Innovative Building Design Research Project

Innovative Building Design Research Project

his Innovative Building Design Research Project gives teachers a high-impact way to connect environmental systems and human design decisions through a structured research and design challenge. Students begin by researching an award winning building recognized through the COTE Top Ten Awards, then apply those strategies by designing a building concept that meets local community needs while reducing environmental impacts.

The project is built as a three-part sequence that works well across 2 to 3 class periods. In Part 1, students investigate a real building and analyze its design choices related to energy use, water management, ecosystem protection, community equity, well-being, and resource conservation. Students are prompted to cite evidence when available, which supports stronger reasoning and more accurate conclusions. In Parts 2 and 3, students develop their own building concept, explain their design plan across the same categories, and produce a final visual product such as an architectural sketch or a digital model with labeled features and surrounding grounds.

Teachers can run this as an independent project, partner activity, or whole-class design challenge. The built-in rubric categories make assessment straightforward and emphasize both research quality and design feasibility. This project also pairs well with lessons on energy use, efficiency, and environmental impacts, making it a strong fit inside an APES Unit 6 sequence or any environmental science unit focused on solutions and trade-offs. For best results, use this project alongside the related energy efficiency and environmental impacts lessons in Switch Classroom, and link students to the teacher guide for pacing and implementation tips.