Over two days, Texas Gas Service turned on the natural gas in 425 new apartment units on 31 floors—a remarkable feat in Austin’s tallest tower.
“The planning and execution of this endeavor resulted from a two-year-long collaboration between Texas Gas Services’ commercial project management team and the building’s developers,” Alejandro Limon, vice president of operations at Texas Gas Service, told American Gas.
The project’s heroes were the eight team members whose determination and creativity helped overcome unanticipated obstacles.
For example, Limon said, the technicians had to reach floors using the stairs, as only one service elevator was available. “One of the more significant hurdles was the absence of cellphone reception,” he added, plus the fact that steel and other elements of the building’s construction prevented the use of two-way radios.
So, Limon said, “The team improvised, establishing a communication hub in the stairwell to relay information while testing the meters.”
The apartments—called The Residences at 6G—occupy a portion of a 66-story, 848-foot-high tower. Each luxury apartment offers hookups for natural gas ranges and water heaters, while common areas feature natural gas-fueled amenities: a heated pool, a fire pit and outdoor grills.
The entire complex holds more than a million square feet of office, residential, retail and outdoor space, and it is the only tower with that space capacity in Austin. Limon said the long planning effort “laid the groundwork for meeting the developers’ energy optimization goals and the demand for natural gas service from future residential and commercial tenants.” —Claire Levine