MetroNational’s “Treehouse” is a unique 14,700-SF building that serves as the firm’s development office, meeting space, and showroom for Memorial City, a major mixed-use project on the Katy Freeway in West Houston. The project is the highest ranked green building in Texas and second in the nation with a certified double LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).

The two-story building evokes a sophisticated, modern-day treehouse. Sustainable design strategies for the project include a geothermal cooling and heating system, daylight harvesting for lighting adjustments, solar panels, rainwater collection for landscaping and a rooftop garden. Energy efficient measures reduce the building energy costs to nearly 50% of a baseline office building. The water efficiency features work to reduce irrigation requirements by almost 70%, which resulted in an innovative technology credit award by the USGBC.