Honoree: Mid-size – Construction Industry

Company Overview

American Campus Communities (ACC) is the nation’s largest developer, owner, and manager of high-quality student housing communities. Based in Austin, Texas, ACC develops both on- and off-campus student housing for universities across the country and owns more than 200 communities that include more than 134,100 beds. In every community design, American Campus Communities prioritizes sustainability not only for operational efficiencies and cost savings, but also for the quality of life for the students they serve.

Sustainable Business Strategy

As long-term owners and operators of residential communities, ACC believes the inclusion of sustainable features promotes healthy, comfortable, and marketable student living environments. ACC’s dedication to these principles extends beyond their employees to their residents and partner institutions. They believe the value generated by operational efficiency and sustainable practices benefits their company, their shareholders, and generations to come.

It is ACC’s mission to consistently provide every resident with an environment conducive to healthy living, personal growth, academic achievement, and professional success. Their focus on sustainability and conservation has helped them reduce both operational and property development costs, which translates into affordability for their residents and long-term value for them, their investors, and stakeholders.

Environmental Stewardship

The environmental stewardship of ACC’s university partners and its residents who have grown up as sustainability natives have been a key component in inspiring ACC’s approach and strategy. ACC’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) vision is to create healthy, sustainable environments with a sense of community and connection by giving back, investing in their employees and driving long-term value for all stakeholders. It is a company-wide initiative where all teams work in collaboration to achieve sustainability goals. 

Conservation Program 

Sustainable Community Design
Sustainability is at the forefront of ACC’s development strategy and they’re continuously making strides in this field every year. They aim to employ innovative and practical methods for improving sustainability and efficiency so they can deliver and maintain a healthy and comfortable living environment for their residents. ACC has sustainability built into every aspect of their business from site planning and construction, integrated analysis, building specifications and designs, to materials selection.

When it comes to construction sites and planning, ACC minimizes heat loads and facilitates natural ventilation through site planning, as well as situates communities on or near campuses to emphasize pedestrian and bicycle circulation and minimize the vehicular impact. For example, they lessened the average distance of their properties to campus by 80%—reaching a median distance of 1/10th of a mile—which reduces car use by promoting walking or biking to campus.

From an integrated design process, they also employ energy models for systems analysis to lower environmental effects while increasing operational efficiencies and long-term savings. Applying innovative design principles to conserve water and energy help to protect indoor air quality and create healthy living spaces. For example, ACC’s third-party project  Plaza Verde at the University of California, Irvine included native, drought-tolerant landscaping combined with recycled water to help reduce the demand on potable water by 100%. They also make sure to select regional and recycled products to conserve valuable resources. Plus, their Capital Improvement Program enhances the efficiencies, durability or replacement of existing materials and systems.  

ACC also proves their commitment to conservation through energy-efficient buildings by seeking out LEED®¹ certifications. Currently, they have achieved 37 LEED-certified properties—more than any company in the student housing industry—and have developed their first net-zero energy building in partnership with the University of California, Irvine. Further, ACC completed 95 LED lighting retrofit projects since 2015, reducing annual energy usage at these properties by an estimated 26 million kilowatt hours².

Community Giving

Outside of building design, one way that ACC invests in their neighborhoods across the country, and in their hometown of Austin, Texas, is through the American Campus Charity Foundation. To date, the Foundation has contributed $3 million to help community organizations make a difference in the lives of young people.

Building a Sustainable Future

Looking ahead, ACC believes that sustainability and conservation efforts are a major area to take a leadership role in and do their part for the environment, while continuing to make major strides in the operating efficiencies of their portfolio. As they plan for a sustainable future, they intend to utilize cutting-edge technology systems to analyze portfolio operating data that identify areas for growth in conservation.  As the largest student housing company in the nation, ACC knows they have the responsibility to drive innovations and trends in sustainability for their industry.

Beyond setting industry trends, ACC plans to continue to promote green living to their residents and teams across the nation. They see the integration of sustainable features into their communities as a critical component to deliver the best experiences for students. They believe it’s not only the right thing to do, but also makes good business sense to generate long-term value through operational efficiencies that benefit their company, stakeholders, and ultimately their communities.

Texan-Led Conservation

When the company was founded in 1993, American Campus Communities’ chose Texas as their base for operations. After the management contract of the Dobie Center on the University of Texas campus was awarded, the company set up shop and got to work. Texas is strategically and centrally located so American Campus Communities employees can easily travel to their projects all over the country. On top of this, the company has strong relationships with Texas Systems of Higher Education across the state, having completed 37 projects at 17 different institutions in Texas since their founding. American Campus Communities is proud of the deep roots they have planted in Texas and look forward to a future of serving the Lone Star State, sustainably.

Definitions:

¹ LEED®, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most widely used green building rating system in the world. Available for virtually all building, community and home project types, LEED provides a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings.

² Kilowatt-hours is the measure of electrical energy equivalent to the power consumption of 1,000 watts for 1 hour.

View American Campus Communities’ Sustainability Page