Aedes commissioned five experts from around the world - mainly with a university or publishing background - to seek out suitable projects in line with clearly defined criteria. In each category, this results in 20 projects being presented to the jury, who first nominate several projects for an award before selecting the ultimate winner.

Six criteria were relevant for the projects in each category

1) Relationship of the building to its site and context

• The physical and sociological parameters affecting the project and how the design has responded to these parameters
• Building/space type; building form; building alignment; materials used; the significance of internal/external relationships; the significance of building/space relationships; and the complexity of the required functions

2) Mode of production

• Materials used, including their source and the manufacturing process
• The construction method and its impact on the surrounding environment
• Technical innovation or improvement of traditional and local building techniques

3) Environmental performance

• The energy conservation measures employed in the design
• The project's long-term economic and ecological efficiency
• Consideration of the surrounding environment, including soil, water, air, traffic, flora, and fauna, etc.
• The project's contribution to the advancement of ecologically sustainable design

4) Architectural concept and expression

• How the architect's philosophies and understanding of the client's and user's needs are expressed
• The architect's motives in architectural expression
• How fully the concept was followed through in terms of detail, color, materials, etc.
• How successful the architect was in satisfying his/her aims for architectural expression

5) Social responsibility

• Which urgent environmental or humanitarian issues are being addressed?
• Which new methods are being developed for the design process?
• Consideration of the project's impact on other social factors, such as heritage, community, response, human impact, etc.

6) Innovative scheme

• To what extent does the project's approach to the abovementioned issues offer
  creative alternatives to established methods of problem solving?