The AIA Austin website now has full details on the 2007 Homes Tour, scheduled for October 6-7. Here is a quick rundown from their website:

The 22nd Annual AIA Austin Homes Tour will take place on October 6th and 7th, from 12 Noon – 6PM each day.

Presented by AIA Austin (the Austin Chapter of the American Institute of Architects), this year’s tour will feature an intriguing collection of 11 one-of-a-kind homes designed by professional members of AIA Austin for real clients representing a wide range of lifestyles.

The featured firms have truly demonstrated the abilities of an architect to translate the needs, the lifestyles, interests and the dreams of the client into a beautiful solution! Great new products, finishes, furnishings and design techniques will be highlighted.

The self-guided AIA Austin Homes Tour is one of the most popular fall weekend events in Central Texas, and AIA Austin’s most dynamic community outreach program.

The 11 homes look very impressive. I highly recommend the tour to anyone considering building a home in the future, and of course to those who enjoy seeing fine works of architecture and construction. Like the Cool Houses Tour, many of the architects & contractors will be on hand to answer questions about their work.

I took the AIA’s tour list and built a quick google map with photos and links.

Notice 5431 Tortuga made the list! Check out the AIA Austin website for full tour details.

Another busy news week for Austin and online mapping:

• The above thumbnail image is Austin Fit Magazine’s Rendering of our future skyline. Go to their site to check out the full version (with info on the new buildings) and order a poster: Austin Fit Magazine’s Rendering of our Future Skyline
• Speaking of the Austin Skyline, checkout this Statesman article on the rise of downtown condos: Austin condo market: How much is too much?
• The Austinist covers the Opening of Town Lake Park.
• The Austin Business Journal runs down UT’s standing in the latest Princeton Review Rankings..
• I’m excited for our upcoming Austin AIA Homes Tour, but I’d love to check out this San Francisco homes tour as well: Eichler Home Tour (from Grassroots modern).
• The Real Estate Bloggers explain that there actually is a downside to living in a beach house in Malibu.
• A much needed new Google Map Feature: Embedded Maps allows bloggers (and anyone else) to add Google Maps to a webpage by simply copying a snippet of HTML code (similar to embedding YouTube videos). It’s about time!
• And finally, Google Earth 4.2 released this week. Checkout the new features.

That’s all for this week.

Driving or boating around Lake Travis you’ll see many interesting solutions to the problem of varying lake levels. Here’s one I saw a few years back while looking at lakehouses:

The Highland Lakes result from multiple dams on the Colorado River. When more water flows downstream (due to heavy rains usually) lake levels rise. Lake Travis is designed to store floodwaters to prevent flooding downstream. As flood rains are fairly infrequent, the level of Lake Travis can flucuate dramatically over time. Check out the below chart of the Minimum and Maximum Lake Levels of Lake Travis (month by month) since 1942:

What made me think of all this? Check out this new listing:
1203 Fawn Park, Lago Vista

This lake talk reminds me of the day I saw a 6 foot alligator in Lake Travis… but I’ll save that story for another time.

It’s very difficult to eliminate waste if you cannot measure what you’re wasting. One popular feature of the Toyota Prius (and many newer cars) is the instantaneous Miles per Gallon (MPG) display. This gives the driver immediate feedback regarding how efficiently or inefficiently they are driving.

Many Prius owners report being fixated on their MPG, feathering the gas pedal trying to maximize their score, as if playing a video game. This BusinessWeek article from a few years back describes it well:

46 Miles Per Gallon… 47… 48…

Rarely do I worry about how much gas I’m burning while lead-footing it through town. But after a few days in Toyota Motor Corp.’s (TM) new Prius, I became fixated, like a kid staring at a video game, on the fuel-economy numbers flickering at the top of my dashboard. Soon I was poking along at 55 in a 65-mph zone, sweltering with my air-conditioning purposely shut off and the windows rolled up (it cuts down wind resistance). All that so I could nudge my mileage up to the government-rated 48 miles per gallon.

Simply making the driver aware improves the efficiency of the system. The same can be said for home energy usage. That’s why I’m excited to get my hands on one of these TED devices. TED = “The Energy Detective.” An electrician installs the sensors in your electrical box, allowing you to constantly monitor and record the energy usage in your home. The TED 1000 unit only costs $139.95.

To be clear: I don’t plan on turning off my AC or reading by candlelight to save electricity. Just the opposite – The goal of a high-performance home is to maintain or improve quality of life while reducing resource consumption. Monitoring the electricity I use is a critical step towards becoming more efficient.

Check out Mavromatic’s Blog for a hands-on review.

I missed last week so this week may run a bit long. Bear with me:

• In Austin public transit news, Capital Metro is considering raising bus fares from $.50 to $1. Checkout this brochure for more details. There will be public discussions for those who wish to weigh in.
• Lots of great news about Austin recently. Here’s a rundown:
  • Austin tops Expansion Management’s list of best cities to relocate a company.
  • Austin Sales Tax revenue is up 20%.
  • Moody’s Economy.com rated Austin as the Best Place for Business.
  • And finally, Austin added nearly 20,000 jobs last year.
• For those who miss the Real World kids: Austin resident and bar owner Brad Womak will be the next “Bachelor”. Another reality TV note – VH1’s The Pickup Artist was also filmed in Austin recently.
• For those planning late summer/fall vacations, here’s a neat article about Planning a trip with Google Maps.
• Another Google Map development – Google Streetview now includes San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston and Orlando. Perhaps Austin will make it into the next round of updates.
• In ‘Historical’ real estate: The Woodstock farm is for sale.
• The Austinist has an interesting story about microbreweries in Texas.

TTFN.