Sustainability is on everyone’s mind these days, especially with global leaders coming together for climate change talks in Paris earlier this week. And there are many ongoing debates towards the most efficient efforts in combatting global warming, which is why sustainability has become a priority for architects, and why there is much criticism about a building’s performance and energy efficiency. In Texas, sustainable architecture has seen continued awareness and growth. The Lone Star State ranks in the top ten in the US for LEED-certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green buildings per capita, and is second overall in the total number of commercial buildings that are LEED-certified and pursuing LEED certification.
Particularly in Austin, there are many LEED-certified buildings. At the University of Texas at Austin alone there are thirteen LEED-certified buildings, including eight gold certifications.
So what makes a building LEED-certified?
Well, there are many different classifications depending upon the type of building it is. The different groupings are: Building Design & Construction, Interior Design & Construction, Building Operations & Maintenance, Neighborhood Development, and Homes. Once a building is classified it is evaluated in different ways, such as: indoor environmental quality, neighborhood pattern and design, water efficiency, materials and resources, location and transportation, amongst others. After the building is evaluated it is given points depending upon the many different criteria. The points are added up and the building is given a level of certification: Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum.
You may recognize these LEED-certified buildings in Austin.
Now, here are all the others:
Austin Resource Center for the Homeless
Biomedical Engineering Building, UT Austin
Combined Transportation Emergency and Communications Center
Dell Pediatric Research Institute
Frost Financial Center at Mueller
George Washington Carver Library
George Washington Carver Museum & Cultural Center
IBM Tivoli Systems – Building 1
Lakeway MUD W-3 Operations Office
Lance Armstrong Foundation
LCRA Dalchau Service Center & Office Building
LCRA Emergency Operations Center
LCRA Western Maintenance Facility
Lowe’s – Southwest Austin
Mexican American Cultural Center
Norman Hackerman Building, UT Austin
Ronald McDonald House Charities
Student Activity Center, UT Austin
TSU Round Rock Higher Education Center – Nursing Building
By: David Plick