Recognizing two outstanding projects.
Celebrating its 10th year anniversary, the 2025 Austin Green Awards recognized two outstanding projects in the five county Central Texas region: Eastside Early College High School and Fifth + Tillery. Details on each of the awarded projects are below. Four local and nationally distinguished sustainability leaders judged this year’s Austin Green Awards: Christy Ten Eyck (Austin), Founder Ten Eyck Landscape Architects; Jamy Bacchus (Denver), Associate Principal ME Engineers; Jana McCann (Austin), CEO McCann Adams Studio; and Sydney Mainster (New York City), Vice President of Sustainability and Design Management Durst Organization.
In her introductory remarks, Heidi Kasper, representing Headline Sponsor Austin Energy Green Building, recognized the evening’s attendees:
“Thank you for being here—and more importantly, thank you for being the visionaries, the problem-solvers, and the stewards of Austin’s sustainable future.”
She went on to issue an urgent call to action:
“Continue to lead, and to innovate, and to challenge. Let’s push the boundaries of what’s possible in sustainable design. Let’s collaborate across disciplines, share what works, and scale what matters. Because the choices we make today will define the Austin of tomorrow.”
Heidi’s remarks were followed by the evening’s keynote, Austin ISD’s Director of Sustainability, Energy & Environment Darien Clary. Darien reflected on growing up in Austin and her current role in helping to shape the spaces where the next generations learn, play, and dream:
“Schools are where the threads of a community come together. They reflect the city’s challenges –
affordability, air quality, heat, equitable access to green space – but also its potential. Climate change is no longer an abstract. I see its effects in our own schools through extreme droughts, unexpected winter storms, frozen pipes and intense hail which leave facilities damaged and disrupt learning environments. Our students feel it.”
Darien closed with a message imbued with hope:
“Let’s imagine the Austin we want to hand over to the next generation—one where resilience isn’t just about bouncing back, but about lifting each other up. When we build with empathy and foresight, we don’t just shape a city. We shape the lived experience of those lucky enough to grow up here, and what we believed was possible.”
In her introductory remarks, Heidi Kasper, representing Headline Sponsor Austin Energy Green Building, recognized the evening’s attendees:
“Thank you for being here—and more importantly, thank you for being the visionaries, the problem-solvers, and the stewards of Austin’s sustainable future.”
She went on to issue an urgent call to action:
“Continue to lead, and to innovate, and to challenge. Let’s push the boundaries of what’s possible in sustainable design. Let’s collaborate across disciplines, share what works, and scale what matters. Because the choices we make today will define the Austin of tomorrow.”
Heidi’s remarks were followed by the evening’s keynote, Austin ISD’s Director of Sustainability, Energy & Environment Darien Clary. Darien reflected on growing up in Austin and her current role in helping to shape the spaces where the next generations learn, play, and dream:
“Schools are where the threads of a community come together. They reflect the city’s challenges –
affordability, air quality, heat, equitable access to green space – but also its potential. Climate change is no longer an abstract. I see its effects in our own schools through extreme droughts, unexpected winter storms, frozen pipes and intense hail which leave facilities damaged and disrupt learning environments. Our students feel it.”
Darien closed with a message imbued with hope:
“Let’s imagine the Austin we want to hand over to the next generation—one where resilience isn’t just about bouncing back, but about lifting each other up. When we build with empathy and foresight, we don’t just shape a city. We shape the lived experience of those lucky enough to grow up here, and what we believed was possible.”
