Austin Community College – San Gabriel Campus

Leander, Texas

Making Sustainability a Priority for ACC’s Newest Campus

Austin Community College’s (ACC) San Gabriel Campus serves the City of Leander area, one of the fastest-growing regions in the country, and is the first major addition to Leander’s Transit Oriented Development District. American Constructors built the campus to be the hub for community engagement and kept sustainability in mind, culminating in LEED Gold certification.


Square Footage

111,404

Location

Leander, Texas

Type

Higher Education

Owner

Austin Community College

Architect

Pfluger Architects in association with SmithGroupJJR

What We Built

The three-story Austin Community College campus offers transferable general education courses and career training, and will initially accommodate up to 2,500 students. It features a 150-seat ACCelerator learning lab integrated with a library and tutoring areas, multipurpose rooms for community use, and open spaces for studying and gathering, including a 3,900-square-foot rooftop terrace.


How We Built It

Building Materials: During construction, we recycled 725 tons of construction waste, resulting in 95% diversion of construction waste and earning us an exemplary performance LEED credit. Approximately 15 percent of building material used was made from recycled content and 20 percent was sourced from Texas, reducing transportation emissions and supporting the local economy. Nearly all the wood in the building was sourced from sustainably-managed forests.

Water: To underscore the priority of project sustainability, the owner provided a directive to the team to be good stewards of the water on site. Three 30,000-gallon water collection tanks were custom-designed to mimic the look of old grain silos. A siphonic system feeds the tanks via aqueducts for rainwater storage as well as stormwater retention capacity. Bio-retention ponds known as ‘rain gardens’ provide additional stormwater retention capacity throughout the site in lieu of a single, concentrated detention pond.

Additional Features: The campus is also equipped with solar panels, automatic motorized sunshades, electric car charging stations as well as bike racks, bike lanes, bike repair station, storage, lockers, and a shower.

Project Awards


ABC National Excellence in Construction Eagle Award

For the outstanding work on this project, American Constructors received the ABC National Excellence in Construction (EIC) Eagle Award. The EIC strives to honor those who exemplify the highest quality of workmanship in their projects, while upholding a dedication to building projects on time and on budget.

LEED Gold Certification

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building types, LEED provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green buildings.

ABC Central Texas Award of Excellence

For the outstanding work on this project, American Constructors received the ABC Central Texas Award of Excellence in Construction.

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