Sustainable development is one of the six guiding tenets of Mueller, and it’s being achieved on a community-wide basis in several ways:

• Location, location, location: Mueller is an urban infill project developed away from surface and groundwater resources and close to downtown and other dense areas to reduce auto pollution.

• More trees, please: One tree for every four parking spaces in retail centers is helping to reduce the urban heat-island effect and increase walkability, and Catellus is planting a minimum of 15,000 trees, many of which were preserved from a pecan farm outside Austin destined for demolition to make way for another development.

• Next stop – Mueller: Mueller is planned with commuter rail service in mind, dedicated bike paths and walkways along every street to reduce dependence on automobiles.

• Recycle, restore and reclaim: Mueller is recycling old runway materials into street construction, breaking down old hangers bolt-by-bolt to use them as recycled building materials, converting historic buildings into public spaces and using local building materials whenever possible.

• A park apart: 20 percent of Mueller’s 711 acres are being preserved for parks and open space, playscapes are constructed from recycled materials and a native and rare landscape is being preserved (through a partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center).

• New water ways and new waterways: Catellus, homebuilders and other developers at Mueller have all pledged to use only native plants in all landscaping to conserve water use and community-wide irrigation will use reclaimed “gray” water.

• We’re not clowning around with solar energy: The Ronald McDonald House at Mueller will be the first of its kind in the nation to utilize solar power. Meanwhile, Austin’s largest public art project ever, at a key Mueller gateway, is a series of 18- to 20-foot tall flower-shaped sculptures that collect the sun’s rays and convert them into solar energy to light the structures at night.