Sustainability at the forefront of outdoor space at the VISION House Austin.
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When Robert and Judi George decided to build a custom home on their lot in Austin, the couple prioritized sustainability, low-maintenance living, and features to simplify aging in place. While they enjoy the swimming pool and outdoor living areas in their current home, they’ve both grown tired of the upkeep and the energy consumption required for the space.
The Georges’ new home, known as the VISION House Austin, is designed by well-known sustainable architects Peter Pfeiffer and Alan Barley of Barley|Pfeiffer Architecture and built in partnership with Green Builder Media.
The house includes an outdoor space sited for the best views of Austin’s Hill Country that will feature decking from TimberTech, a division of The AZEK Company.
“Climate resiliency is increasingly important to homeowners today, especially in areas like Texas that experience extreme temperatures,” says Amanda Cimaglia, vice president of ESG and corporate affairs at TimberTech. “The Georges want to harden their home for durability, and they want to enjoy aging in place, so our products fit right in with those goals.”
Technology innovations give TimberTech decking the color and texture of real wood, but the combination of sustainable manufacturing practices and high recycled content generates less lifecycle emissions than traditional types of wood decking, Cimaglia says.
“TimberTech offers the most realistic wood looks on the market,” she says. “Customers can choose whatever they want to mimic, so their deck can look like it’s made of mahogany, teak, walnut or Brazilian Ipe with a subtle grain. The color cascading technology allows us to create unique products so no two boards are exactly alike just like no two trees are identical.”
Full Circle Recycling
TimberTech is both a recycler of material and a consumer of hundreds of millions of pounds of otherwise landfill-bound waste and scrap every year, Cimaglia says.
“Across all our decking products we use up to 85% recycled material, a lot of which comes from plastic bags and bottles as well as old vinyl siding and trim and PVC pipes, depending on the collection,” she says. “For the Austin house, we’re installing PVC decking made with about 60% post-industrial and post-construction scrap.”
Since 2019, TimberTech, together with its parent company, AZEK, has used approximately 2.1 billion pounds of landfill-bound scrap and waste to manufacture their products, with a goal to use one billion pounds per year in the future.
“We reuse 99% of the scrap generated in our manufacturing facilities,” Cimaglia says. “We use a closed-loop systems to recycle roughly 96% of the water we use, and 100% of the wood fibers we use in our composite decking collection are from recycled and reclaimed sources.”
In 2020, TimberTech launched its Full-Circle PVC Recycling program with bins at construction and remodeling job sites and at dealers throughout the U.S. to collect and repurpose post-consumer PVC scrap into AZEK and TimberTech products. In 2021, this program was named a Green Innovation of the Year by Green Builder Media.
“We achieved a 29% reduction in carbon intensity between 2019 and 2022, primarily due to increasing the use of recycled material in raw material inputs,” Cimaglia says.
TimberTech’s Terrain+ collection of composite decking won a 2024 Sustainable Product of the Year award from Green Builder Media for its use of recycled material including reclaimed wood fibers, plastic bags, milk jugs and other discarded plastics and its 15% lower global warming potential compared to pressure treated pine decking over its lifetime.
Fire Resistant, Low Maintenance Durability
TimberTech Advanced PVC decking has a 50-year fade and stain limited warranty and lifetime limited product warranty and has been specifically designed to be recyclable at the end of its use.
TimberTech matches the Georges’ goal of a simpler lifestyle.
“The deck doesn’t need to be sanded, painted or stained or replaced every five to 10 years like most wood decks,” Cimaglia says. “No chemicals are needed to clean the deck – they can just occasionally scrub and rinse it off with water. We do have biodegradable cleaners for stubborn spills or stains, but the material is resistant to termites, fading, cracking, warping and rot for decades.”
TimberTech’s PVC decking is resilient to the hot humid weather in Austin and has a Class A fire rating for flame spread.
“We’re the first wood alternative to achieve an ‘ignition-resistant’ designation in California,” Cimaglia says. “The aluminum framing and substructure for the Georges’ deck is also noncombustible.”
TimberTech’s products provide the solution for the homeowners of the VISION House Austin, who wanted low-maintenance, durable, fire-resistant, climate-resilient outdoor space where they can relax and enjoy their Hill Country view.
Easy Outdoor Living at VISION House Austin
Sustainability at the forefront of outdoor space at the VISION House Austin.
Sponsored Content
When Robert and Judi George decided to build a custom home on their lot in Austin, the couple prioritized sustainability, low-maintenance living, and features to simplify aging in place. While they enjoy the swimming pool and outdoor living areas in their current home, they’ve both grown tired of the upkeep and the energy consumption required for the space.
The Georges’ new home, known as the VISION House Austin, is designed by well-known sustainable architects Peter Pfeiffer and Alan Barley of Barley|Pfeiffer Architecture and built in partnership with Green Builder Media.
The house includes an outdoor space sited for the best views of Austin’s Hill Country that will feature decking from TimberTech, a division of The AZEK Company.
“Climate resiliency is increasingly important to homeowners today, especially in areas like Texas that experience extreme temperatures,” says Amanda Cimaglia, vice president of ESG and corporate affairs at TimberTech. “The Georges want to harden their home for durability, and they want to enjoy aging in place, so our products fit right in with those goals.”
Technology innovations give TimberTech decking the color and texture of real wood, but the combination of sustainable manufacturing practices and high recycled content generates less lifecycle emissions than traditional types of wood decking, Cimaglia says.
“TimberTech offers the most realistic wood looks on the market,” she says. “Customers can choose whatever they want to mimic, so their deck can look like it’s made of mahogany, teak, walnut or Brazilian Ipe with a subtle grain. The color cascading technology allows us to create unique products so no two boards are exactly alike just like no two trees are identical.”
Full Circle Recycling
TimberTech is both a recycler of material and a consumer of hundreds of millions of pounds of otherwise landfill-bound waste and scrap every year, Cimaglia says.
“Across all our decking products we use up to 85% recycled material, a lot of which comes from plastic bags and bottles as well as old vinyl siding and trim and PVC pipes, depending on the collection,” she says. “For the Austin house, we’re installing PVC decking made with about 60% post-industrial and post-construction scrap.”
Since 2019, TimberTech, together with its parent company, AZEK, has used approximately 2.1 billion pounds of landfill-bound scrap and waste to manufacture their products, with a goal to use one billion pounds per year in the future.
“We reuse 99% of the scrap generated in our manufacturing facilities,” Cimaglia says. “We use a closed-loop systems to recycle roughly 96% of the water we use, and 100% of the wood fibers we use in our composite decking collection are from recycled and reclaimed sources.”
In 2020, TimberTech launched its Full-Circle PVC Recycling program with bins at construction and remodeling job sites and at dealers throughout the U.S. to collect and repurpose post-consumer PVC scrap into AZEK and TimberTech products. In 2021, this program was named a Green Innovation of the Year by Green Builder Media.
“We achieved a 29% reduction in carbon intensity between 2019 and 2022, primarily due to increasing the use of recycled material in raw material inputs,” Cimaglia says.
TimberTech’s Terrain+ collection of composite decking won a 2024 Sustainable Product of the Year award from Green Builder Media for its use of recycled material including reclaimed wood fibers, plastic bags, milk jugs and other discarded plastics and its 15% lower global warming potential compared to pressure treated pine decking over its lifetime.
Fire Resistant, Low Maintenance Durability
TimberTech Advanced PVC decking has a 50-year fade and stain limited warranty and lifetime limited product warranty and has been specifically designed to be recyclable at the end of its use.
TimberTech matches the Georges’ goal of a simpler lifestyle.
“The deck doesn’t need to be sanded, painted or stained or replaced every five to 10 years like most wood decks,” Cimaglia says. “No chemicals are needed to clean the deck – they can just occasionally scrub and rinse it off with water. We do have biodegradable cleaners for stubborn spills or stains, but the material is resistant to termites, fading, cracking, warping and rot for decades.”
TimberTech’s PVC decking is resilient to the hot humid weather in Austin and has a Class A fire rating for flame spread.
“We’re the first wood alternative to achieve an ‘ignition-resistant’ designation in California,” Cimaglia says. “The aluminum framing and substructure for the Georges’ deck is also noncombustible.”
TimberTech’s products provide the solution for the homeowners of the VISION House Austin, who wanted low-maintenance, durable, fire-resistant, climate-resilient outdoor space where they can relax and enjoy their Hill Country view.
By Michele Lerner, Associate Editor
Michele Lerner is an award-winning freelance writer, editor, and author who writes about real estate, personal finance, and business.Also Read