The American Institute of Architects and its Committee on the Environment have selected the Top 10 example of environmentally responsible architecture and design for 2009.
- Charles Hostler Student Center, Beirut, Lebanon, VJAA: The 204,000-square-foot facility center sits on the seafront of Beirut and is designed to promote social interaction as well as water and energy conservation. The building even includes a roof with green spaces.
- Chartwell School, Seaside, Calif., EHDD Architecture: This 21,200-square-foot building received a LEED-Platinum rating and designed to provide a high-performance learning environment for children with learning challenges.
- Gish Apartments, San Jose, Calif., OJK Architecture and Planning: The 35-unit apartment was designed for affordable housing for families. The apartment complex is the only affordable housing development in the United States to receive LEED for Homes and LEED NC Gold certification.
- Great River Energy Headquarters, Maple Grove, Minn., Perkins+Will: Ths 166,000 square foot building is the headquarters for a non-profit electric utility cooperative. The headquarters achieved a LEED-Platinum rating.
- Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation, Evanston, Ill., Ross Barney Architects: The 31,600-square-foot synagogue, which attained LEED-Platinum rating, replaces the original building with a design that conserves 25 percent of space previously used and takes advantage of natural light and ventilation.
- Portola Valley Town Center, Portola Valley, Calif., Co-Architects: Siegel & Strain Architects; Goring and Straja Architects: The center replaces and relocates the town's former library, community hall and town hall, which sat atop the San Andreas fault. The site of the former buildings became parkland and building remnants were recycled in the construction of the new center. It features an energy efficient HVAC system and a solar power system that provides the center with about 40 percent of the energy is uses.
- Shangri La Botanical Gardens and Nature Center, Orange, Texas, Lake|Flato Architects: The 30,000-square-foot center, located on 252 acres, won a LEED-Platinum rating. Builders had to salvaged the project as it was hit by Hurricane Rita during the early stages of construction.
- Synergy at Dockside Green, Victoria, British Colombia, Busby Perkins+Will Architects Co.: Dockside Green is a 1.3 million-square-foot, mixed-use development on a former brownfield site. The LEED-Platinum rated Synergy complex is made up of four detached buildings constructed over an underground parking structure.
- The Terry Thomas, Seattle, Wash., Weber Thompson: The six-story, 64,600-square-foot building has 37,000 square feet of office space on four floors with showers to encourage commuters to use bicycles. The project received a LEED-Platinum rating for commercial interiors and a LEED-Gold rating for core and shell.
- World Headquarters for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Yarmouth Port, Mass., DesignLAB Architects: The design features low-tech, low-cost sustainability strategies including sitting, orientation, natural day-lighting, ventilation and high-efficiency mechanical systems. The three connected buildings won LEED-Gold certification.
