WATER CONSERVATION
Using what is commonly referred to as “living infrastructure,” TECH 3443 plans to rely on natural frameworks to protect local water quality, as well as to promote other Green Energy initiatives. These plans generate multiple benefits for the campus as well as the community, like habitat preservation, carbon sequestration, and overall aesthetics.
ECO-FRIENDLY STRATEGIES
As a closed-loop system, these water conservation efforts perform critical ecological services and allow for previously unused spaces to become high-performing, regenerative landscapes. They are particularly useful in that they can feed storm-water runoff— through appropriate filtration processes — to irrigation systems for a campus organic farm, to all-important waste-management systems or to the aforementioned campus’ thermal cooling plant.
This natural “living infrastructure” also employs low-profile man-made and/or mechanical systems that promote renewable energy and water conservation, including green rooftops, wind collection and permeable pavement — a novel technology that allows runoff to be safely and discreetly collected below ground level. Finally, to keep pace with the inevitability of other emerging technology, our renewable energy efforts will include electric car-charging stations and an on-site organic farm, all in a full-fledged effort to be as Green Energy-minded as possible.
These eco-friendly strategies, when fully used on the TECH 3443 campus, amount to a mutually beneficial scenario for all parties. First, they allow for significantly reduced demand on the electric grid, thereby freeing Austin Energy to serve other customers. Second, they significantly reduce electric utility rates for the project and can be enjoyed by Austin residents. Finally, we can demonstrate that as a leading partner in reducing climate change, an extremely low carbon footprint is not only desirable but also cost-effective and sustainable for other business developments in the future.
The campus’ green energy-focused strategy is most certainly an agile process, but the foundation of this approach — keeping our finger on the pulse of what’s most sustainable — will always be the bedrock of our business model. Our use of innovative cooling technologies, our use of renewable solar energy panels and batteries, our deployment of best practices for water conservation and other green energy initiatives and our commitment to a LEED program amount to a massive push toward sustainability. TECH 3443 plans to become more than a partner in the modernization of the local electric grid — we hope to become a model for the Green Movement’s inevitable success.