Austin's New Eco Hood

Chalk up another eco award for Austin, Texas. The Mueller airport redevelopment project, a massive live-work neighborhood breaking ground on the southeast side of the city has been named one of the top ten best, eco-friendly neighborhoods by Natural Home magazine.

Natural Home rated the neighborhoods based on energy usage and application of alternative energy sources; green building aspects, including LEED certification levels achieved, and reuse of previously developed land. The company that designed the project, Catellus Development Group, specializes in mixed-use development projects built with sustainable design principles. 

Catellus' Mueller community spans 711 acres in central Austin, and already has a foothold in the neighborhood, with a 220,000-square-foot retail center, a 127,000-square-foot medical office building, and the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. The Mueller development is being design with “green urbanism” features, including more than 15,000 new trees, sidewalks on both sides of the street, and dedicated bike lanes and off-street hike/bike paths.

There are a number of different builders that will be involved in the Mueller housing development, most of which have green-building credentials.  All of the single family homes will meet or exceed a three-star energy efficiency rating, and some of the green construction features include rainfall harvesting, tankless water heaters, digital air conditioning controls, and energy-efficient air conditioners/heaters. Transportation is another key component of this planned neighborhood, and residents will have access to 16 Capital Metro bus routes, and a new MetroRail service is also in the works.  In addition, all of the commercial buildings at Mueller will meet or exceed a two-star energy efficiency rating from Austin Energy's Green Building Program or will be LEED certified.

To encourage a diverse mix of residents, there will be a wide range of housing options at the Mueller development, from single-family yard houses and row houses to live-work "shop houses", and mixed-use apartment and townhome buildings. Most homes will be priced between $120,000 to $160,000. About 25 percent of the homes are available specifically to households with lower than average incomes.

The first phase of residential construction is currently underway, with more than 4,600 single- and multi-family units planned at full build-out.