Profile
Creating a Sustainable Future One Building at a Time
Sustainable architect Gaby Mier promotes healthier buildings and people. BY SANDI SCHWARTZ ave you ever stopped to gaze at the Austin skyline and wondered what went into creating all those impressive buildings? Recently named the greenest city in America by Architectural Digest, Austin is known for its innovation when it comes to architectural design and sustainability. In fact, the city is the birthplace of the U.S. Green Business Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, the most widely used green building rating system in the world. One of the key players working on sustainable GLUMAC AUSTIN’S AUSTIN DOMAIN SENIOR LIVING PROJECT architecture in Austin and beyond is Gaby Mier. This This high-rise senior living project includes three residential towers located native Texan lives and breathes the creation of healthy, above a common podium and a 180 space underground parking garage. sustainable buildings. Mier is currently the director Each unit is served by heat pump fan coil units bringing in outside air from of business development at Glumac, a global building a rooftop dedicated outdoor air system. Lighting systems also incorporated design consulting firm with an office in Austin daylight harvesting and the use of wireless controls. focused on creating sustainable, resilient buildings that 341,994 square feet • Start Date/End Date: February 2015 / Est. October 2019 provide healthy, productive and equitable spaces for all Architect: Perkins Eastman communities. She recently completed a master’s degree in sustainable design and has been in the Architecture, existing spaces based on nine senses taught in the Montessori Construction and Engineering (ACE) industry for over 15 years. system: sight (visual), touch (tactile), hearing (auditory/acoustic), Designing buildings at the intersection of sustainability and human smell (olfactory), taste (gustatory), thermic (temperature, related health is her passion. She was one of the early adopters of the LEED to tactile), baric (weight), stereognostic (tactile and muscular in program and has always prioritized the environment in her work. “I the absence of sight or sound) and proprioception (movement have sought to be involved in the future of design that builds healthier and posture). “I hope my work will help continue the conversation buildings and healthier people,” she explains. “My job is to promote and around humans, sustainability and how intertwined they both are sell services to those looking to focus on highly sustainable projects. beyond our current understanding. I consider this movement to We are sustainable engineers and create buildings that will be LEED be about the design standards for the human experience to create Platinum, the highest level possible.” newer, emotionally and physically healthy spaces in the built Mier believes that issues like climate change, air pollution and environment.” waste reduction being top of mind makes sustainable architecture and Mier is also committed to boosting women in the architectural construction more important now than ever. Additionally, the Inflation field. She is an active member of the Women in Architecture Reduction Act of 2022 calls for making energy efficiency and clean Committee through the American Institute of Architects Austin energy increasingly more cost-effective. “These issues are driving new Chapter. “This industry is very traditional, and most big firms still conversations in and around sustainability and, I argue, responsible have that imbalance on their board. For me, it’s important to be part design,” she notes. of women getting more involved in this field.” What makes Mier’s work particularly unique is her focus on health and She points out that women make up just over 35% of the wellbeing. “Building sustainable spaces improves the overall health of professionals in the ACE industry but hold only about 10% to 15% of people. It’s all about how you make them feel and how they react to the the leadership roles. As someone who worked and pursued a master’s space you are designing.” She does this by going beyond the five senses to degree while pregnant, focusing on women’s issues is very close to determine how to affect people’s physiological responses to a building. her heart. “We assume the way things are will be like that forever, but There is currently very little research on this topic, but she is leading we are starting to see opportunities for growth and the potential for the effort. Her recent master’s thesis won commendations for addressing a leadership seat at the table,” she states. “This is important to me why humans respond to and perform better in certain environments, because I have a young daughter and want to tell her I was part of and how designers can utilize some of those reactions for the better. the change.” Her design guidelines and principles are currently being used to “grade” Learn more about sustainable architecture in Austin at atxwoman.com. 18 | AUSTIN WOMAN | AUGUST 2023
Photo courtesy of Glumac.
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