- New AMD campus is designed to achieve a Gold level Leadership in
Energy & Environmental Design certification from the U.S. Green Building
Council-
Dec. 13, 2005 - Austin, Texas - AMD (NYSE: AMD) today submitted its site
development plan to the City of Austin for a new campus to be built on
58 acres AMD has agreed to purchase in Southwest Austin. The new campus,
known by the project name "AMD Lone Star," will bring together local
non-manufacturing operations currently spread across multiple locations
in Austin. Spansion(tm), the Flash memory venture of AMD and Fujitsu
Limited, will build upon AMD's established roots in East Austin by
continuing local manufacturing operations at Fab 25 on East Ben White
Boulevard.
The site plan was created in collaboration with a team of leading
environmental experts and incorporates the latest in green building
techniques and materials. Once completed, the new campus is expected to
achieve a Gold Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The Gold LEED
certification, which requires meeting at least 39 strictly quantified
credit-based criteria, would make the new AMD campus one of the largest
commercial development projects in the country to achieve such a rating
and set a new standard for sustainable development.
"The AMD campus embraces new ideas and technology innovations that are
unique to a campus of this size," Craig Garcia, director of global
corporate services, AMD. "This site plan represents a significant
milestone in the creation of a new unified AMD Austin campus that will
raise the bar for sustainable development and create a world-class
corporate campus in close proximity to the majority of AMD's local
employees."
To create the state of the art site development plan for the new campus,
AMD assembled a design team consisting of Austin-based architects,
engineers and ecologists and nationally known sustainable design
experts. Working hand-in-hand with AMD, the team embarked on an
intensive design process known as a "charrette" that developed a site
plan based on three key tenets: reducing site impact, protecting water
quality, and designing for sustainability.
"AMD has distinguished itself by a willingness to dig deep, ask new
questions, and explore innovative strategies, some of which have not
been tried before in this region on this scale," said Gail Vittori,
charrette leader and co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential
Building Systems. "Keeping the long view in mind, the true assessment of
AMD's stewardship will be defined by the tangible and measurable results
that grow out of the collaborative planning, design, and construction
process underway."
Reducing Site Impact
To minimize the footprint of the campus, AMD is voluntarily limiting the
amount of impervious cover to 20 percent below the amount legally
entitled for this site. This reduction in impervious cover will be
achieved in part through the use of compact building configurations,
limited structural footprints and the use of structured parking garages
instead of surface parking lots.
The campus will consist of four office buildings, three recessed parking
garages and the Lone Star Commons Building that will include an employee
cafeteria, fitness center and conference space. The buildings are
positioned on the site to best preserve and minimize the impact to the
natural habitat based on an ecological study conducted by Dr. Steve
Windhager of The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower. Development will be
concentrated on approximately 33 of the available 58 acres, leaving
approximately 25 acres of land undeveloped and allowing for more than 3
miles of trails to wind through the site.
"The charrette process began with an extensive on-site ecological study
of the land's soil, plants and habitats. This enabled us to locate areas
that were less appropriate for building, and to cluster construction in
the most appropriate areas. The result has been a design that grows out
of an ecological awareness of the site," said Steve Windhager, director
of landscape restoration at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and
charrette participant. "Because the charrette team was involved from the
beginning and had a large voice throughout the entire design process,
our contributions have had a fundamental impact on the sustainability of
the overall site."
Protecting Water Quality
AMD will voluntarily comply with the water quality control requirements
of Austin's Save Our Springs Ordinance and implement a land-based
filtration method to capture and treat storm water from streets and
other outdoor surfaces on the site. This water will be transported,
stored and filtered using the natural geologic topography, soil
composition, and native vegetation. This natural approach reduces the
need for more invasive retention and treatment ponds, minimizes
disruption of natural water flow over the site, and works with nature to
address groundwater recharge.
In addition, an innovative rainwater harvesting system has been designed
to collect 100 percent of the rainfall from the roofs and top floors of
the parking garages. The rainwater will be collected in eight separate
45,000 gallon cisterns and an approximately one million-gallon storage
tank located underneath one of the site's structured parking garages.
The collected rainwater will be used to irrigate the site's 100-percent
native landscaping and to supplement the potable water used in the
energy-efficient evaporative cooling system designed for cooling the
indoor facilities.
Designing for Sustainability
AMD's commitment to a sustainable campus will continue long after
construction is complete.
This site plan is designed to regenerate native plant populations over
the course of the next ten to fifteen years. In studying the land, Dr.
Windhager discovered an opportunity to restore the site to a more
natural state, repairing erosion damage caused by cattle grazing and
fire suppression. Through a partnership with the Ladybird Johnson
Wildflower Center, AMD will re-establish the natural recharge and
filtration system provided by the soil and fibrous native grass root
networks and return the site to its natural state as it existed hundreds
of years ago.
AMD recently announced a new agreement with the Austin Energy
GreenChoice(r) Program to purchase green energy derived from renewable
resources that will power all AMD Austin operations for the next ten
years. The new agreement extends AMD's leadership in the use of
renewable energy that started with the company's first purchase of green
energy in 2001 and makes AMD the largest private Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Green Power Partner in Texas. AMD will also
continue the company's nationally recognized Commute Solutions program
featuring carpools, vanpools, mass transit, bicycling and telecommuting
while instituting new incentives for low-emission vehicles. Employee
participation in the Commute Solutions program is expected to increase
at Lantana, reaching a goal of 10 percent of the employee population and
further reducing traffic, air pollution and the use of fossil fuels.
The site will incorporate innovative lighting and climate systems to
distribute natural light, create flexible and customizable workspaces,
limit energy consumption and improve productivity. The facility will
utilize recycled, rapidly renewable and simple materials with basic
finishes to limit total environmental impact and reduce material waste,
chemical pollutants, and maintenance waste. When the site is occupied,
chemically safe cleaning solutions and an innovative pest management
system will virtually eliminate the use of toxins in maintaining the
campus.
To further conservation efforts, AMD and Stratus Properties have jointly
committed to creating a $5 million preservation fund to protect the most
sensitive recharge lands within the Edwards Aquifer watershed.
The new campus was announced in April after a more than two year search
determined Lantana to be the only location in Austin to meet all of
AMD's primary search criteria, including size, presence of existing
entitlements and infrastructure, and proximity to the majority of local
AMD employees. The site is already zoned for commercial development by
the City of Austin with existing entitlements and construction is
expected to begin in March 2006.
For more information about AMD's new campus, visit http://www.amdlonestar.com
About AMD
AMD (NYSE:AMD) designs and produces innovative microprocessors, Flash
memory devices and low-power processor solutions for the computer,
communications and consumer electronics industries. AMD is dedicated to
delivering standards-based, customer-focused solutions for technology
users, ranging from enterprises to government agencies and individual
consumers. For more information, visit http://www.amd.com