Architects Award the Top "Green" Building Projects for 2002

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) marked Earth Day by awarding its Top Ten "Green" Projects for 2002. The winners range in scale from a 950-square-foot renovated cabin to a 125,000-square-foot office building, and from strawbale construction to metal roofs, but all include energy efficiency among their green features. The ten projects comprise a panoply of energy technologies, including daylighting, high-efficiency lighting, solar power systems, solar heating and hot water systems, passive solar heating, natural ventilation, natural-gas heat-pump air conditioning, under-floor air distribution, high-efficiency pulse boilers, geothermal heat pumps...well, you get the picture. For all the details on these innovative projects, see the AIA press release.

Several green builders earned kudos at last month's National Green Building Conference, organized by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the NAHB Research Center. During the conference, attendees selected the Outstanding Green Product Award, which went to TR Strong Building Systems, distributor of GFX Drainwater Heat Recovery Systems. The units can recapture up to 60 percent of the energy from hot wastewater that goes down the drain, using it to preheat fresh water before it enters a hot water heater. See the March 26th press release on the NAHB Research Center Web site.

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