What are the top 10 sustainable architecture projects of 2022? One clearly defined answer is the ten projects recognized in the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment (AIA COTE) 2022 Top Ten Award. The award highlights projects selected for social, economic, and ecological value; it is an award program’s selection, not a universal or objectively ranked global top ten. The projects span housing, schools, civic buildings, cultural facilities, and university spaces, using approaches that range from new construction to renovation and adaptive reuse.
How the 2022 projects were chosen
AIA COTE selected the ten projects through its award program, which recognizes work for “social, economic, and ecological value.” That framework makes sustainability broader than a single energy metric: the projects have different uses, users, sites, and design challenges. The award list should not be read as a ranking from most to least sustainable.
The accessible AIA project page describes the winners but does not provide consistent, comparable measured results for energy use, operational or embodied carbon, or water across all ten. AIA invites readers to request full project details and data. Accordingly, the descriptions below report the award page’s stated context and design intentions, not independently audited performance claims. AIA COTE Top Ten Award 2022
The 10 AIA COTE Top Ten projects of 2022
| Project and team | Location and use | Site or project context | Stated design or community value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 663 South Cooper archimania |
Memphis, Tennessee; office | Previously developed urban land | AIA describes a connection between the building and site, and between interior and exterior. |
| Edwin M. Lee Apartments LEDDY MAYTUM STACY Architects and Saida+Sullivan Design Partners |
San Francisco, California; supportive housing | Mixed-income neighborhood | AIA describes affordable, low-carbon housing for underserved communities, with a stated aim of helping end veteran homelessness. |
| Iowa City Public Works Neumann Monson Architects |
Iowa City, Iowa; public works | City-owned site; first phase of consolidating services | The award description emphasizes the project’s role in consolidating city services. |
| King Open/Cambridge Street Upper Schools & Community Complex William Rawn Associates with Arrowstreet Inc. |
Cambridge, Massachusetts; K–12 school, offices, and public library | Brownfield site | AIA describes a safe, inclusive, and equitable community environment. |
| Knox College Whitcomb Art Center Lake|Flato Architects |
Galesburg, Illinois; studio art and art history | College campus | AIA describes a light-filled, cost-effective building organized around a landscaped work and event courtyard. |
| Lick-Wilmerding High School Historic Renovation & Expansion EHDD |
San Francisco, California; high school | Historic building on a tight urban campus | The design negotiates the constraints of the existing historic structure and limited campus space. |
| Louisiana Children’s Museum Mithun with associate architect Waggonner & Ball |
New Orleans, Louisiana; children’s museum | Museum project | AIA says the project re-envisions the museum’s mission around children’s health and development. |
| Meyer Memorial Trust Headquarters LEVER Architecture |
Portland, Oregon; foundation headquarters | Brownfield site in Portland’s Albina neighborhood | AIA says the design expresses the foundation’s commitments to equity and sustainability. |
| Roxbury Branch of the Boston Public Library Renovation Utile, Inc. |
Roxbury, Massachusetts; public library | Renovation retaining the original cast-in-place concrete structure | The award description notes warm wood accents, new windows for natural light, and comfortable furnishings balanced with the original structure. |
| Tufts University Science and Engineering Complex Payette |
Medford, Massachusetts; university science and engineering facilities | Adaptive reuse | AIA describes an approach that strengthens and integrates existing buildings. |
Project names, teams, locations, and descriptions are from the AIA COTE 2022 award page. The range matters: these are not ten comparable building types, and their shared recognition does not establish identical certifications or measured results.
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What the winners show about sustainable design
Reuse and existing urban sites are part of the picture
Several projects work with existing conditions rather than treating sustainability as synonymous with a new, standalone building. The Tufts complex is described as adaptive reuse; Lick-Wilmerding’s work addresses a historic structure and tight campus; and the Roxbury library renovation retains its cast-in-place concrete frame. The AIA also identifies previously developed urban land for 663 South Cooper and brownfield sites for the Cambridge schools complex and Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters. These descriptions point to the role of site history and existing buildings in design decisions, but they do not quantify avoided material use or emissions.
Social value depends on who uses the building
The selection includes affordable supportive housing, public schools and library space, a children’s museum, city public works, and university facilities. The award descriptions connect design to specific communities and users: veterans and underserved residents at Edwin M. Lee Apartments, an inclusive community environment in Cambridge, children’s health and development at the Louisiana Children’s Museum, and equity commitments at the Meyer Memorial Trust headquarters. These stated aims help explain why the award’s sustainability frame includes social value alongside ecological concerns.
Design features are not the same as measured outcomes
Some award descriptions name visible strategies or priorities—such as natural light, indoor-outdoor connections, courtyard organization, and reuse of existing structures. Those details can help readers understand the design, but they are not substitutes for consistent performance data. The AIA page does not present a common project-by-project table of energy, carbon, or water results for all ten winners, so the list cannot support a defensible performance ranking.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How this award list differs from other “best of 2022” roundups
Not every annual architecture roundup uses sustainability as its sole selection criterion. ArchDaily’s December 2022 year-end list says its editors considered innovation and relevance, combining sustainability and local awareness with technological advancement, comfort and well-being, as well as audience interest. That is a broader editorial roundup, not a sustainability-only award or a comparable performance assessment. ArchDaily’s Best Architectural Projects of 2022
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Contemporary context also helps explain why sustainable architecture remained a prominent topic, but broad figures should not be mistaken for evidence about the ten buildings above. ArchDaily reported in April 2022 that more than half of UK architects surveyed by NBS had not worked on net-zero projects in 2021, while 4% said they had worked exclusively on such projects; 37% of survey participants attributed slow progress to government. These are UK survey findings reported by ArchDaily, not global estimates or project-level measurements. ArchDaily’s report on Earth Day 2022 and sustainable architecture
The same ArchDaily article reported that 28 major cities had committed to net-zero building operations by 2050, based on the status as of 2020. It named New York City, Washington, DC, Medellín, Cape Town, and Johannesburg among the examples. That dated count is context from 2020, not a current total. ArchDaily’s report on Earth Day 2022 and sustainable architecture
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