Architects and engineers have traditionally favored steel, masonry and concrete for commercial buildings, but today the use of wood has become increasingly common across all types of U.S. buildings.

AIA selects projects showcasing excellence in sustainable design principles and reduced energy consumption.

While wood-framed structures have been predominant in most single-family residential construction for a number of years, it’s only been recently that this style of construction has garnered more widespread support in multistory residential developments

 Changes are fast approaching for the building industry.  

As Butch Gardner hauls cranberries between two cold-storage facilities on the Badger State Fruit Processing property in Pittsville, Wis., he gives the “thumbs-up” to plant manager Mark Konrardy for a job well done. Konrardy met three tough challenges for the construction of a new cold-storage facility—built to house Badger’s 200 million pounds of cranberries with room to grow.

Twelve showcase homes demonstrate best practices from several major green building programs.