This sustainably built lifestyle community, which is planned to be the largest LEED-certified research, demonstration and teaching laboratory, is a 1.1 million square-foot, next-generation complex of buildings. The mixed-use development, situated on 73 acres of land only minutes from downtown Dallas, will have 800 multi-family apartments, 120,000 square feet of office space, 100,500 square feet of retail space and two hotels with a total of 250 rooms.

As a sustainable built environment, the community will be designed to maximize resources, reduce storm water runoff and minimize water usage through native and xeriscape landscaping outside and low-flow fixtures inside. Energy costs will be reduced by maximizing natural day lighting and installing thermally-efficient windows, exteriors, highly-reflective roofs and high-efficiency systems throughout.

At its core, however, the Urban Living Laboratory will be a research facility, a public-private venture between Texas A&M University and Reality Appreciation and its partners, including members of the Alliance for Sustainable Built Environments (ASBE).

To accommodate future innovation, whether they would impact lighting, bathroom fixtures, HVAC, windows or floor coverings, the entire facility must be designed to be constantly retrofitted. ASBE members were engaged in some of the earliest planning meetings, participating in design charettes in Milwaukee and Dallas with the entire team associated with this project. The goal has always been to create something truly visionary: buildings that improve with time.

Since those initial meetings, ASBE member firms have made the commitment to provide the project team — architects, designers, contractors and others — with direct access to leading experts in sustainable products and services. Each company has also committed to provide leading-edge sustainable solutions that show how to save resources yet deliver O&M savings, ROI and long-term value.

For more information on this project, visit www.urbanlivinglaboratory.com.