The 2020 COTE Top Ten

The AIA and COTE have been awarding ten projects every year since 1997, when sustainability was working its way into mainstream practice. By the time the COTE Top Ten turned 20 in 2017, numerous sustainable design trends were well integrated into architectural practice, enough that the committee changed its metrics from "predicted performance" to "actual performance," while still maintaining design quality as a determining factor. At that time the committee also added a COTE Top Ten Plus designation, which "denotes projects with exemplary actual performance and post-occupancy lessons."

The 2020 COTE Top Ten is listed below, with the Top Ten Plus designation marked with an asterisk. Visit the AIA's website for more information on each of the winning projects.

• Austin Central Library, Austin, Texas – Lake|Flato Architects + Shepley Bulfinch
• *Environmental Nature Center and Preschool, Newport Beach, California – LPA, Inc.
• Etsy Headquarters, Brooklyn, NY – Gensler
• Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice, New York, NY – Gensler
• John W. Olver Design Building, Amherst, Massachusetts – Leers Weinzapfel Associates

• Keller Center – Harris School of Public Policy, Chicago – Farr Associates and Woodhouse Tinucci Architects
• Marin Education Center at the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory, Ocean Springs, Mississippi – Lake|Flato Architects with Unabridged Architecture
• The Six, Los Angeles – Brooks + Scarpa
• UPCycle, Austin, Texas – Gensler
• U.S. Land Port of Entry, Columbus, New Mexico – Richter Architects