Trinity River Audubon Center

This place is located in Dallas, TX. Dana Wilson a volunteer coordinator guided the tour. Audubon was a bird artist. The site previously was a Deep Woods Landfill, legal Dallas landfill. In the 70’s city closed the landfill due to pollutants from waste. There was 1.5 tons of waste. I was amazed how peaceful and eco-friendly the building was. It currently holds Gold LEED certification and has a bird shape design, with vegetative rooftop.   East Texas bamboo floors, fly ash concrete walls, recycled denim insulation, recycled tires/rubber floors, East Texas cypress wood ceiling, Pecan veneer walls. They hay 9 ponds some natural and others enhanced. It opened in October 2008 and has 6,000 acres of land, also have a 36,000-water cistern to irrigate perimeter of the building. Some of the problems that the building faces are bird hitting in glass windows and Faral hogs. Some of the cool features I liked were that they are not connected to the city sewer and knew their limitations as far as connecting solar panels. The center does bird classes and community presentations, but their problem is that very limited in staff most are volunteers. Some of the recommendations will be to promote further discussion on sustainable use of biodiversity. I applauded their use natural resources such as water and energy cautiously. TRINITY RIVER AUDUBON CENTER IS THE LARGES UBAN HARDWOOD FOREST IN NORTH AMERICA!

http://www.trinityriveraudubon.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Home

Texas Instruments Tour

The Texas Instruments tour was done by Paul Westbrook a sustainable development manager. He has been working for this company for 20 years and his degree is in mechanical engineering. The building was designed in 2004 and on 2010 the total revenue was 14.0 billion. The company uses 1 billion chips for calculator, iPad, phones, etc. It is located in 30 countries and has 80,000 clients worldwide. Some of the features include 92,000 acres, 1000 employees’ capacity. The outside pond is used for landscape irrigation, which is mown only twice a year. Employee transportation outreach includes vanpool, DART shuttle, and bicyclist covered parking. It was very surprising how each agency defines differently what sustainability means, for example this company’s definition was the balance of profit, people, and the planet.  Paul stated that sustainability does not have a measuring device, which I agree sustainability has to be tailor made for each agency. The measuring device used by this company includes the following components Waste, Energy, CO2, Other Emissions, Water, and Sustainable Materials. According to Paul, sustainability is a good business if you know how to work it. One more thing that gave me a wakeup call was that people are abundant, natural resources are scare, and increase in productivity. The whole plant saves 4 million a year and reduces, 20% energy, 40% water use reduction, 50% emission reduction. This building is certified Gold LEED and in 2010 recycled worldwide 95% waste.  The sustainable tour given and presented by Paul was a very informative and productive for the future career and personal life. The company should do more community outreach.


http://www.ti.com/




http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/csr/company/sustainability.shtml

Plano Environmental Education Center

Autumn Dyllan guided this center’s tour. This tour was very rushed and hard to follow-up. The construction of this building was in April of 2010 and opened in December 2011. Water, energy, and waste conservation are a priority in the center. It collects rainwater, which is used for irrigation and restrooms.  Solar panels and wind turbine are used for to provide all energy for the building. They have a living rooftop, rain cistern, enviroglass walls, cement and fly ash floors, cedar ceilings (planted and harvested trees), and Chairs and tables from recycled materials.  The total cost was 4.7 millions and its Plano’s first LEED certified platinum building. I liked this site due to fact that it does the education part in sustainability. They do lots of community outreach (volunteers, sustainability classes, etc), which educates community about current issues. I would loved for this tour to be more detailed and focused on sustainability practices, for example more detail on the process.

www.livegreeninplano.com

Texas AgriLife Extension Service

This presentation was done by Steve Chaney. The company is 150 years old and horticulture’s definition of sustainability from his point of view to be kind to the earth.  Chaney is a horticulturist and one of his goals is to convince people that money is not everything and we need to worry about the future. EarthKind is a research proven technique to provide maximum garden and landscape; enjoyment while preserving and protecting the environment. Due to severe drought in Texas, it is estimated that 20% of trees in Texas will be lost. It is also estimated 20-30% of tree loss in Dallas and about 50% in Houston.  Some of the water issued include irrigation, natural drought, water quality (contamination due to runoffs), water conservation (is there enough), population growth, extended drought, and lakes filling with sediments. The environmental impact in regards to landscape is that lawn equipment uses 720millon gallons of gas per year, 85 million household has landscape, and 10,000 gallons of water are absorbed by landscape each year. Some of the solutions were to find adaptable and native plants, also design landscape that allows water capture (for example pond like lawn). According to Mr. Chaney Texas uses between 8 and 9 billion of gallons water per day.  People must be preparing for long droughts by preparing soil, irrigation, mulch, plant selection, and harvest containers. He also mentioned the principles for sustainable lawn:
·         Planning of Design
·         Soil Analysis and Preparation
·         Plant Selection
·         Practical Turf Areas
·         Efficient Irrigation
·         Mulch
·         Landscape Best Management Practices

Improving Air Quality in North Texas

This information was presented by Mindy Mize and Wendy Vandever. Both women work for the North Central Texas Council Government. The company was established in 1966 with over 16 county regions and total of 240 member governments (cities, counties, and special districts). Their main goal is to improve air quality in north Texas. Other goals include plan communication needs, cooperating for mutual benefit, and coordinating for sound regional development. The air quality is affected by pollutants caused by residential and commercial business. The company identified six main pollutants in DFW area Carbon Monoxide (CO), Lead (P_b), Ozone (O₃), Nitrogen Oxides (NO_x), Sulfur Dioxide (SO₂), and Particular Matter (PM₁₀ & PM_2.5).  Ozone is one of the highest in DFW area and its formation is made from stationary sources, miscellaneous sources, on-road vehicles, no road engines. To reduce these pollutants, there is a measurement system and currently DFW had in 2011 a 90 ozone level and the nonattainment goal is 75 ozone level. Heat and pollution increased in last year meaning that points increased due to that reason. What can I do? I can communicate with public and business to improve local air quality. I can start by knowing the Air Quality Code (See Graph Below). Some of the simple practices to improve air quality are use mass transit, observe speed limits, bike riding, walking, bring lunch to work, maintenance vehicle, combine trips, carpool, buy energy star appliances, and use fluorescent lights. The company has lots of programs but one that I liked to most was the Regional Smoking. It is a vehicle program where a citizen can report an environmental contaminating vehicle, then NCTCG will send letter to owner, and owner repairs vehicle.  What I can best use of what I learned from this presentation is to let myself become more self-concern about the air and how I have been polluting it. Also to teach my relatives and friends on how the air is polluted by general day to day activities that we do, by telling them the alternatives. The insight I gained that might assist me in my future studies and career is no to take natural resources for granted and learned to find sustainable alternatives to preserve them.

Air Quality Code
Green	Good
Yellow	Moderate
Orange	Unhealthy for Sensity Groups
Red	Unhealthy
Purple	Very Unhealthy

 Picture from http://www.nctcog.org/trans/air/ozone/current.asp

More information for Vehicle Program.

www.smokingvehicle.net

North Central Texas Council of Government

http://www.nctcog.org/

Recycle Revolution

Recycle Revolution.

Eddie and Paula Lott gave us a tour of the Recycle Revolution facility in Dallas, TX. Eddie studied Latin American Studies. This recycling plant has two vehicles and is a community drop off. It is  a shipping and receiving facility that recycles paper, cardboard, plastics, aluminum, glass, electronics, food waste etc basically anything that they have a market for it. They educate everybody (employees and clients) in regards to sustainability and recycling. Some of the main commercial clients include ATT and small business.  For Recycle Revolutions sustainability makes sense and they are the bridge between businesses and recycling.  Currently, Dallas Landfill charges $24/ton for disposal, meaning easy to just waste and not recycle. They are also educator, teaching local businesses in Dallas about recycling resulting in opening new markets for Recycle Revolutions. The local radius currently served is North Texas specially Dallas and immediate suburbs. Some of the goals include short term: fork lift, desert micro, paint outside, bin system and long term: b-crop, power washer, bike trailer. The company does not have residential compost only commercial. Recycling material is sorted and weighted. The highest paid material is Hard White (pure whit paper) priced $380-$400/ton and the lowest paid is newspaper priced $65/ton. The company has been in service for 4 years and has 10 active employees and known for loyalty and trust.  Prior to Recycle Revolutions, there was a taxi cab service building. The work done by this company means personally that there needs to be hope to make our dreams come true. Knowing the hard work Recycle Revolutions is doing to change the word and become sustainable example company, brings me to a point that it takes small steps to achieve our goal of a sustainable world.  The relationship of my experience to the big picture is that recycling can be anything as long as there is a market for it. People have this perspective that only glass, aluminum and plastic is recyclable, when this is not true anything this recyclable as long as there is a market for it.

“I do not love recycling, just believe in it” by Eddie Scott

Picture from www.recyclerevolutiondallas.com

Botanical Research Institute of Texas

Tour: The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) in Fort Worth.  It was presented by Sam Kieschnick, Assistant Collections Manager, and Richard Smart, Head of Public Programs. The building is a Platinum 2011 LEED certified. New bulding occupied in May 21, 2011. The cost to build it the project was 40 million and measures 70,000 square feet. It allows natural day light to illuminate the building. The carped is made from rubber (shoes, tires, etc) and sheep wool, ceiling is made from bamboo and wallpaper is made from linen. The wool and bamboo are rapid renewal resources. 97% of the former building was recycled. Living rooftop reflects a local prairie made from coconut fiber base, 5-8 inches of soil, and native plants. The backyard is urban prairie conservation. They capture storm water to water landscape. Land is leased from city for a fee of $1 a month.  BRIT is an independent nonprofit organization and most of the revenue comes from contributions, donations, and memberships. BRIT has child library, community volunteering, and focus on research of plants, research new species and monitoring biodiversity, species migration. The sustainable significance of the site visited is an example to other commercial business on how lookout for the environment and received a return on investment.  I feel this tour was very informative and collaborated lots of points towards sustainable development.  The knowledge learned from Jackson Murphy was applied as the description given for platinum building certification was actually applied in this building. The connection of this experience to my future will be for commercial and residential developers implement the work done by BRIT in their building designs. I can see a change in society with BRIT sustainable initiative, they will be able to educate more community and help them understand how sustainability can influence our future.

Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) Grand Opening Video by City of Fort Worth

Rahr Sons Brewery

We tour Rahr & Sons Brewing Company in Fort Worth. The tour was presented by brewer Jason Lyon. The warehouse was, previously owned by Coca Cola. The used of mixed machinery dairy and brewing.  The ceiling was very clean, free of dust. The information given was not mainly sustainability related.  Personally I believe that more information could be shared if person was aware of subject matter the class was interested in. From the website http://rahrbrewing.com/ Rahr recycles six-pack carriers, leftover grain given to cattle, and spent grain turned into bread.  The company can increase their sustainability practices or at least letting them known if already doing it, by having more community outreach. My recommendations for this company will be to go for a more sustainable company by implementing the three pillars of sustainability economic, social, and environmental side. The cleanliness of the ceiling was amazing due to fact that most warehouses have dusty and dirty.

Economics of Green Building Investing Green

Jackson Murphy (Economics of Green Building Investing Green)

This presentation was very informative and adequate to the subject matter in sustainability. Mr. Murphy presented about the green building reduction of resources and co2 emissions. In a green building you save in energy use from 24-50%, CO2 emissions 33-39%, water use 40%, and solid waste70%. This allows to a more balanced and healthier building as it relates to sustainability to the environment side. He also explained about the sustainable ratings programs. USGBC LEED was one of the one he focused the most. There are four certificates to LEED certified, silver, gold and platinum.  For certified you need 40 points, Silver 50 points, Gold 60 points, and Platinum 80. The biggest jump in points and price to obtain the certification is gold to platinum. As of September 2011 there are 32,007 registered LEED commercial projects. The states with highest LEED certifications are number one California and tide in number two Texas and Illinois. This means more businesses are being interested and exposed to sustainability. One of the highlights that Mr. Murphy approached in regards to green building was that occupants in green buildings are healthier and more productive.

The connection in this presentation teaches about the future in sustainability, is that many business and residents are becoming more aware of the damage been done to environment. I feel like the LEED will go way beyond a certification to a regulation code when it comes to building new homes and business.

 



LEED Stories from Practice Youtube Video.
Because LEED is about innovation and leadership, every project advances the collective knowledge of the green building industry, moving the market forward. Learn from and share with USGBC's LEED Stories from Practice
http://youtu.be/QJ3OLbMVRdM

Speaker Jim Johnson

Jim Johnson (Director of Downtown Development/TIF District)

Mr. Johnson started by speaking about Sustainable regulations of Transportation. The following are some examples: Park Regulations, Streets Repair and Maintenance, Zoning Regulation, Traffic Regulations, Side Walks, Fee Permits, Wider Residential Streets, which allows higher traffic streets. Jim Johnson with this analysis with of the streets are important not only for slow traffic but to use less building materials less street maintenance smaller & close communities, city expands at a slower rate, reduce travel distance, less utility lines for the city.  The complete street program is about right size of street to be built in residential and commercial properties. Its main goal is to reduce speeding. In regards to public policy he mentioned the Downtown TIF (Tax Increment Finance) allows free parking to public during certain times and dates in downtown fort worth. It affects local public transportation, by taking business out of their daily activities. This allows more people to drive to downtown. “Fort Worth grew up—and quickly—in the automobile age, and its mass transit system is underfunded and little used. Some say better use of the TIF money would be to start a light rail system. "The free parking plan encourages people to stay in their cars, and I'm not sure if that is a good long-term plan for this city," says state representative Lon Burnham, who also sits on the downtown TIF board.” As you can see I doubt if program actually works toward the sustainability of the city. More cars are driven to downtown resulting in more co2 emissions and reduction in use of public transportation.

This page explains more about the Tax Increment Financing Districts (TIFs)

http://fortworthtexas.gov/hed/tif/

References.

McGraw, D. (2008). Fort Worth To Spend $3 Million on Free Parking. Planning, 74(3), 46.

Sustainable Homes

During last week we tour two sustainable homes. The first one was a rehabilitated home, Heather Ferrier, 4232 Lovell Ave, Fort Worth TX 76107. It was a rehab house with the help of Ferrier building, a family building company. They bought the house one and a half years ago. The appraisal value is $182,900 as of 2011. Some of the main focuses when rehabilitating the home was recycle materials and energy efficient. The original budget was $80,000 to remodel the house and it was met. However they would have saved 20% if used non sustainable resources. There was a problem with private and public inspectors to acknowledge the use of sustainable materials and equipment. The second home was De La Peña 718 N Bailey Ave Fort Worth. This home is currently appraised at $316,500. The average utility electric cost is $65/month. It was built brand new 2 years ago. The floors are concrete, which are exposed floors. Casement windows have been installed.  It is a simple, but warm home. Kitchen, dining, and living room were all in one open space. Both homes the land value was cheap.  I think the work done in these homes was a good example for people who are interested in buying a sustainable home and are in a fixed or low income.  This is due to the fact that the land value was cheap and to remodel the house was not as expensive.  Both families looked and the cost benefit analysis and determined that it was a good return on investment. “Sustainable development is provided in the report of the Brundtland commission, stating that sustainable development is the development that satisfies the needs of the current time period without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to satisfy their needs” This approach taken by the Ferrier’s and De La Peña’s was a great initiative towards sustainable development. My personal opinion over this homes will be for this homes to be model homes to start for sustainability. The initiatives taken by both families is a good way to start. We already have unsustainable homes that need to be sustainable and in the other side if build from scratch it is more important to do sustainable practices.

 

References.

Ciegis, R., Ramanauskiene, J., & Martinkus, B. (2009). The Concept of Sustainable Development and its Use for Sustainability Scenarios. Engineering Economics, 62(2), 28-37.

$2 Million Dollars Sustainable Library

The tour we had in Bedford library had many valuable information. The library has native grass and plants decorating the landscape. The reflective sun light white roof is built with a water runoff. The roof saved 100 thousand to the library in utility cost. The whole construction was made brand new. Vacant land was bought by the City of Bedford. The budget for the construction of the new library was 9.5 million. There was a fear of building green. Their thought was anything green equal major dollar sign without payback in return.   The Bedford library was previously closed and was nationally known for closing by majority of votes. The environment was very comforting and welcoming. They also had a solar panel system that needs to be replaced every 10 years and cost 150 to 250 thousand. Sun power was used to meet the required 70% energy efficient requisite.  This was made by a 1.99 million incentive from state energy and conservation. The solar panel provider is SATCON.  The staff is still looking over incentives, especially geothermal. They had to teach and inform community about sustainable building.  The use of innovative technology is used in library by using an automotive book sorter. The Bedford library created a reduction in workforce but increase in productivity.

BCU Library Advisory THE REVOLUTION STARTS HERE

http://www.satcon.com/en/home

DFW Airport Tour

The DFW sustainable tour was very interesting. It opened my eyes to look at DFW airport with a different perspective.  Jerry  Burbridge(DFW sustainability director) and Rusty Hodapp(Homeland Security) presented the information related to DFW sustainability. The airport is working and improving their sustainable initiatives. The DFW is its own mini city, where many stakeholders are involved. It is owned by Dallas and Fort Worth. The board of directors is made by representatives from surrounding cities. By enhancing restrooms to a more sustainable practice, they were able to save a big part of money in their water bill. The DFW has solar panels and alternative sources of energy, but still buys energy. Real State Features. Views to look for when purchasing vacant land: top, bottom, cross, and side. Life cycle cost is spending money and justifying it. Safety material data sheet: has to do with environmental information friendly to humans. LEED 7 Categories

1. Sustainable sites

2. Water Efficiency

3. Energy and Atmosphere

4. Materials and Resources

5. Indoor Environmental Quality

6. Innovation and Design

7. Regional Priorities

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This link directs you to the DFW  Airport Environmental Primer http://www.dfwairport.com/pv_obj_cache/pv_obj_id_BCFBE0EA1663BCDB719F285C76F91568B92F4400/filename/p1_027449.pdf

“The CC process was developed by ESL at the Texas A&M University. It is an ongoing process that identifies and resolves operating problems, improves comfort, optimizes the system operation and controls based on current building conditions and requirements and reduces energy consumption for commercial and institutional buildings and central utility plants.”

The CC process includes a number of key

Steps:

Step 1: CC assessment

Step 2: Develop performance baselines

Step 3: Conduct system measurements and develop CC measures

Step 4: Implement CC measures

Step 5: Document changes and provide training

Step 6: Keep the commissioning continuous

References

WEI, G., YAZDANI, B., DENNIS, J. R., & T. HODAPP, R. (2010). Improving airport energy efficiency through Continuous Commissioning at Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Journal Of Airport Management, 5(1), 51-59.