All News & Ideas

For the first time in its 28-year history, the 2025 AIA COTE Top Ten awards recognized a certified Passive House project: The Bush School New Upper School in Seattle. The nation’s highest honor for sustainable design, AIA COTE Top Ten celebrates projects that unite exemplary performance with compelling designs that encompass social, infrastructure and ecological systems.

Mithun associate principal and sustainability integration lead Mike Fowler will present “The Bush School: A Systems Approach to Sustainable Design,” highlighting how the all-electric, low-carbon design delivers exceptional energy performance and comfort, even in extreme heat conditions, while restoring landscapes, reducing stormwater, protecting salmon habitats and fostering student wellness through flexible, multifunctional spaces.

Mike will present alongside Timothy Lock from OPAL Architecture, who will share “Embodied Ecology: Climate-Aligned Design in the Davis Center for Human Ecology,” which was designed to the Passive House international standard and also a 2025 COTE Top Ten winner.

The two projects exemplify how Passive House design can advance sustainable, healthy and socially engaged educational environments. This combined session is part of the International Passive House Conference “Highly Energy-efficient and Low Carbon Solutions” track and will feature speakers from Australia, Austria, Ireland, Netherlands and the UK.

Date Posted: 04.23.2026