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Where Every Issue is a Green Issue| Providing Wisdom in Building a Sustainable Future | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Headquarters The initial phase is to include yard houses, row houses, and garden court houses 
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From Green Buildings to Green Communities: The Mueller Model by Greg Weaver Energy-efficient systems. Recycled materials and non-toxic finishes. Natural light and ventilation. Low-water-use fixtures and xeriscaping. These hallmarks of green building have become common features of new development of all kinds. They're certainly common in Austin, widely recognized as one of the country's capitals of green building. So it's no surprise that in the largest real estate project in Austin history - the redevelopment of the former Robert Mueller Municipal Airport - you'll find many best practices of green building being included in every single home, office, storefront, and civic building in the community. Catellus Development Group, the master developer of Mueller, is working with the City of Austin and its municipal energy and water utilities, informed and engaged citizens, and local designers and builders to make this new mixed-use “urban village” a showpiece of “Green Urbanism.” Sustainability goals are part of the community vision for Mueller, reflected in the project's award-winning master plan and design book and in Catellus' master development agreement with the city. The project as built is working to exceed those goals and demonstrate how green building principles can be applied on a community-wide basis to make Mueller a model for future development. All buildings at Mueller have to earn at least a two-star rating (or for single-family homes a three-star rating) in Austin Energy's Green Building Program, one of the nation's pioneering programs and a key influence on the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED programs. A two-star rating basically corresponds to a national LEED certification. Given that Mueller's 711 acres will, on full buildout, be home to more than 4600 housing units and nearly 5 million square feet of commercial space - 10,000 jobs and 10,000 residents - these green building standards in themselves make a huge impact on urban and regional sustainability. But Austin is able and willing to go farther. Individual homebuyers are working with Mueller's homebuilders to upgrade to state-of-the-art green-building amenities. Commercial projects - including a regional shopping center with nearly 400,000 square feet of retail space - have exceeded the plan's requirements and are seeking premium levels of LEED certification. Indeed, Mueller's first big employment anchor - the new Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas - is seeking LEED Platinum status, the first hospital in the U.S. to attain this benchmark. These individual projects would be less impressive and effective if they were set in a traditional development pattern that encouraged auto use, threatened surface and groundwater resources, or had other hallmarks of ill-designed “sprawl”. The Green Urbanism concept for Mueller tackles those issues head-on with community-wide sustainability features embedded in the master plan. The location itself - an urban infill site only minutes from Downtown Austin - does a great deal to reduce auto travel and takes advantage of existing infrastructure. The Mueller community vision builds on these advantages by incorporating bus and future rail transit and encouraging walking and bicycling, with dedicated walkways and bike paths along every street and trails throughout the development. Much of the new street infrastructure on site includes recycled material from the former airport runways. Mueller is also served by the Austin Water Utility's initial reclaimed-water system, allowing the use of recycled “greywater” for irrigation, cleaning and other non-potable uses. Meanwhile, Austin Energy has constructed an innovative, self-contained energy-efficient mini-plant to provide power, heating and cooling to the Dell Children's campus. More than 20 percent of the Mueller site is devoted to parks and open space, with the planting of 15,000 trees, including many mature specimens preserved both on site and from other development sites in the area. Mueller parkland also features low-water-use native plantscapes designed in partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The Mueller design standards also call for one tree for every four parking spaces in the surface lots of the retail center and future town center. Even the public art at Mueller conveys the environmental message. At the main gateway to Mueller's retail center along I-35, a series of 16-foot-tall “SunFlowers,” sculptures constructed as solar collectors, will produce their own energy. The people of Austin, and the builders and developers serving them, are willing partners in making Mueller a living sourcebook of good ideas and proven best practices for sustainability. What's being done at Mueller can be adapted by other builders to make any new project - from a single home to an entire new town - more sustainable and more successful. Greg Weaver is Managing Director of Catellus Development Group |
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