Committee on the Environment

Image: Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, © Robert Benson Photography

The AIA COTE Top Ten awards are among the most prestigious in the profession. The program rewards projects that demonstrate design excellence and high performing buildings. The Top Ten consists of ten measures that assess projects on water, energy, wellness and more. The rigor of the award sets it apart from many other industry awards and submitting may seem daunting. There are clear benefits if your project earns recognition like national attention and press opportunities. However, there are a number of benefits to simply submitting, whether you earn an award or not.

I’ve submitted a number of times to the COTE Top Ten on behalf of my firm. Most recently we’ve found success, earning recognition for two of our projects in the last two years. However, I’ve found that having developed the material for the COTE Top Ten allows me to be incredibly nimble when we need to develop content about our projects. Not only do I cultivate a deeper understanding of the projects from a communications perspective, but I have tremendous, polished project information at my fingertips. It can provide the foundation for several levels of marketing and communications.

1. Understand the project from a fresh perspective.
   Addressing each measure will reframe how you understand your work. This can unlock project stories or details that would otherwise be lost.
2. Leverage the documentation.
   The Top Ten measures are rich topics that require rigorous documentation. You can use this documentation in a multitude of ways that enhance how and what you share about the project.
3. Use the graphics as a framework.
   If you love the graphics you developed for the Top Ten measures, consider rolling those out as a standard for other projects in design. Maybe you’ve got a great infographic or a beautiful data visualization – make that standard for other projects!
4. Enhance project information in proposals.
   Enrich project sheets with some of the data you’ve calculated or better explain the design intent behind a cool feature.
5. Update your website.
   Add new graphics, data or text to project pages on your website. Or, if the project isn’t on your website, developing a page based on the Top Ten is a great place to start.
6. Publish a blog post or a series of blog posts.
   I love developing content for the Payette blog from design awards—they are full of rich content that reflects the final design. Each measure could be the foundation for a blog post.
7. Build on the submission for future award programs.
   The depth of the Top Ten measures provides a framework for responding to other award programs. You’ve written a lot about the project and developed graphics that may speak to another jury.
8. Pitch your work.
   Documenting your work using the Top Ten measures provides fresh perspective on your work. You may find there’s a new angle to pitching your project to industry publications.
9. It’s an educational tool.
   When new employees join the firm and they need to get up to speed on key projects, the COTE Top Ten submissions are a tremendous resource. In ten measures you can get an overview of the project, how it works and what’s important.
10. It’s an awesome template.
    When consultants ask how they can help us promote a new project, I often point them to the COTE Top Ten measures. I’ll ask if they can help us with some of the actual data or have a great story about achieving high performance on the measures. It’s also a great example for any project in your office. Just like the measures can offer a framework for design, they can also serve as a framework for how you share the project with the world.