2011 Austin Energy Green Building Annual Report
Transcription
2011 Austin Energy Green Building Annual Report
Celebrating 20 Years of Green Building AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING > 2011 ANNUAL REPORT CONTENTS In 2011, we marked the 20th anniversary of Austin Energy Green Building. It was a memorable year: We celebrated milestones, accepted awards and reflected on how far we have come in the past two decades in Austin. Our energy code is one of the most advanced in the country. Green building is the standard for affordable housing in Austin. Thanks to demand for green buildings and a market that can deliver them, high-achieving commercial, multifamily and single family projects have helped form Austin’s skyline and neighborhoods. This annual report commemorates the people and projects that have made Austin a green building and sustainability capital over the last 20 years—and begins to define our goals for the next 20. BEGINNINGS 2 PARTNERSHIPS 3 AFFORDABILITY 4 EQUITY 5 EDUCATION 6 JOBS 7 ACHIEVEMENTS 8 CONNECTIONS 10 AWARDS 11 EMERGING 12 TEAM 14 FUN 16 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 01 BEGINNINGS Austin Energy Green Building built on the success of the Austin Energy Star program, the work being done in sustainable building practices at the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems (CMPBS) and by others in the design and construction industry. The Advanced Green Builder Demonstration, located at the CMPBS campus, features numerous sustainable building The late 1980s were a boom time for development and a period when many citizens of Austin grew concerned about balancing growth and the environment, a concern evolved from a decades-old culture of environmental awareness and activism centered on safeguarding Barton Springs and our natural environment. City energy and water conservation programs had been established in the early part of the decade and Austin adopted its first energy code. Austin Energy Star established a new model for improving building energy efficiency by partnering with builders to help them use a tiered energy efficiency evaluation tool instead of simply offering cash incentives or enforcing codes. techniques including a rainwater harvesting system, two methods of straw-earth construction © Blake Gordon and spatial flexibility. In this climate of growing concern for sustainability, Pliny Fisk III, Michael Myers, Doug Seiter and Gail Vittori conceived the idea for a green rating for buildings during a CMPBS brainstorming session in 1989. A grant of $50,000 was secured from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a 02 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING guide to single family residential green building. Later, other grants provided funding for the development of the residential green building rating and to support the first program staff, Mary McLeod and Laurence Doxsey. The concept of a city-operated green building program that worked with builders and designers to improve the sustainability of their buildings was so innovative and powerful that it became a model for other cities, including Scottsdale, Atlanta, Denver, King County and Portland. The program also served as the model for the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification system. PARTNERSHIPS Our mission, to lead the transformation of the building industry to a sustainable future, cannot be achieved without industry and community partners. CITY OF AUSTIN Some of our most powerful partnerships and collaborations are with other City of Austin departments. We have always worked closely with Planning and Development Review and Watershed Protection to achieve goals related to energy code compliance, green building, water quality and storm water standards. Since 1994, we have collaborated with Public Works to establish green building standards for municipal buildings. Austin Resource Recovery and Austin Water have been invaluable allies in supporting construction waste diversion, water conservation and rainwater harvesting practices. Neighborhood Housing and Community Development helped establish green building standards for all city-supported affordable housing in Austin. RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Austin Energy Green Building collaborated with the International Code Council to develop code updates and the new International Green Construction Code and we partnered with Texas A&M University to develop the Texas Climate Vision energy code compliance calculator. The students and faculty of the Schools of Architecture and Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin have been valuable resources, volunteering their time and expertise for our professional development seminars and special projects. Our partnership with the Pecan Street Project, first in developing the vision and now advising on their U.S. Department of Energy smart grid grant, is evidence of our commitment to coupling design with emerging technologies. OUTREACH & EDUCATION Local and national organizations are critical to bolstering our education and outreach efforts. We have hosted national conferences with the U.S. Green Building Council, Affordable Comfort, Inc. (ACI) and the National Association of Home Builders. Locally, we have co-hosted events with and supported the U.S. Green Building Council Central Texas-Balcones Chapter and the American Institute of Architects Austin Chapter. We have stayed connected to the natural building community through our partnership with Design-Build-Live. Austin Community College was an important partner during our founding years and we continue to contribute to the education of new building professionals by serving on the Building Construction Technology Advisory Board. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 03 AFFORDABILITY Green, affordable housing has been one of our most significant achievements. In the early days, it seemed that “green” and “affordable” buildings were mutually exclusive. The conventional wisdom surrounding affordable housing was that initial cost was the most important consideration. Many assumed green building was so expensive, it could only be used in highend custom homes. These five-star homes by Casa Verde Builders (right, interior and exterior) and Habitat for In Austin, we understood that to have a real impact on the built environment and people’s lives, green building would have to be accessible to all. The 1992 Green Habitat Learning Project was the first demonstration of a green, affordable home in Austin. It was truly a collaborative effort: The home was designed by volunteers recruited by Austin Energy Green Building and built by at-risk youth enrolled at the American Institute for Learning on land owned by Habitat for Humanity. It featured an insulated concrete form system, stained concrete floors and a combination heating and cooling system using the home’s water heater as the heat source. This project led to the development of Casa Verde Builders, an award-winning American YouthWorks program that employs at-risk young adults to build green homes for low-income families while working toward their high school diplomas. Humanity (left) incorporate affordable green building features such as proper orientation, water-efficient fixtures and landscaping, passive solar design and right- © Patrick Wong Photography (left image) // © Andrew Pogue Photography (right images) sized equipment. Casa Verde Builders, Habitat for Humanity and private sector builders and designers went on to prove that green, affordable housing was not only feasible but cost-effective. Building on these successes, the City of Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development office and Austin Energy Green Building developed an agreement under which all housing receiving City of Austin incentives were required to achieve a green building rating. The S.M.A.R.T. Housing (Safe, Mixed-Income, Accessible, 04 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING Reasonably-Priced, Transit-Oriented) program, developed in 2000, is one of the most recognized products of this agreement. Many of these developments are multifamily housing, which has made green affordable housing units even more accessible. Today, thanks in large part to the green affordable housing initiatives in Austin, the initial-cost attitude has been replaced by a focus on cost over the lifetime of a building. This allows developers, designers and builders to build homes that are affordable not just to buy but also to live in. Healthier homes with lower energy and water costs are now more widely available to those who need them the most. EQUITY Social equity has been an integral part of our mission and work since our early involvement with green affordable housing development in Austin. We took a more deliberate approach to making social equity an explicit part of our mission and activities in 2009, when we began evaluating our ratings to identify how they impacted social equity. At the same time, the Austin City Council was working to improve conditions for Austin construction workers by developing new regulations for water and rest breaks. We partnered with the Austin-based Workers Defense Project, a nonprofit dedicated to advocating for worker safety and compensation. One of the results of this partnership was the development of a pilot innovation point toward a green building rating that participants could earn by adhering to the Workers Defense Project Premier Community Builder Agreement, a legal contract that provides a framework for fair treatment of construction workers. In large part because of the integration of the contract into the Austin Energy Green Building rating process, the Workers Defense Project was awarded a Rockefeller Grant to continue the agreement and support its outreach efforts. In 2010, we formalized our dedication to improving equity even further by creating an equity category in our multifamily building rating. The rating now awards points for affordable housing provision, access to transportation and providing computer lab access to residents of low-income housing developments. As we continue to improve our approach, we plan to quantify successes in the area of equity, perhaps in terms of affordability impacts, reduced health care costs, reduced construction site injuries and other measures. We will build partnerships and develop more points in our ratings to encourage project teams to include contributions to social equity in their plans. As part of our education efforts, we also hope to support bilingual education programs so local construction workers can gain critical green building skills, resulting in more job opportunities. © Jason Cato, Workers Defense Project Environmental preservation and economic viability are just two parts of the sustainability story. The last critical piece has to do with working toward greater social equity— ensuring all people have access to a fair share of economic and environmental resources. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 05 EDUCATION An important part of our mission has always been to educate building professionals and the public about the myriad benefits of green buildings for people, the environment and the economy. Our educational activities have taken the form of events and conferences, print and web materials and expert technical assistance. One of our first major publications was the Sustainable Building Sourcebook, a reference manual compiling a wide range of information on building materials and techniques, such as construction waste management, daylighting and alternative building systems. The first manual of its kind in the nation, the Sourcebook was the most-visited part of our website for more than a decade, gaining recognition from international professionals and curious local citizens alike. During this same time period, we hosted several of the first green building conferences in the U.S. These gatherings of the national green building community were so successful, drawing such high numbers of attendees, that Austin was the natural pick for the location of the first U.S. Green Building Council Greenbuild conference in 2002. Since 1996, our free, monthly professional development seminars have relied upon experts to educate local professionals on a wide range of sustainable building topics. In 2001, we created Green by Design, a daylong residential green building workshop aimed at homeowners and green building novices. This workshop on designing and building for the hot and humid Central Texas climate has been in many ways the public “face” of Austin Energy Green Building, bringing members of the community together with our team and sponsors. The Cool House Tour, produced in partnership with the Texas Solar Energy Society for more than 15 years, is one of the most popular sustainable home tours in the country, with an average 2,000 attendees each year. Our education offerings continue to grow. Since 2009, we have partnered with the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and, later, the National Association of The Remodeling Industry to offer the Green Boots series, a multi-session educational program designed specifically for single family residential trade contractors. The program has grown each year, with 53 building trade contractors and professionals attending at least one session and 26 Green Boots graduates attending a full course of sessions in 2011. As part of the 2011 TEDxAustin Experience Lab, we created an interactive green building tour of the Austin Music Hall. To participate in the tour, tech-savvy attendees used their smartphones to scan Quick Reference codes around the building to access 10 original video segments on green building features. © Kimberly Davis Photography We are always looking for ways to make our programs more accessible to the public. In 2011, we began posting videos of our monthly professional development seminars online. In the future, we plan to offer these recordings as webinars for continuing education credits. These seminars help building professionals keep pace with the latest innovations in the field, such as energy modeling, performance commissioning, LED lighting, advanced HVAC systems and home automation systems. 06 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING JOBS Job creation and workforce development have always been a top priority for Austin Energy Green Building. By creating demand for better buildings through our rating system, we drive the market for green buildings, which in turn creates opportunities for green building professionals. Soon after we introduced this requirement, a local contractor who specialized in cleaning construction sites decided that with a small amount of assistance he could make a business out of construction waste diversion. We worked with this contractor to help him secure a city-owned site where construction waste could be sorted, providing a very important resource to contractors working toward an Austin Energy Green Building rating. Other entrepreneurs saw the possibilities and today our construction waste management resource list shows 29 haulers providing diversion services and 50 businesses that recycle construction waste. The practice has become so widespread that Austin Resource Recovery is now developing a plan to institutionalize construction waste diversion throughout the city. worked to encourage development in the energy modeling and building commissioning industries. As building owners demand more information about life cycle costs versus initial costs, there will be opportunities for experts in economic and cost-benefit analysis. The Austin Energy Green Building rating system is a mark of quality that sets healthy, sustainable buildings apart. Through the development of our rating system, we aim to drive market transformation and continue to create exciting opportunities for green building professionals. Construction waste diversion requirements have inspired the creation of new businesses, such More recently, as we recognize that more sustainable buildings require more sophisticated design and construction processes, we have as Backyard Salvage and Garden, that specialize in reclaimed construction materials. © Kimberly Davis Photography One of our most influential achievements has been our success in helping create a market for construction waste diversion services. In 2001 and 2002, we recognized that unless construction waste could be used onsite as mulch or fill, there were few alternatives to trucking it to the landfill in Austin. We saw an opportunity to drive demand for more services by making construction waste diversion a basic requirement for our commercial building rating. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 07 ACHIEVEMENTS 2011 Rated Projects An Austin Energy Green Building rating is an important achievement representing the efforts of an integrated team to meet sustainability goals in the areas of energy, water and material efficiency, site sustainability, indoor environmental quality, social equity and education. Here, we recognize commercial and multifamily projects earning a rating in 2011, as well as single family participants rating one or more homes. COMMERCIAL PROJECTS McCallum High School Fine Arts Center-AISD 5e / Akins High School Addition-AISD 4e Barrington Elementary School Addition-AISD 4e / Langford Elementary School Addition-AISD 4e Austin High School Addition-AISD 3e / Baldwin Elementary School-AISD 3e / Barton Place Condominiums 3e Bowie High School Addition-AISD 3e / Dental Smiles-Mueller 3e / Soundcheck Austin-Mueller 3e Four Seasons Residences 1e / Tetco Store #76 1e / Verdance Condominiums 1e MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS Greenway Lofts 3e / The Willows Apartments 3e / 2608 Salado Apartments 2e / Retreat at North Bluff 2e Texan North Campus 1e SINGLE FAMILY PARTICIPANTS Alford/Young Projects Another Great House Antero Homes Ash Creek Homes Austin Habitat for Humanity Austin Impressions Barley & Pfeiffer Architects Ben Obregon Architect Callidora Homes Capstone Custom Homes Catherine Lee Doar Centex Homes Coulbourn Design D. Martin Homes David Greeneisen David Weekley Homes D.R. Horton Duncan Johnson Communities Durrett Interests EcoSafe Spaces Essential 3 Building Design Forsite Studio Foursquare Builders GnM Lohr Homes Grand Haven Homes Greenbelt Homes Native ILCOR Homes Images of … Jim Reed Jim Rush, Green Builder KB Home Kelly Wunsch Homes KLH Construction KRDB Lakeline Square Partners Legacy DCS Lennar Main Street Homes Meritage Homes Mezger Homes Miró Rivera Architects New Urban Home Builders Olson Defendorf Custom Homes Oliver Custom Homes Paul Crigger Peter Davis Architect Probuild Enterprises PSW Real Estate Pyka Builders 08 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING Ranserve Ray Tonjes Builder Restructure Studio Reytex Homes Richard Hughes Design Risinger Homes Saldaña Homes Smith L. Holt Soledad Builders Solluna Builders Spicewood Development Standard Pacific Homes Stanley Studio Stuart Sampley Architect Studio Momentum Architects Sue Long Sunergy Sustainable Endeavors Townbridge Homes The Muskin Company Vanguard Design Build William T. Moore Construction Z Works Design Build The Austin metropolitan area population has doubled since Austin Energy Green Building created the first residential rating tool in 1991 and is predicted to double again by 2030. Resource conservation makes it possible to enjoy the benefits of a growing economy while preserving the natural resources and unique neighborhoods that make Austin a place we love to live. At Austin Energy Green Building, we count resource savings in terms of energy, demand, water and construction waste diverted from the landfill. The chart below presents our savings in the context of points of reference recognizable to Austinites, such as Barton Springs Pool and Austin City Hall. demand (MW) Austin Energy Green Building Savings 1982–2011 A Webberville Solar Farm B Austin Energy Green Building Savings 2011 Mueller Energy Center C 4.3 148.3 30 9.6 energy (MWh) 2,673 Austin Energy Green Building Savings 1982–2011 A, D University of Texas at Austin Energy Use 2011 Austin Energy Green Building Savings 2011 Austin City Hall Energy Use 2011 Austin Energy Green Building savings 102,593 286,980 25,739 A.Includes results from Austin Energy Star Program, the precursor to Austin Energy Green Building, and therefore dates to 1982 water (millions of gallons) Austin Energy Green Building Savings 2007–2011 D, E Volume of Water that Could Be Poured Into The Austonian Austin Energy Green Building Savings 2011 E Barton Springs Pool B.280-acre Austin 3 Energy solar facility C.Combined heat and power center supply- 64.9 45.1 189.7 ing Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and surrounding buildings D.Totals are the sum of one-time annual WASTE (tons) Austin Energy Green Building Construction Waste Diverted 2007–2011 Curbside Recycling Collected in Austin 2011 Austin Energy Green Building Construction Waste Diverted 2011 Congress Ave. Bridge Bats Annual Insect Consumption savings reported at the end of each fiscal year. 4,600 They do not reflect savings accumulated as buildings continue 100,976 52,401 to operate year after year. E.Includes building 16,362 and irrigation water savings 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 09 CONNECTIONS Austin Energy Green Building has had an important presence on the web throughout our history. In the early days, we debuted the first website of any program at the City of Austin, which was the online home to the Sustainable Building Sourcebook. With Toughbook computers, teams can consult on site and update construction project ratings in real time using the Austin Energy Green Building In 2010, we launched our new online rating system. This platform serves as a repository for project documentation including drawings, specifications, submittals and resource savings calculators. It streamlines communication with all members of a project, allowing us to easily answer questions and quickly provide reference materials. Ultimately, we will use the system to generate case studies of outstanding projects for our website, track our © Kimberly Davis Photography // Construction site courtesy of The Beck Group online rating system. The high-traffic Sourcebook filled a national need, as it was one of very few online green building resources. The site also housed a local directory, where Austinites could search for builders, designers, contractors and other profes- sionals who had participated in at least one Austin Energy Green Building rated project. 10 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING accomplishments, guide rating developments and make the public benefits of green buildings more transparent. As our networks strengthen, we are maximizing our online communications for information sharing. Our website will soon feature additional links to sustainability partners and resources. We are also cultivating more social media connections to market green buildings, share news, feature events and build our online community. AWARDS Over the past twenty years, Austin Energy Green Building has received many awards recognizing our dedicated service and contribution to the green building industry locally as well as globally. In 1992, just months after creating the first residential green building rating tool, we won the Local Government Honours Award for innovative local environmental programs at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro. In 2011, nearly two decades after our first United Nations award, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme selected Austin Energy Green Building as the only U.S. initiative to receive the Scroll of Honour, fulfilling and building on the promise of the 1992 award. The Scroll of Honour is considered the most prestigious human settlements award in the world, recognizing outstanding contributions in fields such as shelter provision, leadership in post-conflict reconstruction and improving the quality of urban life. Austin Energy Green Building has been recognized many other times over the years, winning the Public Sector Leadership Award from the U.S. Green Building Council, the National Association of Home Builders’ Outstanding Green Building Program Award, recognition from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and a host of regional awards. © Julius Mwelu, UN-HABITAT Other 2011 Scroll of Honour winners included a Cuban initiative focusing on low-cost, eco-friendly building materials; a Malaysian storm water management infrastructure project; Yakutsk, Russia for its cold climate urban development plan; and Wintringham, Australia for providing housing for about 1,000 elderly homeless people each night. Austin was selected for leading the way in sustainable residential and commercial building practices and providing valuable resource efficiency to Austin. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 11 EMERGING 1. P ARK PLAZA TOWER Architect: Ziegler Cooper Architects This mixed-use retail and residential tower features regionally-sourced and low-emitting materials, structured parking and a location providing residents and visitors access to numerous amenities, transit options and hike-and-bike trails. As part of the Gables Park Plaza, the Tower will use the Sand Beach Biofiltration Pond, developed in partnership with the City of Austin, as part of its stormwater management plan. 2. M IDTOWN COMMONS PHASE II Architect: JHP Architecture / Urban Design This 246-unit multifamily development, built on a remediated brownfield, will be part of the second phase of the Crestview Station transit-oriented development. Residents will enjoy reduced automobile dependence, thanks to access to transit and secure bicycle storage. 3. B ARTON SKYLINE GARDEN HOMES Builder: Riverside Homes This development of 10 modern garden homes in the walkable Zilker neighborhood will feature WaterSense® plumbing fixtures, drought-resistant landscaping and turf for water efficiency. ENERGY STAR® appliances, ceiling fans and minimal eastwest glazing will help keep energy bills low. 4. S USTAINABLE FOOD CENTER Architect: Dick Clark Architecture The new agency headquarters, located near the MLK Metrorail station, will house a state-of-the-art training facility with a teaching kitchen, community room, offices and an adjacent community garden. 5. S EAHOLM REDEVELOPMENT Architect: STG Design This adaptive reuse of the historic Seaholm Power Plant on the shores of Lady Bird Lake will feature a three-building campus including residential, retail and office development and more than three acres of urban green space irrigated with harvested rainwater. Occupants and visitors will enjoy connectivity via multiple bus lines, a planned commuter rail and an adjacent hike-and-bike trail. 12 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING 6. J W MARRIOTT Architect: HKS This downtown million-square-foot hotel will include over a thousand guest rooms, as well as meeting, restaurant and retail space. The project is tying into the Austin Energy District Cooling loop and features reflective roofing and structured parking to mitigate urban heat island effect. 7. T HE LEGACY Architect: Haddon+Cowan Architects Collaborative This three-story apartment building for the Mary Lee Foundation will provide affordable housing to the working poor, single parents with young children and those on Social Security Disability Insurance. 8. A ISD PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Architect: Pfluger Associates Architects The district-wide performing arts center, located at Mueller, will include a 1,200-seat auditorium and a 225-seat black box theater. Designed for high levels of resource conservation, the building design incorporates regionally-sourced and recycled materials, gray water for irrigation and toilets, LED lighting and an efficient HVAC system. 9. R ANDOLPH BROOKS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION Architect: Chesney Morales and Associates Adjacent to the Domain, the new branch will emphasize indoor environmental quality. The landscape, designed to preserve an existing grove of oak trees, will feature ample open space and carefully selected native and adapted plants. 10.THREADGILL ROW HOMES Builder: The Muskin Company This three-dwelling row housing development at Mueller features solar-ready design, outdoor courtyards and detached garages. Right-sized air conditioners and tankless hot water heaters contribute to energy efficiency for lower operating costs and maximum comfort. 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 13 TEAM 14 > AUSTIN ENERGY GREEN BUILDING Austin’s outstanding green buildings are the achievements of expert building professionals and passionate community leaders, as well as our own team, recognized here. Thank you for your contributions to our success and longevity. It has been a privilege to grow together. CURRENT Bottom Row (left to right): John Umphress / Patricia House / Miki Cook / Shelly Murray Richard Morgan / Jessica Galloway / Katherine Murray / Michael Husted Top Row (left to right): Heidi Kasper / Cristina Woodings / Jeff Wacker / Susan Peterson Teresa Dixon / Lisa Nutt / Liana Kallivoka / Bryan Bomer / Sophie Roark FORMER Sue Barnett / CJ Boggs / Larry Brinkmeyer / Robin Camp / Alexa Carlson Barshia Cohee / Matthew DeWolfe / Annemarie Diaz / Laurence Doxsey Nathan Doxsey / Mary Finn / Doug Garrett / Toye Goodson-Collins Lee Gros / Jaya Jackson / Katie Jensen / Max Machicek / Rich MacMath Jill Mayfield / Pat Mazur / Mary McLeod / Shirley Muns / Michael Myers Dick Peterson / Marc Richmond / Maureen Scanlon / Doug Seiter Russell Shaver / Sarah Talkington FORMER INTERNS Lucia Athens / Amanda Berens / Mario Bravo / Nathalie Cavalcanti Jacob Cottingham / Michael Gimbrere / Jason Hercules / Alex Howell Katie Larsen / Sumner Meckel / Sylvia Pope / Tim Reinhardt / Sarah Row Darshan Sachde / Fernando Sao Joao / Carrie Strahan / Jessica Tankard Chelli Zey 2011 ANNUAL REPORT • 20 YEARS > 15 © Marcos Molina Photography // © John Pesina Photography FUN CONTACT US in person > 811 Barton Springs Road, Suite 409 / Austin, TX 78704 mail > 721 Barton Springs Road / Austin, TX 78704 phone > 512.482.5300 email > [email protected] web > greenbuilding.austinenergy.com facebook > facebook.com/aegreenbuilding twitter > twitter.com/aegreenbuilding For an electronic version of this publication, write to [email protected] JA_1050