In recognition of Earth Day 1998, The American Institute of Architects (AIA) selected 10 examples of viable architectural design solutions that protect and enhance the environment. The facilities, selected by the executive committee of the AIA Committee on the Environment (COTE), address one or more significant environmental challenges that have a lasting positive impact on the built and unbuilt environment, such as energy and water conservation, use of recycled construction materials, and design that improves indoor air quality. Other considerations were use of daylight over artificial lighting, designs that create efficiency in heating or cooling, use of environmentally responsible building materials and overall sensitivity to local environmental issues.

The COTE represents more than 2,500 AIA architects committed to making environmental considerations and sustainable design integral to the practice of architecture. Members of the COTE executive committe who made the selection are: Gail A. Lindsey, AIA; Muscoe Martin, AIA; Charles Eley, FAIA; Sandy Ford Mendler, AIA; Drew Stelman, AIA; Joyce S. Lee, AIA; Daniel Nall, AIA; William G. Reed, AIA; Gregg D. Ander, AIA; Robert J. Berkebile, FAIA; Gregory Franta, FAIA; Harry T. Gordon, FAIA; and Donald Watson, FAIA. Christopher J. Gribbs, Assoc. AIA, coordinated the committee.

The following projects were selected for the 1998 Earth Day Top 10:

• In Cambridge, MA, residents of the country's largest cohousing project, Cambridge CoHousing, challenged themselves to establish the values of sustainable community. Their commitment led them to create an urban apartment complex located on a site where there was once a printing factory. The community is only blocks away from commuter and rapid transit lines, thereby cutting down residents' use of automobiles. Units are designed for maximum use of daylight and noise reduction. Sustainably harvested wood and lumber products were used for construction.

The design, by Bruce Hampton, AIA, GreenVillage Co., Cambridge, includes a heating and cooling system that uses water pumped from three drilled wells, wall insulation made of recycled newspaper and energy saving lighting and water fixtures. Residents share a common house used for communal cooking and laundry facilities. The complex is projected to use 60 percent less energy than traditional housing.

"The community has approximately 85 residents in 41 units," says Hampton. "They range in age from newborns to retirees and it's wonderful to see the way everyone interacts as a family. We were fortunate to be able to encourage this interaction through design. For example, from the underground parking, people come into the common house where they can pick-up their mail and always find someone to talk to. This is a sustainable community in many different ways."

• One of the world's foremost examples of recycled, sustainably designed construction is Southern California Gas Co.'s Energy Resource Center, a commercial business/technology conference center located in Downey, CA. More than 60 percent of a previous smaller administrative office structure was re-used or recycled to build the new center, and 80 percent of the facility and its furnishings contain recycled or recyclable materials. Environmentally sensitive technologies and building envelope systems are nearly 40 percent more efficient than California's stringent building standards. The center was designed by Larry Wolff, AIA, WLC Architects, Inc.

"California Gas was determined to do two things with this project," says Wolff. "One, they wanted the center located where customers could best be served. They could have chosen downtown L.A., which would have won points with some politicians, or they could have chosen a more impressive site, such as Playa Vista. But they chose Downey because that is what the customers preferred.

"And two they felt it was in their best interest, and the best interest of their customers, to reinvest in an existing building. They saw this as an opportunity to preserve rather than demolish and build new, and as a way to show customers how they too can take their own existing buildings and make them better."

• The Environmental Showcase Home in Phoenix, AZ, is a demonstration single-family desert production house designed to show both the public and developers the innovative ways to build family homes that are comfortable and require significantly less resources than conventional houses. Energy management technology anchors the design. For example, rainwater and water from sinks and showers is harvested and reused for plant irrigation, while photovoltaic modules on the roof supplement electricity needs. The entire house is lit with only 660 watts. Also, the house is 80 percent more energy efficient than a home billed as "energy efficient" and 60 percent more water efficient. A metal roof is made from 60 percent recycled steel from automobiles, wall insulation is made from recycled newsprint and concrete walls and floors are made with fly ash content, a byproduct of coal fired power plant electricity production.

The Environmental Showcase Home was designed by Neal Jones, AIA, Jones Studio, Inc., Phoenix. Jones won a competition sponsored by Arizona Public Service Co. (APS), the largest electric utility in the state.

"APS did not want to have to build another nuclear reactor, which costs billions of dollars, in order to keep up with Arizona's booming housing market," explains Jones. "So they figured the best way to influence production home builders to build more energy efficient homes was to convince the public that this is the way to go. And it's really working. The production builders are giving people what they want."

• Numerous approaches to design strategies and sustainable living are demonstrated in the Florida House Learning Center, in Sarasota, FL, designed by Terry Osborn, AIA, Osborn Sharp Architects. The house focuses on water conservation, using 2,500 gallon cisterns for irrigation and nonpotable indoor uses. The house also uses 40 to 60 percent of the water of the average house and about half the electricity. With a goal of reducing dependence on air conditioning, the house has an insulated attic, ceiling fans and large roof overhangs to prevent direct sunlight from entering, except in winter. The design stresses the use of recycled products and local materials.

• According to William Halter, AIA, Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates, Atlanta, GA, Interface West Point, in West Point, GA, is an excellent example of Interface's and CEO Ray Anderson's desire to do the right thing. This 65,000-square-foot addition to an existing 120,000-square-foot industrial building incorporates under floor air delivery in the office section, daylight dimming and occupancy sensors in the warehouse, nonCFC/non-HCFC refrigerant air conditioning and the use of recycled and low embodied energy/environmental impact materials.

"I was very impressed by Interface's willingness to evaluate possibilities, even if some were dead ends," says Halter. "We considered moving the existing roof structure used at the Georgia Tech Aquatics Center for the Olympics. It turned out to be significantly more costly and it would have raised the roof another 15 feet, which would have made cooling the facility that much more difficult. But Interface was willing to look at the possibility."

• The "front lawn" of the Patagonia Distribution Center in Reno, NV, is a perfect example of how sustainable design can be environmentally restorative. Not only did Patagonia want to minimize environmental disruption to the building site, but a primary goal was to re-establish the adjacent river banks through extensive restoration of the desert landscape. This 180,000-square-foot office/distribution center contains radiant heating/cooling that uses a geothermal HVAC system, displacement ventilation, solar tracking skylights for daylighting, low VOC finishes and materials and recycled content in steel, carpets, ceramic tiles and insulation used in construction.

David E. Miller, FAIA, Miller/Hull Partnership, Seattle, WA, notes Patagonia's commitment to employees within the context of sustainable design. "Management was extremely concerned about ease of access to the center," says Miller. "They also wanted employees to be comfortable in the building and have things to do around the building while on breaks. I don't think it was a conscious goal, but these accommodations have paid off with productivity exceeding all expectations."

• The Ridgehaven Green Building Demonstration Project in San Diego, CA, proves that any city can have a green building on a limited budget.The renovated headquarters of San Diego's Environmental Services Department exceeds a wide range of environmental goals set within a restricted budget and schedule-typical of a municipal project. Based on energy consumption records for the building prior to remodeling, energy consumption monitoring shows that the building now saves between $76,000 and 86,000 per year in energy costs. Also, the building incorporates non-toxic and non-carcinogenic materials, a modified HVAC system that prohibits growth and transmission of molds and bacteria, recycled content in carpets and a lighting design that reduces both electricity consumption and cooling requirements. The renovation was done by Alison M. Whitelaw, AIA, Pratt/Whitelaw Architects, Inc.

• Those three magic words, "finished under budget," summarize what sustainable design has the potential to do economically for a project. This is admirably demonstrated at the SC Johnson Worldwide Professional Headquarters, Racine, WI, a 250,000-square-foot office and laboratory that was built on time and considerably below construction budget-10 to 15 percent below the average for traditional facilities of its kind. Features include wetlands, with native and drought tolerant plantings such as prairie grass and wildflowers; an on-site vegetable and herb garden that will supply food for the cafeteria; an energy budget that is 60 percent less than the average for similar buildings; daylighting and high efficiency lighting; under floor air distribution system with "personal environmental modules" to provide individual controls for work stations; and a construction waste recycling program that required packaging materials be taken back by suppliers and also recycling more than 86 tons of material. The architecture and sustainable design on this project was by William Odell, AIA, Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum (HOK), St. Louis.

• At the Thoreau Center for Sustainability, San Francisco, CA, elements of sustainability were integrated into the design while maintaining the historic integrity of the landmark structure. The center is housed in a renovated historic hospital at the former U.S. Army base in what is now Presidio National Park. Designed as office space for non-profit organizations working for community development and environmental sustainability, the center is a showcase of sustainable design principles and sound environmental practices including new energy efficient building systems, daylighting, natural ventilation and "green" materials, such as cotton insulation, recycled aluminum storefronts and bathroom tiles made from recycled car and airplane windshields. This renovation was done by Marsha Maytum, AIA, Tanner Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects.

• The Wal-Mart Environmental Demonstration Store, City of Industry, CA, is designed to be greater than 30 percent more energy efficient than similar commercial projects, which results in annual energy savings of more than $70,000. Beyond designing for energy savings, systems are monitored and measured, including the electrical lighting/daylighting systems, a solar power system and HVAC systems. The building incorporates sustainable building materials, such as concrete block made with fly ash, electronic sensors on toilets, sinks and hand dryers, recycled floor covering materials and a parking lot made from recycled asphalt. Front and center in the parking lot is a free electric-car charging station. Sustainable design was done by Robert Sober, AIA, BSW International.

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