Five public districts get useful advice through a workshop presented by the USGBC and American Architectural Foundation in Washington, D.C. Photo courtesy AAF Joanne R. Milner, the Education Partnership Coordinator and a senior advisor to Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, works with architect Ryan Freeland of Cuningham Group. Related Links: Special Coverage: Schools of the 21st Century Sustainable Solutions: Green Schools Movement Gains Steam Robert Redford Teams Up With USGBC for Green Schools Summit SOM, Haworth Among Honorees at AAF Gala In November 2010, ten city mayors and nine school superintendants met with sustainability experts, architects, and educators at

A 'windcatcher' is a centuries-old Persian technology featuring a tower that takes advantage of natural ventilation by capturing and cooling air. Hank Louis, founder of DesignBuildBLUFF, the University of Utah/University of Colorado, Denver design-build studio, recognized the merits of this simple solution for a recently completed Navajo family home. The house features a tower made of compressed earth bricks with four openings around the top. As the wind blows through the slits, wet blankets (moistened by a drip line) chill the air that then circulates around the home. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) helped the students engineer the tower,

Photo © Alexander Severin/Razummedia 'We maximized the use of cost-neutral elements'light, form, color, and proportion'to make every dollar count,' says WASA/Studio A senior partner Jack Esterson about the 30,000-square-foot facility for men struggling with substance abuse. On the first two floors, which house support services such as counseling, vocational training, and medical care, a frosted-glass facade lets in daylight but preserves privacy. The top three floors of bedrooms establish a hierarchy of progression for clients'if they stick to the treatment, they move from shared rooms on lower floors to private rooms on upper floors with better views. Residents maintain a

Walking through HafenCity, it’s difficult to imagine the grungy shipbuilding yards and warehouses that once dominated the area.

New Orleans Photo ' Mario Tama /Getty Images Children playing football near their new home in August 2010. One of MIR's first projects was to partner with sustainable design firm BNIM, Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund, PlayGreen Initiative, and KOMPAN, Inc. for an eco-playground a few blocks away from this street.   View Make It Right Projects Adjaye Associates » Constructs » Eskew+Dumez+Ripple » Related Link: Getting it Right » GETTING IT RIGHT Though many of the primary design recommendations were modified or cut to keep costs down or answer client needs, the MIR team struggled to stay true to the

New Orleans Photo © Ray Laskowitz As seen here on the Taylor house, an Eskew+Dumez+Ripple design, the windows on all of the MIR homes have fastenings for Hurricane Fabric, a product made from the same material as bulletproof vests. This fabric eliminates the lengthy and cumbersome process of boarding up windows with plywood during inclement weather. View Make It Right Projects Adjaye Associates » Constructs » Eskew+Dumez+Ripple » Related Link: Getting it Right » ESKEW+DUMEZ+RIPPLE For her family of four kids, homeowner Deidre Taylor appreciates the extra outdoor spaces afforded by New Orleans'based EDR's design, including a front porch swing

New Orleans Photo © Ray Laskowitz Arcola Sutton chose to remove the front porch in exchange for added interior space and a rear porch. Other iterations of the Constructs design have front porches, as each home is customized to homeowner needs. View Make It Right Projects Adjaye Associates » Constructs » Eskew+Dumez+Ripple » Related Link: Getting it Right » CONSTRUCTS “The selection process is a lesson in true architecture democracy. No matter how famous the architect, if the design does not meet the requirements of the people, be it functional or cultural, it will not be selected,” says Joe Addo,

New Orleans Photo © Ray Laskowitz The Garrett residence, an early version of the Adjaye prototype, features an inverted roof to channel rainwater to the collection system. This system proved to be too costly, and was replaced with a simple rainwatergathering technology on subsequent designs. View Make It Right Projects Adjaye Associates » Constructs » Eskew+Dumez+Ripple » Related Link: Getting it Right » ADJAYE ASSOCIATES Since many of the Lower Ninth Ward residents who drowned post-Katrina were tragically trapped in their attics, MIR mandated rooftop access for all the homes, and participating architects took different approaches. London-based David Adjaye of

New Orleans Six years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the Lower Ninth Ward is finally starting to look like a community again'thanks in large part to the ambitious work of Make It Right. Photo ' Megan Grant In late 2007, 150 temporary pink structures marked the sites for the yet unbuilt Make It Right homes. Individuals and businesses adopted the pink installations to raise money for the foundation’s rebuilding effort. View Make It Right Projects Adjaye Associates » Constructs » Eskew+Dumez+Ripple » Related Link: Getting it Right » In December 2007, 150 life-sized fuchsia structures occupied the Lower Ninth

The aptly named Truffle House sits on Spain’s northwestern Costa da Morte (the Death Coast) in a small fishing village.