DARA Recognized as a 2026 Planet Positive Award Finalist
DARA, a collaboration between the University of Washington College of Built Environments and Olson Kundig, has been named a Finalist for a 2026 METROPOLIS Planet Positive Award in the Research and Development category. The honor highlights the impact of interdisciplinary, research-driven design in addressing today’s most pressing sustainability challenges.
The Decarbonization Analysis for Residential Architecture (DARA) tool was developed as a freely available, open-source, accessible design tool for assessing the operational and embodied carbon impacts of design decisions in single-family and low-rise residential buildings. It is intended to fill a gap in the market for small design firms working on single-family and other small-scale residential buildings. DARA was created with the input of design professionals who work on these types of projects, resulting in a tool that can fit within their workflow & economic constraints and analyze building features that are most important to these practitioners. The tool relies on a static data set derived from Tally and energy modeling outputs based on interpolated simulation results. The development of this tool was funded, in part, by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative.
The project’s UW team includes Christopher Meek, Teresa F. Moroseos, Bearach Miwatani-Minter, and Heather Burpee, working alongside Olson Kundig’s Vikram Sami and Chris Savage. Both the College of Built Environments and Olson Kundig bring years of combined experience in sustainable design, research, and building science to the collaboration, reflecting a shared commitment to advancing climate-responsive architecture.
The Planet Positive Awards, presented annually by METROPOLIS, recognize projects, products, and ideas that push the building industry toward a more sustainable and equitable future. Being named a Finalist places DARA among a distinguished group of firms, researchers, and institutions recognized for advancing that mission this year.
DARA joins a strong slate of honorees this year. The full list of 2026 Planet Positive Awards finalists is available on the METROPOLIS website.
Award winners will be announced on September 30, 2026, at a ceremony at the Center for Architecture + Design in San Francisco, hosted by METROPOLIS Editor-in-Chief Avinash Rajagopal. The evening will bring together designers, researchers, and sustainability leaders from across the country to celebrate this year’s most forward-thinking work.
Congratulations to the entire DARA team on this well-deserved recognition. The nomination reflects the value of collaboration between academia and practice in advancing sustainable, human-centered design, and affirms the growing role of applied research in shaping real-world outcomes for the College of Built Environments.