SUSTAINABLE SITE SELECTION FOR SCHOOLS

In the case of a new school, the first job for the working group is selecting a site. All the decisions that go into making a sustainable campus or building follow. Location defines the impacts of development both to the site itself and to surrounding neighborhoods, transportation, habitat, and hydrology.

WHAT GOES INTO GREEN?

The American Institute of Architects has announced its top ten green projects for 2010. Sponsored by AIA's Committee on the Environment, and published in ArchitectureWeek No. 472, the award winners are each worthy of citation for excellence in internal design, in most cases reducing their environmental impacts significantly below those of similarly located but conventional buildings while also serving as teaching exemplars. So far, so good.

POSTCARD FROM FRANKFURT

Dear ArchitectureWeek,

The Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency isn't just for houses. This we learned in Germany recently, on a fascinating tour of green building and design there, organized by the Ecologic Institute environmental think tank with funding from the German government.

HEADING FOR NET-ZERO

Some projects come along at pivotal moments. Such was the case for the Rose House in Portland, Oregon, a compact home that served as a laboratory for energy-efficient residential design in 2004, and ended up setting the bar as the first house in the state designed to achieve zero net energy use.

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