COTE'S TOP TEN FOR 2007

The AIA Committee on the Environment has made its annual selection of "Top Ten Green Projects" — examples of sustainable architecture in the United States. One of the ten is the Hawaii Gateway Energy Center visitor complex (photo by Franzen Photography) on the Kona coast. The building designed by Ferraro Choi and Associated features induced stack ventilation, daylighting, shading, and renewable cooling from seawater. Next week we'll look at this and the other nine award recipients.

BIG FIRM — LOW-TECH

A new building by HOK promises to bring straw-bale construction into the mainstream of architectural practice. The construction system for the Santa Clarita (California) Transit Maintenance Facility (photo by John Edward Linden) was chosen to respond to several constraints: a seismically active site, modest budget, desert environment, and high sustainability goals. The result is a LEED-Gold building that is energy-efficient and promotes a healthy indoor environment. Next week we'll see how the straw bale was incorporated in construction and how it functions.