Austin Energy Green Building program logs 21,573 projects since its creation

In 1991, Austin Energy Green Building developed the first rating system in the country to evaluate the sustainability of buildings, creating a model for other cities and the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification system.

Heidi Kasper, energy efficiency services director at Green Building EVET, gave an overview of the Austin Energy Green Building program’s history and mission to the Environmental Commission at its regular meeting on March 5.

In its mission statement, Austin Energy Green Building promises to “cultivate innovation in building and transportation for the enrichment of the community’s environmental, economic and human well-being.”

“Our work can broadly be categorized into three different buckets: ratings, education and outreach, and policies and codes,” said Kasper.

As a part of its ratings work, Austin Energy Green Building provides design tools and rates the sustainability of new and remodeled single-family, multifamily and commercial buildings. To positively affect policies and codes, Austin Energy Green Building uses program results to inform the development of the city’s codes, advance energy code and amend city development agreements.

Austin Energy Green Building develops its rating goals and measures in accordance with its mission statement by analyzing two categories of factors: conservation and quality of life. Conservation takes into account energy, water and materials by creating plans for resource generation, zero waste and climate equity. Quality of life considers the environment, transportation, education and equity by promoting healthier indoor and outdoor environments, advancing transportation options that work for everyone, increasing human health and well-being, improving construction worker health and safety, and providing buildings that work for everyone.

Each construction project is rated on a scale of 1 to 5 stars. The number of sustainability measures a project incorporates from the aforementioned categories of factors determines its star rating.

Austin Energy Green Building rates new construction and major renovation projects for three markets: single-family, multifamily and commercial. Since its inception in 1991 to Fiscal Year 2024, Austin Energy Green Building has rated 21,573 projects. Of that total, 20,927 projects were single-family residence, 249 were multifamily residences less than 8 stories tall, and 397 were commercial buildings less than 7 stories tall.

Additionally, Austin Energy Green Building publishes a ratings impact for each fiscal year that looks at savings in appropriate units of electricity (in peak demand and off-peak hours), solar generation, natural gas and water, as well as savings in CO₂e emissions and construction waste diversion.

“We started identifying savings and reporting on them back in 2007 and that corresponded with the adoption of that first climate plan,” Kasper said.

Austin Energy Green Building also works to reduce bird strikes on buildings by reducing skyglow and limiting light emitted above the horizontal plane from exterior light fixtures. Preventive building facade designs utilize the 2×4 or 2×2 rule, which strives to utilize more opaque facade materials, obstruct glazing with UV coatings, include physical structure in front of glazing and introduce frit/etching patterns to glass.

Commissioner Justin Fleury questioned whether Austin Energy Green Building shares recommendations with and rates the city of Austin for their construction projects. Kasper responded by saying that “the city has a green building policy and our staff is involved in helping develop that policy.”

Projects can be registered in Austin Energy Green Building’s online rating system to receive a star rating and subsequent partnership benefits.

Photo by Lily Wilkerson – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link.

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