANI