From our focus on purchasing and developing communities in walk-to-work and transit-oriented locations to our desire to ensure they are efficient for our customers, we’ve made a commitment at Archstone to conserve natural resources. The majority of our communities are either within walking distance of major employers and/or eco-friendly transportation stops. This makes properties like ours more environmentally friendly for a number of reasons.

• Our locations require less driving, meaning less time producing carbon dioxide in rush-hour traffic
• Our high-quality multifamily communities require less land and fewer materials to build than single-family home communities
• Each of our apartment homes requires far less power to heat or cool than a similarly sized, stand-alone family home

But the built-in green traits of our communities and locations are just the beginning of our commitment to seeking and implementing environmentally friendly opportunities and practices. As part of that commitment, we’ve implemented numerous green initiatives over the years to better conserve natural resources and precious open space in the areas of:

• Energy Efficiency. Many of our communities feature eco-friendly, energy-efficient appliances, offer sub-metering of utilities and use clean energy sources, including wind and solar power. That’s not to mention our use of modern HVAC systems that provide the best possible indoor air quality and energy-efficient lighting fixtures and elements that create well-lit indoor conditions.
• Responsible Land Use. Rather than build in open space or suburban locations, we specialize in difficult infill redevelopment projects that reuse previously developed land.
• Conservation of Natural Resources. Many of our communities have also been developed or fitted with water-saving features, including “smart” controls on irrigation and low-flow showers and toilets. While developing communities, we use construction waste reduction and implement recycling programs. We’ve also replaced a number of printed marketing and leasing materials with web-based technologies to conserve paper. Today, we offer online leasing, service requests and payments, as well as information-rich websites.