The Environmental Education Center of Plano

The Environmental Education Center of Plano was designed as a teaching facility for local residents, teachers, students, civic and business leaders to learn about environmental, social and economically responsible building practices, sustainable building design and construction, and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.  

The building features many examples of LEED credits which exemplify a long-term thinking approach to durability, the use of local and regional materials, recycled content, energy efficiency measure, water conservation, waste reduction, site section, indoor air quality, and innovative design.   

Examples of the design principals featured at the Environmental Education Center:

Building orientation designed to maximize energy efficiency with roof overhangs, east - west orientation and shade from trees. 

Water conservation measures include a rainwater harvesting system (with a large on-site catchment tank), gray water recycling, low flow fixtures in the bathroom,  drought tolerant and native landscaping to reduce water use, and an irrigation system . 

Energy efficiency through the use of solar panels (located on the top of the parking overhang) and solar thermal heaters (below).  The building is also designed and oriented to capture natural lighting, the HVAC system is a high efficiency unit and there is a heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system to help keep the building cooler in the summer.

They have used recycled or renewable content when possible including low VOC paints and fabrics, fly ash in the concrete, Enviroglas table tops (recycled glass) and recycled carpet.  

The Center plans to feature many education and awareness opportunities through displays, interactive programs, on-site training classes, workshops and presentations. 

There is still some work to be done at the Environmental Education Center, but it is a fine example of easy to understand LEED credits and once the programs are up and going, the outreach to the surrounding communities will be far reaching and serve as an example for other cities interested in increasing their awareness about sustainability in the built environment and reducing their ecological footprint.