AMD’s Lone Star campus in Austin got a LEED gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This is the second highest LEED rating. LEED, or “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design,” is “a benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. For this certification, site selection, energy and water efficiency, the use of local materials, and landscaping were all considered.
Two Austin buildings, Dell Children’s Medical Center and Ronald McDonald House, both in the Mueller area, have the higher platinum rating.
The Lone Star campus, which is home to AMD’s business operations and the Austin design engineering center, was designed and constructed by a diverse team of internationally recognized architects, engineers, ecologists and sustainability experts. The site development plan for the 58-acre, 870,000 square foot campus was based on three key tenets: limit site impact, protect water quality, and use innovative sustainable design. Some of the sustainable design elements include:
- Energy Use: Powered 100% by Austin Energy’s GreenChoice® electricity, which comes from clean, renewable energy sources such as wind power
- Rainwater collection: Designed with a 1.2 million gallon capacity rainwater collection system, which is designed to provide water for the buildings’ cooling towers and irrigation
- Construction materials: Incorporated more than 20% of construction materials based on recycled content, and with more than 20% of locally sourced construction materials
- 100% Native Landscaping: AMD partnered with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to salvage the native trees, shrubs and grasses within the footprint of the campus, and replant them following construction.
