The city of Austin recently named Lucia Athens to the newly created position as its chief sustainability officer. Austin city leaders saw a need to pull together the many green initiatives across the city. Athens, a UT graduate with a master�s in architecture, returned to Texas from Seattle after working for ten years leading Seattle�s green-building initiative. She arrived in mid-September, and Texas Construction wanted to sit down and welcome her to her new position. We also wanted to get a feel for what she will contribute to the A/C/E environment and the impact her position will have on the industry.
TC: Welcome to Austin. I guess you’re still living out of boxes right now; but as far as this job is concerned, what are your plans? Athens: I need to understand where I can provide the most value, so I’m getting up to speed, trying to understand all the programs and initiatives the city has in place. Where are we in terms of where we want to be and what other cities are doing? I’ve tracked other public sustainability initiatives and that’s addressed in my book, Building an Emerald City: A Guide to Creating Green Building Policies and Programs - and I’m focusing on what I can learn from some of the leaders in the field, which include San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and Austin. Here in Austin, there’s a wide range of different kinds of initiatives already in place, with a focus on both private sector and internal city operations. There’s no one priority I can point to right now – everything is pressing.