Top 10 green buildings by American Institute

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top 10 sustainable architecture and green design solutions.


The top 10 includes:

- City of Watsonville Water Resources Center by WRNS Studio. The new 16,000 square foot building consolidates three different city and county water departments and includes administrative offices, a water quality lab, educational space and a design that puts the story of water in California on display. The building, its systems and its landscape will serve to educate the public through exhibition and guided tours.

King Abdullah University of Science & Technology


- KAUST, Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by HOK. KAUST's new campus is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's first LEED certified project and the world's largest LEED Platinum project.



Kroon Hall


- Kroon Hall by Hopkins Architects and Centerbrook Architects & Planners. Replacing a brownfield site, Kroon Hall was charged with being a net zero energy building. The project has a mix of active and passive design measures and visible, invisible and interactive building features.

- Manassas Park Elementary School + Pre-K by VMDO Architects. The school is conceived throughout as a teaching tool that shepherds children along a path of environmental stewardship. Interior extended learning spaces offer views of the neighboring mixed oak forest, while elementary classrooms face shady moss and fern-covered learning courtyards featuring 'fallen' trees.

- Manitoba Hydro Place by Kuwabara Payne McKenna Blumberg Architects and Smith Carter Architects and Engineers. The project was designed utilising a formal integrated design process to achieve goals of energy efficiency, healthy workplace environment, urban revitalisation, sustainability and architectural excellence. At 88 kwh per sqm annually, from a demand side, it is the most energy efficient large office tower in North America, with a 66 per cent improvement over the standard.



355 11th Street


- 355 11th Street by Aidlin Darling Design. The project is a LEED-NC Gold adaptive reuse of an historic (and previously derelict) turn-of the-century industrial building. The design team implemented a strategy of introducing subtle perforations into new zinc cladding to allow light and air into the occupied spaces.

- Michael J. Homer Science & Student Life Center by Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects. The design encourages scientific inquiry, linking the school’s science curriculum to building functions throughout the seasons – how it breathes, resists gravity, conserves precious resources and generates energy.

- Omega Center for Sustainable Living by BNIM Architects. The Center has been designed to clean water, return the clean water to the local systems and educate users about the process. Eco-Machine technologies were selected to clean the water, utilising natural systems including the earth, plants and sunlight. The entire building and water process utilise site harvested renewable energy achieving a net zero energy system.

- Special No. 9 House by KieranTimberlake. The project was designed to provide storm-resistant, affordable and ustainable housing options for the residents of New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Key goals were to create safe, healthy and dignified housing to residents in a flood-prone area and to empower residents to return to improved living conditions that take advantage of New Orleans’ climate.

- Twelve|West by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP. Twelve|West was designed to achieve the highest levels of urban sustainability and is expected to earn a platinum rating under LEED NC overall and LEED CI for the office floors. An emphasis was put on selecting low-impact materials, including salvage, reclaimed and FSC-certified wood. Much of the concrete building structure is exposed on the interior minimising the use of finish material and providing ample thermal mass.

Australia sees its first zero emissions house opened

Working with industry partners Delfin-Lend Lease and the Henley Property Group and supported by the AusZEH consortium, CSIRO designed and built the demonstration house 30 kilometres north of Melbourne’s CBD in the community of Laurimar in Doreen, Victoria.

The 8 star energy-efficiency rated AusZEH showcases off-the-shelf building and renewable energy-generation technologies and new future-ready energy management systems.

The AusZEH is designed to produce enough ‘zero-emission’ electricity from 6 kW solar panels to supply all the operating energy needs of the household so that its net total CO2 or other greenhouse gas emissions is zero.

The director of CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship, Dr Alex Wonhas, says the uptake of zero-emission housing in Australia could have a significant impact on reducing emissions nationwide.

"CSIRO scientists estimate that if all the new housing built in Australia between 2011 and 2020 were zero-emission houses, 63 million tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would be saved," he says.

"This would be equivalent to taking all of Australia’s private cars off the road for two years and 237 days, or closing all Australia’s power stations for up to 100 days."

CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship initiated the AusZEH project to demonstrate and evaluate how low-carbon housing can be achieved in Australia to reduce GHG emissions and create a more sustainable future for the nation.

For 12 months, the AusZEH demonstration house will become a home for an Australian family and a laboratory for CSIRO.



The house has been fitted with a unique energy management system developed by La Trobe University in partnership with CSIRO, which tracks energy use in the house and provides feedback via customised reports to household members.

This information on the performance of the ‘living’ house will be used to identify ways to improve the design of future zero and low-emission houses.

CSIRO initiated the National Research Flagships to provide science-based solutions in response to Australia’s major research challenges and opportunities.

ATTRACTIVE MODERN BEDS

If you’re looking for an easy way to update the look of your bedroom, perhaps you might consider purchasing one of the many modern platform beds that are available.


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The cost of modern platform beds

Modern platform beds can vary greatly in cost depending on a number of factors, including their size and material. For example, modern platform beds that are upholstered with leather can cost over $1,000 for a king size, whereas modern platform beds made of wood generally start around $350.


Choosing the right modern platform bed

Shopping for modern platform beds can be quite entertaining. It’s selecting from all the modern platform beds that you like that’s tough. Try asking yourself a few questions to help select the right one. For instance, what type of material do you want? With so many different options to choose from, deciding in advance which material you prefer can help narrow your selection of modern platform beds. Out of all the modern platform beds you like, is there one that will blend better with your current décor or perhaps provide an interesting contrast? What amount are you willing to pay? The price range of modern platform beds varies greatly, so setting a budget in advance is good way to avoid overspending.