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AMD’s new Austin campus was designed to fit the specific needs of its employees and the local environment. To create the innovative site development plan, AMD assembled a diverse team of internationally recognized architects, engineers, ecologists and nationally known sustainable design experts. Working with AMD, the team embarked on an intensive design process known as a “charrette” and created a site plan based on three key tenets: limiting site impact, protecting water quality and using innovative sustainable design. Some of the innovative design features resulting from this unique development process include:

* 100% Native Landscaping: AMD partnered with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to salvage the native trees, shrubs and grasses within the footprint of the campus’ roads and buildings. This natural vegetation was harvested prior to the ground breaking in 2006 and replanted at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center during construction of the AMD project. The salvaged plants are now being replanted at the campus.

* LEED Gold certification: The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the national benchmark for high performance green buildings. When completed, the AMD campus is targeting a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This would make it the largest LEED Gold certified corporate campus in Texas, based on current certified projects.

* Rainwater collection: An innovative rainwater harvesting system has been designed to collect rainfall from all roof surfaces, including the structured parking garages. The rainwater is collected, filtered, and stored in two underground tanks equaling 1.5 million gallons. The collected rainwater will be used to irrigate the site’s 100-percent native landscaping and to supplement the potable water used in the campus’ energy-efficient cooling system.

* Sustainable materials: The design team utilized materials and products that feature high amounts of recycled content, local manufacturing to reduce energy needed for transportation, rapidly renewable materials such as bamboo, and certified wood grown in ecologically maintained forests. Concrete used throughout the campus for structure and design elements incorporates a large percentage of fly ash, a waste by product of the coal industry. Finish materials and treatments were simplified throughout the campus in order to reduce waste, chemical pollutants and maintenance. Wherever possible stains or clear coats were used instead of laminates, paints and coverings. In all, 75 percent of construction waste is being recycled.

In 2005, AMD committed $3 million to help preserve critical open space in Central Texas and awarded the first $1.5 million in grants to the Hill Country Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. This first phase of the grant program consisted of an $800,000 contribution to Hill Country Conservancy (HCC) to conserve large tracts of land with ecological and historical significance and create a regional trail system and a $700,000 contribution to The Trust for Public Land’s (TPL) Texas Heritage Land Fund designed to permanently preserve environmentally sensitive land in the Edward’s Aquifer recharge zone and to support TPL’s Parks for People program in Central Texas. Today, AMD unveiled the winning recipients for the second phase of its open- space grants. The second $1.5 million will be awarded to the following three organizations:

* Westcave Preserve will receive $750,000 for the acquisition of the “Rim Around the Canyon,” a strategic 44-acre parcel of land surrounding three sides of Westcave Preserve’s canyon and waterfall. The current owners of the 44 acres, Suzanne and Ted Stewart, have worked closely as friends of Westcave to ensure that the Preserve gains this much-needed buffer to protect both the water quality of the “Grotto” and the entire natural experience of the existing Preserve. The acquisition will more than double the size of the Preserve, and will provide critical open space for education and exploration for the more than 6,000 school children who visit Westcave Preserve each year. The acquisition will also conserve sensitive habitat for many of the region’s diverse and plentiful wildlife species.

* Hill Country Conservancy will receive $650,000 and plans to leverage this contribution with matching funds for a land conservation project targeting sensitive property in the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.

* The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will receive $100,000 to help fund the Central Texas Grassland Management Research and Demonstration Project to study the use of historical disturbance techniques, such as prescribed fire and simulated levels of grazing pressure, to help restore native prairie and savanna landscapes along a one-mile, public, handicap-accessible trail at the Wildflower Center. This research will help land managers determine how best to manage the preserved areas of Central Texas for future generations.

Construction of the new campus began in 2006. The campus includes four four-story office buildings, three recessed parking garages and the Lone Star building, which features an employee fitness center, cafeteria, gourmet coffee bar, casual meeting space, outdoor decks and a gaming center with table tennis, billiards tables and video game consoles.

Founded in Sunnyvale, CA, in 1969, AMD came to Austin in 1979, building the company’s first U.S. chip manufacturing facility outside Silicon Valley. Today, Austin is home to AMD’s largest non-manufacturing campus and employs more than 2,500 people.

AMD has a long history of environmental stewardship and corporate responsibility and has been recognized for its efforts by some of the most prestigious institutions. In May, the company received the 2008 Climate Protection Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for continued commitment to energy-efficient product innovation, facility design and management and industry education.