The sustainability category of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards honors projects that use inventive design to meaningfully reduce harm to the environment. This year’s winner, Applied Underwriters’ Heartwood Preserve, is an Omaha, Nebraska, project that renders stormwater infrastructure into 158 acres of green space and limestone basins that look like public art, reducing wasted energy. See all the honorees below.

Finalists

Climate Responsive Paint
Joe Doucet x Partners

Cool Tower
Steel + Spark

LifeArk: A Climate-Resilient Housing Solution
LifeArk

Honorable Mentions

Closed-Loop Manufactured Fern
Haworth

Google Plastic-Free Hardware Packaging
Google

New Lowell Biomimicry Vision Plan
SJ Group

Orange County Sanitation District Headquarters
HDR

Philips Hue Table Lamp Lightguide
Signify

Populus
Urban Villages

Starline
21st Europe

Stretch Lids
Stasher

ThermaLoop Insulation
Repreve Textile Takeback

Zen House
Minarc

This story is part of Fast Company’s 2025 Innovation by Design Awards. Explore the full list of companies creating products, reimagining spaces, and working to design a better world. Read more about the methodology behind the selection process.