The Go Green tour highlights some of the many places that make Austin a leader in green building and environmental stewardship. Smart use of resources and environmental sensitivity have always been important aspects of designing good places, and are now essential as the effects of climate change intensify.
The Austin Energy Green Building program (AEGB), with 30 years of progressive efficiency standards, has been key to Austin’s sustainable leadership. With roots in Austin’s own Energy Star Rating program of 1985, Austin Energy create the first green building program in the country—and the basis for the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (USGBC LEED) certification system. This Tour includes both AEGB-rated and LEED-certified places. Austin’s architects have embraced these programs as effective sustainability metrics in line with the AIA’s own Framework for Design Excellence.
Local architects, sustainable design enthusiasts, and Austinites Bud Franck and Riley Triggs, AIA compiled notable approaches to green building around Austin, all accessible by car and listed in walkable clusters. The tour begins at Austin’s original-airport-turned-planned-neighborhood on the outskirts of north central Austin, continues through downtown icons old and new, shifts east through the historic Six Square district, and finishes in southeast Austin at the ever-expanding international airport. AIA Austin’s Women in Architecture Committee members Sadi Brewton, AIA; Sara Alicia Costa, AIA; Kristen Decker Ali; Kalen McNamara, AIA; and Pooja Shetty, Assoc. AIA, provided additional coordination and narratives for this tour.
The first half of this tour, from the Mueller Development to the LCRA Redbud Center, takes approximately 90 minutes by car or two hours by bike. The second half, from the LCRA Redbud Center to Austin Bergstrom International Airport, takes approximately 45 minutes by car or three hours by bike.
Special thanks to our community partner, Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB), for their assistance in the production of this tour.
