The American Institute of Architects announces their top 10 best green buildings of 2015

The Bullitt Center, designed by The Miller Hull Partnership, is an office building in Seattle that is also the largest certified Living Building. The 52,000-square-foot Center has floor-to-ceiling windows, an overhanging vernacular-inspired roof and an unprecedented Energy Use Intensity (EUI).

The CANMET Materials Technology Laboratory in Hamilton, Ontario, is a 174,300-square-foot lab and support office space is an energy use-intensive building. Designed by architectural firm Diamond Schmitt, the building aims for the LEED Platinum certification and is expected to reduce its energy use by 70% and exceed the 2030 Challenge.

Collaborative Life Sciences Building for OHSU, PSU & OSU is a university research building in Portland, Oregon. SERA Architects and CO Architects incorporated light pollution reduction, storm water management, eco-roofs, atrium heat recovery, and low ventilation fume hoods into the design which brought it a LEED Platinum certification.

Related: AIA COTE Unveils the Top Ten Green Architecture Projects of 2011

E+ Townhouses in Boston are replicable prototype homes for energy-efficient living. Interface Studio Architects (ISA) teamed up with Urbanica Design and completed the buildings under the City of Boston’s Energy Plus (E+) Green Building Program. The project was LEED-certified for Homes Platinum.

Overland Partners designed the Hughes Warehouse Adaptive Reuse project in San Antonio by transforming a turn-of-the-century warehouse into modern studio spaces. The project boasts extreme flexibility and includes a courtyard that acts as a public space.

Another green project located in San Antonio is the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC), designed by design studio RTKL. Its exterior is dominated by a large trellis canopy that runs along its south elevation, throwing shade onto the building to help it avoid heat gain.

Related: AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Building Projects of 2007

The New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC) uses climate responsive strategies and modernizes them to offer an energy-efficient space that captures rainwater and provides irrigation for the entire site. Eskew+Dumez+Ripple designed it to include a 100 person conference center, and a 2,000-square-foot café, among other multi-use cultural spaces.

In Sonoma, California, LEDDY MAYTUM STACY Architects built four homes for adults with autism. The project includes a community center, therapy pools and urban farm and boasts several passive and active strategies, such as a high performance envelope and building-integrated photovoltaic and solar thermal panels.

David Baker Architects designed 60 affordable apartments, 77 attached townhouses and 20 additional apartments in Oakland, California. The complex functions as a sustainable neighborhood with well-insulated homes and great airflow.

University Center – The New School in New York City, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a LEED Gold-certified university building with a green roof, a combined heat and power system and specifically designed water-management and heating system. It includes academic spaces and a 600-bed student residence.

+ The American Institute of Architects (AIA)