The Knowledge Page
This page will contain a collection of the best information and resources on all things pertaining to sustainable design. Use it and share it. The industry needs the best knowledge to be open and available for everyone to achieve the best possible work. While the full page is being developed, use and peruse The COTE Toolkit and associated resources.
The COTE Toolkit
In 2018, Corey Squire, Tate Walker, and Helena Zambrano co-lead the development of The COTE Toolkit. Originally conceived as a guide to help all architects improve the performance of their projects, The Toolkit has proved effective in a broad range of applications including educating practitioners on sustainable design, communicating performance strategies to clients, calculating performance metrics, and setting effective project goals. Used together, these applications form a powerful tool for integrating sustainable design throughout an architecture practice and elevating the work of entire firms. The Toolkit represents a holistic design philosophy that addressed the major issues of the day and focused on human outcomes as a driver for design. In 2019, The Toolkit became the basis of the newly adopted AIA Framework of Design Excellence.
The Full Suite of Toolkit Resources
The Framework for Design Excellence
The Toolkit A best practice design guide
SuperSpreadsheet Calculations and Metrics
Simple Spreadsheet (Beta) Design phase metrics
Design Data Map Interactive Top Ten case studies
Toolkit Memo One pager on how and why
Toolkit Introduction What is the Toolkit?
How to Use The Toolkit And what to do with it?
Awards Alignment - AIA’s program to award our values
Limited access to high-quality, concise, and usable information is a major barrier to the universal adoption of sustainable design. The COTE Toolkit is a resource, accessible to all architects, that closes the information gap to designing high performing, equitable, beautiful buildings. The toolkit is designed to provide relevant, general guidance to architects incorporating deep green principles from the beginning of every project.