About Town in D.C. - "Live Green"

While making my way back to Dupont Circle I came across a couple of guys on the street that were soliciting donations for “Live Green.”  Dave Byrd and Pat McVea (pictured above) are leading the Campaign Team through Fall and Winter and spreading the good word to passers by like me.  Live Green is a grassroots membership based organization that currently partners with over 50 local green businesses to provide discounts on everyday products and services.  The idea is to generate visibility for green businesses, grow the  green economy and save money for the members on products that they already buy.  

Before a business or organization can be added to the Live Green network, they must pass a rigorous screening process across 5 categories. 

Screening Process for the “Live Green Spots” logo.

Eco-friendly Products and Services - Is the business or organization environmentally responsible in such areas as manufacturing, distribution, use of source materials, disposal/recycling?  Have they been certified by Green Seal, FSC, Energy Star, or Green America?

Green Operations -  Is the business or organization environmentally responsible when it comes to energy use, paper use, waste/recycling, or carbon neutral?  Have they received certification from LEED, Green-E and or Green Guard?

Quality - Are the products or services considered high quality by users opinions, and/or from Live Green researchers?  Sites such as Yelp, Zagat, Consumer Reports, CityPaper, and urban spoon as also used as sources.

Price/affordability - Is the product or service offered at a competitive price relative to  green and non-green competitors?  Amazon and Target are two of the price comparison sites used.

Social Responsibility -  Are there meaningful socially responsible aspects of the business or organization, for example woman or minority-owned businesses, community involvement, fair-trade, progressive practices in human and animal rights.

Live Green also offers a number of social networking and event opportunities for people interested in learning more about other green businesses,  opportunities, or just looking for a something fun to do with like minded people.  As of this writing the calendar of upcoming events includes a "2011 Music on the Mountaintop Festival," a" Columbia Heights Day" celebration, and a presentation from "B Certified Corporations." 

If you would like to learn more about Live Green or how to start a chapter in your town, please visit the “about us” page on the website (http://livegreen.net/?access=spots)

Live Green: https://livegreen.net/

About Town In D.C. - "Founding Farmers"

Washington, DC

August 18-21

I wasn’t sure if it was me or if it was D.C. that had become much more aware of their impact on environmental and social issues, but the evidence was everywhere.  What was intended to be a relaxing weekend of catching up with old and new friends, and going with flow, ended up begin as an adventure in sustainability.  I was barley in town for a couple of hours when my host decided to surprise me with dinner, and a meet-up with some colleagues at “Founding Farmers,”  a very hip and happening restaurant located just minutes from the Nations Capital on Pennsylvania Ave.  Besides great food and drink, (thanks to RAMMY Award winning mixologist, Jon Arroyo’s imagination), part of the allure of Founding Farmers, at least for me, was the green trifecta the restaurant scored by being the nations first LEED Gold certified restaurant, recognized as a “Certified Green Restaurant” by the Green Restaurant Association.(http://www.dinegreen.com/), and a partner of Carbonfund.org (http://www.carbonfund.org/).  On location and environmental efforts alone I have to give Founding Farmers two thumbs up, but the proof, as they say,  is in the pudding, and this is a restaurant  after-all, so how does the fare, well fare? 

Beyond the usual and more obvious LEED certification elements in use at Founding Farmers, of water and energy efficiency, reclaimed wood, post consumer content, concrete bar tops, and low VOC finishes, the restaurant itself is completely focused on sustainable farming practices.  The restaurants only uses meat and chicken that is 100% natural, hormone and antibiotic free, the eggs and dairy are from cage-free hens and range free cows, the fish and seafood are line caught or sustainably farmed, and the produce is seasonal and delivered fresh 6 days a week from a variety of family owned farms.  

All pastas, breads and deserts are homemade and the menu leans to the south in its roots, featuring such favorites as “fried green tomatoes,” and “chicken and waffles.”  There is also a nice assortment of vegetarian and vegan options, so there is something for even the most discriminating tastes in food and drink.    

Dinner at Founding Farmers was a bit of stimulus overload for me as I tried to balance visiting with new friends and sneaking in a picture here or there without appearing too  distracting or annoying to my dinner guest.  You would have to ask them how I did on that front, but one decision was made during dinner...vacation be damned!  If Founding Farmers was any hint of what DC had to offer in terms of sustainability, I owed it to myself to learn as much as I could in the next couple of days about the cities grass roots efforts in sustainability.  DC is after-all our the nations capital, the hub of change, a “lead by example” city for people from all over the world to visit and perhaps emulate.  Okay, the challenge was on, for the next three days, I would let the city be my guide taking note of all things sustainable.  Stay tuned... 

Founding Farmers: http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/about/why-we-care/

RAMMY Awards: http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/2011/06/founding-farmers-wins-2011-rammy-award/

Menu: http://www.wearefoundingfarmers.com/ff_menus/menu-lunchdinner/

McKinney Green Gardens

The McKinney Green Gardens, located in Gabe Nesbitt Park, at the base of the large McKinney water tower was designed as a demonstration garden to be enjoyed by children, homeowners, landscapers and developers, as a learning tool on how to employ and combine effective water conservation methods with beautiful native and drought tolerant plants.  The design of the garden was a collaborative effort between the City of McKinney and the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Urban Solutions Center.

The park is divided into six theme gardens separated by winding paths and a central open area.  Ornamental grasses, trees, ground cover, and shrubs blanket the gardens, and small signs labeling the variety pepper the grounds.   A drip irrigation system and best Texas gardening practices are used to promote ecologically friendly design, and some of the plant varieties were specifically choose to attract butterflies and wildlife. 

Partial Plant List

(see more details in link below)

Groundcover

Calylophus

Liriope

Rain Lily

Shrubby Skullcap

Ornamental Grass

Gulf Coast Muhly Grass

Hamlen Grass

Lindheimer’s Muhly

Weeping Lovegrass

Ornamental Tree

Carolina Buckhoun

Chinese Pistache

Desert Willow

Goldenball Leadtree

Mexican Buckeye

Forest Pansy Redbud

Shade Tree

Bur Oak

Eastern Red Cedar

Lacy Oak

Shantung Maple

Shurb

Agarita

American Beauty Berry

Bearded Iris, White

Gaura/Whirling

Fall Aster

Frog Fruit

Lamb’s Ear

New Gold Lantana

Mexican Mint Marigold

Knock Out Rose

Texas Sage

Yucca, red

Turfgrass

Cavalier Zoysiagrass

Prarie Buffalograss

Premier Bermudagrass

Tifton 10

Zorro Zoysiagrass

My visit to the McKinney Green Garden was in mid August, in the middle of one of the longest heat waves in Texas history, and at a time when the area has not seen measurable rain precipitation in weeks.  The garden did show signs of exhaustion, just like my garden at home, but I too have several native plants and grasses and know from experience that they will return.   The gardens in McKinney are a good example of how we can conserve water with drip irrigation and by using plants accustom to the weather conditions in North Texas.   

About the Plants: http://mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/about-the-plants

Drip Irrigation: http://mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/irrigation

McKinney Green Gardens: http://mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/about-the-gardens

McKinney Green Building

The McKinney Green Building is a 59,000 square foot, three story office building designed and constructed with sustainability in mind.  In 2007, the building was awarded a LEED Certified Core and Shell LEED Platinum distinction.  The first of its kind in the US, for a privately owned building. 

The McKinney Green Building is owned by Wereldhave NV, a publicly traded, Dutch based company focused on commercial real estate and property management, in Belgium, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, the UK and the US.   Wereldhave has embedded it business principals in sustainability and “invests in durable innovative measures which lower total costs and raise tenant flexibility,” while “ simultaneously relieving the pressure on the environment.” 

Some of the key sustainable features of the building which contributed to highly coveted Platinum status were...

Reduced Energy Use - a 62% reduction in energy (as compared to a similar building to code) as a result of a highly efficient envelope, efficient windows, sun shading devices, and high efficient insulation in the roof

Light Pollution Reduction - light trespassing is minimized, reducing night glare and disturbance to nocturnal creatures

Rainwater Harvesting - two 9200 gallon cisterns to capture roof top rainwater are installed on either side of the building and provide landscaping irrigation 

Daylighting Design - the open plan design provides up to 90% of all occupied spaces have access to daylight and views.  Building shading devices are installed to reduce glare.  The need for indoor artificial illumination is reduced, saving energy.

Stormwater Treatment - pervious pavers are used in the parking lot with sand and gravel underneath to filter and slow down stromwater run off.  The water is returned to the municipal water system clean. 

Environmental Indoor Air Quality - low VOC paints and stains were used, smoking areas are located outdoors at least 20 feet away from the buildings entrance

Local and Regional Material -  over 50% of the products used were harvested, manufactured and transported within a 500 mile radius of the site

Renewable Energy - Roof mounted Solar Hot Water System, and 8 miles of Geothermal piping below the parking lot

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) - certified wood products are used throughout the building

Water Reduction - low flow toilets and shower heads are installed in the building as well as a water cisterns for landscaping.  Water for the building is reduced by 50%

Ventilation System - underfloor air distribution system installed to increase occupant comfort and indoor air quality

Recycled Content - at least 10% total of all products used on the project contain recycled material

On a personal note, it appears to me that the building is not fully occupied, and that may be because of a combination of factors from the cost of rentals to the economy.  It is a beautiful building and I applaud Wereldhave for its efforts in building a sustainable office space.  The norm for most commercial developers is to build as cheap as possible and maintain code, certainly not with the comfort or health of the occupants in mind.  Sometimes the pioneers get the arrows, but if they preserver, they might just be starting a new frontier. 

McKinney Green Building: http://www.igreenbuild.com/cd_2876.aspx

Wereldhave NV: http://www.wereldhave.com/

Pat Lobb Toyota - LEEDing The Way

The idea to build "green" came from Pat’s son, a Houston based energy attorney in a passing comment that eventually gave rise to the Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney, Texas, the first LEED certified auto dealership in the World.  As Pat tells it, he and his son pulled out a piece of paper and began a brainstorming session that sparked the initial interest.  That was the beginning of the journey, which lead to several larger meetings involving stakeholders, building and engineering experts in a kind of “wish list,” “what if we,”  and “how can we,” discovery process.   Since this was the first auto dealership to be built to LEED standards, some of the challenges were unique, such as how do you air condition a service area, how do you ventilate cars in the service area so they do not compromise the health of the mechanics, how can you reduce the water usage in the car wash, how can you capture rainwater off of the large parking lot, or roof, of from the the HVAC system?  These were just some of the considerations on top of the requirements in the LEED rating system that needed to be thought through.  The bottom line for Pat however, was the bottom line, and while he wanted to build to LEED standards, he make no apologies for taking the business approach first.  If Pat was not convinced of the return on investment for any initiatives then he was not interested in pursuing that particular credit.  

Pat enlisted the services of Turner Construction, Gensler Architects, James Johnston & Associates, MEP Engineer, HARC energy modeling consultant, Command Commissioning and Toyota Motor Sales as his collaborative team.  The team carefully analyzed multiple systems with digital energy modeling software, and determined an estimated return on investment based on conservative future energy cost, and as compared to other similar dealerships in the same climate. 

Some of the LEED features of the 14 acre facility include...

Site design with building and daylighting orientation 

T-5 fluorescent fixtures with electronic ballasts

Metal halide lighting

Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lighting

Increased ceiling and wall insulation

Low-E windows

Insulated water heaters and pipes

Native landscaping

Energy Star HVAC equipment and qualified products when possible

Water cistern to capture condensation water from the rooftop air conditioners

Recycled and filtered water used in the car wash (250 cars are washed a day)

Heating in garage is provided by recycled oil (captured from oil changes)

Quick opening garage doors in the service area

Recycled content for building materials was used when possible

Low VOC paints and finishes

Customer education boards on the LEED features are visible in the showroom

Over 16,000 gallons of water a month are captured in this cistern from the condensation generated by the roof top air conditioners 

Payback

Pat estimated that to build the dealership to LEED standards cost about 7% more than conventional construction methods, but the payback on that premium was 3 years, and once paid back, the savings continues to benefit the bottom line for the dealership.  

Estimated savings

20% less energy

30% carbon savings

50% less water use

85% construction and waste recycled

Pat Lobb Toyota serves as a model for how the LEED rating systems can be applied to buildings and business that we may not have thought of as potential candidates before.  With the right consulting team and a motivated owner at the helm,  Pat proves that  LEED standards can be adopted across a wide range of businesses.  And when the business case for return on investment opportunities are made apparent, then it just makes good sense, and saving money is a universal language that any business owner can appreciate.  Pat’s dealership has been toured by other car manufactures, several universities across the US and Canada, and business owners all interested in how to build or retrofit a building to achieve a higher degree of sustainability and cost savings. As as you might expect Pat Lobb Toyota has generated great deal of interest, and a few in-person visits from Toyota’s corporate executives from Japan.  The result is what began a conversation with his son, might very well turn out to be the way Toyota dealerships are design and constructed going forward. 

Energy Star: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=sb_success.sb_successstories_mckinney07

Gensler Designs First LEED Certified Auto Dealership:: http://www.usgbc.org/News/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?ID=3105

Pat Lobb Toyota, Taking the lead: http://www.usgbcnorthtexas.org/files/Gensler-PatLobbMcKinney.pdf

Montgomery Farm, A Vision for a Sustainable Community

Lee Hall is a home builder/developer/contractor and President of Sustainable Structures, in Allen, Texas has big plans for the Collin County the community of Montgomery Farm.  The vision is to build a live, play, work community of mixed use homes designed to work in harmony with nature, and to be the first LEED for Neighborhood development in Texas.  Located on 500 acres of pristine prairie and bottom land forest the planned development backs up to Connemara Conservatory, providing the perfect backdrop for Montgomery Farm to be a model for environmentally conscience living in an urban setting.  

The TERRACourt home, located in Montgomery Farm, was awarded the first LEED for Homes Gold rating issued by the USGBC (United States Green Building Council) in Collin County.  The 5000+ square foot home was designed by Graham Greene of Ogelsby-Greene, and built by Sustainable Structures.  The home is an impressive example of implementing LEED standards in a style and fashion featuring regional materials in a way that will appeal to even the most discriminating.   Architecturally the home exemplifies the look of a German Farmhouse complete with a stone facade, metal and fiber reinforced concrete roofing, native plants, and a bioswale pond (see image below) to capture rainwater from the roof and to minimize stormwater run-off and soil erosion.  

“Not only have we built one of the nation’s most energy efficient homes, we built a beautiful home and we did it without using any special  technology or  tricks,” said Lee, who oversaw construction of TERRACourt.  

Advanced framing techniques such as "California (or 2 stud) corners, metal ladder bracing, hurricane tie downs, R 24 wall cellulose, and exterior Tyvek wraps, helped create a very efficient building envelope which contributed to an impressive HERS score of 49.  The HERS (Home Energy Rating Service) Index is based on a scale of 0-100, meaning that this home is more energy efficient than 51% of the homes on the market, a score of 0 would be awarded to a home that is "off the grid," or uses no electricity, and a score of 100 is a home built to scale.   An energy star home must be 15% better than code, or have a HERS rating of 85.  

Besides his work on the Montgomery Farm and TERRACourt projects, Lee offers LEED for Homes consulting services, is an active member of the North Texas Chapter of USGBC, and on the advisory board for the Chairman of the Regional LEED for Neighborhood Development Task Force.   If you are involved in LEED for Homes in the Dallas area, there is a high probability that you do, or will cross paths with Lee.  If you would like to learn more about any of these projects or the LEED for ND rating system please refer to the links below. 

 

LEED for Neighborhood Development: http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=148

Montgomery Farm Master Plan: http://montgomeryfarm.com/images/2009.11.04%20MontgomeryFarm%20CDP.pdf

Sustainable Structures of Texas: http://www.ssotx.com/index.html

Dave Pennington - The History of Aquaponics

Signs of sustainable agricultural systems have been documented as far back as 1150-1130 CE.  “Floating gardens” or Chinampas were used extensively by the Aztec Indians, primarily in Mexico around lakes and springs in Tenoctitlan, Xaltocan, Lake Texcoco and Lake Xochimilco areas.  The Aztec capital of the Tenochititlan in 1500, was the largest city in the world at the time and the agriculatural system was based on aquaponics These floating gardens were the first examples of the sustainable food production system that we call aquaponics, the combination of aquaculture (the raising of fish) with hydroponics ( the growing plants in water).  

                                                           Valley of Mexico during the Spanish Conquest

Chinampas were designed by rectangularly shaped fenced off areas in shallow water, layered with mud, lake sediment and decaying vegetation to create an organic and fertile mixture that feed nutrients from the fish waste in the nearby  water.  The plants would in turn filtered the water naturally, replacing clean water back to the adjoining lakes or springs and the cycled continued.  Each chinampas was often seperated by water or canals so that canoes could make their way between the garden sections.  These early aquaponic systems produced a very high crop yield, sometimes as many as three a year and were the farming technique of choice.  

Dave Pennington is an aquaponics design consultant in Dallas, Texas and he has more than an appreciation for these early agricultural pioneers.  Dave strongly believes that a scalable aquaponic system is the answer to sustainable food growth for a wide range of consumers, from large corporations and the backyard gardens.  He makes a simple, but compelling argument.  Consider the problems and solutions as Dave see’s it...

Problems

Water shortages

Foods are less nutritious

Inefficient use of energy and “waste”

Over fishing can cause protein shortages

Over 80% of the world’s fisheries are fully to over-exploited

Per captia consumption of fish continues to rise 3% as world nations become wealthier

Solutions 

Aquaponics

Sustainable food production

Uses less water

Less wastes

Eliminates chemical fertilizer

Reduce pressure on the ocean species 

Allows efficient local production of food

A simple and elegant solution indeed.  Dave is currently working on an aquaponic system that is adjacent to Parkland Hospital, he  would love to see some of his aquaponic sourced food used in the cafeteria or for the patients at the hospital.  At the very least he hopes to serve as a source for educating those interested in healthy and sustainable food options.  He is also working on a large aquaponic system at Paul Quinn college and hopes the university will be the first Dallas based school to adopt an educational program around aquaponics.

If you are interested in learning more about how to set up your own aquaponics system, Dave is a great source of information and he is also for hire as a consultant.  If you want to take it a step further, Dave recommends a 5 day immersion course at the University of the Virgin Island, St Croix, where you are taught the basics on aquaponics and Tilapia aquaculture. 

Dave Pennington: www.synergyFish.com

Chimampa: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa

International Aquaponics and Tilapia Aquaculture Course: http://www.uvi.edu/sites/uvi/Pages/AES-Aquaculture-International_Aquaponics.aspx?s=RE

Urban Community garden coalition in SE Dallas: www.facebook.com/urban-community-garden-coalition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinampa

Brent Brown and Benje Feehan - bcWorkshop

The Dallas based non-profit, bcWorkshop is a design center dedicated to providing improved and collaborative public interest design and building services to the undeserved and sometimes forgotten communities in which resources are most scarce.    Acquiring 503c status since 2008, bc or building community workshop has grown to 19 staff members and 6 employees with an average age of 28 and the experience of several community based “humanitarian design” initiatives under its belt or in progress.  

Surprisingly, the altruistic approach to applying high-tech architecture and low-tech interventions is not without its critics.  Bruce Nussbaum, Professor of Innovation, at Parsons New School for Design, calls the work the “new imperialism.”  But other such as the founder of the nonprofit firm, Profit H Design, argue that the accusation is shortsighted and that “most critics who call humanitarian design the new imperialism haven’t done the work and realized how messy, political, and complex it can be.” If you have a chance to spend anytime with Brent Brown, the founder of bcWorkshop and Benje Feehan, an architect and project manager at the firm talk about their work on Congo Street in Dallas, you might also object to the accusation.

Congo Street is small stretch of 17 homes built before 1910, on a forgotten road in South Dallas,close to Fair Park.  Origionally called South Carroll Street, Congo Street was renamed in the 1930’s to warning to Fair goers as to what they would  encounter if they wandered too far from the Fair grounds and into the mostly black neighborhoods of and around Congo Street.  The name stuck, and the fear of the area was replaced by apathy.

Fast forward to the Spring of 08 and enter Brent Brown and his dedicated crew from bcWorkshop, and Congo Street was suddenly the topic of much discussion and interest.   What set this intervention apart from the beginning the was the commitment to understanding the stakeholders.  The process was constructed as an educational opportunity for the citizens and homeowners of Congo Street to have impute.

Brent believes that  community engagement is typically facilitated in two ways, it can be authentic, without any idea of what can happen, or manipulated in the way you wan the outcome to happen. The process of engagement with the Congo Street project was authentic, and the first step was to bring together a focus group of people outside the experts, and ask the citizens of the community for help.  The process took some time and commitment.  The community needed to trust the staff of bcWorkshop and believe that their intentions were genuine and not self serving.  Once the community understood that this was a collaborative effort and their voice and needs would be represented in the design, the  path to revitalization was underway with the design and construction of a “holding house.”  Residents would use this initial home to live in while their home was being rehabilitated.  Ultimately 6 homes on the 3000 square foot would be rebuilt and occupied by long time residents of Congo Street.  

                                                        Brent Brown and Congo Street

The Congo Street Project is only one of several such projects in progress at bcWorkshop.  The underlying theme to all of the initiatives lies in the evolution of the equity piece and Brent believes that this evolution is an extension of the application of civil rights.  In design this application goes by the name of “community design, humanitarian design, or public interest design.”  A new acronym that has been batted around in these circles to represent this movement is SEED or social economic and environmental design.

What ever you call it, the fundamental aspect of the process, and of sustainability is ethics, and the general theme of the staff at bcWorkshop is to represent "the people."  The goal of bcWorkshop is to take themselves out of the equation and help give a voice to those who many times are not fairly represented.  I believe this is a very worthy and needed movement and I am inspired by the passionate of people like Brent and Benje that have focused their talents and energy towards helping represent those who would not otherwise have this opportunity to participate in the process of change and equality usually afforded only to those with higher means.   

bcWorkshop: http://bcworkshop.org/

Making the Ideal More Real: http://www.architectmagazine.com/architects/making-the-ideal-more-real.aspx

Playing With Blocks

Alan Hoffmann is a successful home builder in Dallas that has been building to “green” standards before green was, well, cool.  He has been instrumental in  shaping the green building policies in the City of Dallas and was part of the steering committee of the Dallas Green Building Ordinance.  He built the first LEED Platinum Home in the city, and has continued to build to LEED standards as a practice since the USGBC rating system LEED for Homes was introduced in 2007.  He has won numerous awards and recognitions for his innovative home building practices, from various home builders associations.  

For Alan, an energy efficient, sustainably built home begins with simplicity, and a focus on the building envelope.  His philosophy dates back to families roots is Ibiza, Spain where a typical home is 400 years old, does not have central air conditioning or heat, and generates its energy from capturing the ground source temperate from the thermal mass construction of the floors and three foot thick walls.   

The modern version of this of this old and proven technology is mimicked by a product known as Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF’s), Alan’s building material of choice for the last 17 years.  He uses a polystyrene flat wall ICF, with galvanized steel webbing, manufactured by ARXX.  The advantages to using ARXX ICF’s are...

higher energy-efficiency 

reduces HVAC size and cost

foam insulation construction technique form an air-tight building

low temperature variation

less noise

better indoor air quality

slower cure rate means higher strength

fire, wind and termite resistant 

One of of Alan’s most recently awarded LEED home is located on Santa Clara Dr in East Dallas. Santa Clara features a centrally located mechanical room containing the HVAC, hot and cold water shut off valves, and a full house water filtration system.  The tankless water heater was located on an outside wall and centrally located so that the water travels a shorter distance.   Open cell foam was sprayed in the attic under the roofline and around the duct work, virtually eliminating duct leakage.  The home is 2700 square feet and the average electricity and heating bill is about $70 a month.  

Alan says that the energy savings from an ICF home more than makes up for the added cost to build an ICF home, which he estimates to be about 6-8% higher than conventional "sticks and bricks."

Future plans

Alan plans to implement his building techniques on a larger scale and has his sights focused on a neighborhood community comprised entirely of LEED homes.  He is in the process of raising the capital for his new development, so he did not want to give out too many details, but he did share is that the homes and development would feature a universal design, so that a person could comfortably age in the home with easy modifications made to the existing floorpan. 

The new development would promote a sense of community with such design elements as forward facing facades, walking paths, and common green space.   He also plans to capture the storm water run-off to be used to water the  common areas keeping future home owners dues low and controlling soil erosion and pollution. 

You will have to stay tuned for more information on this new and exciting LEED development, but in the meantime it is nice to know that there is at least one builder in Dallas that goes beyond the required standards and has a real sense of his works impact on our natural resources and environment.   Hopefully in the not to distant future will Alan be thought of as one of many.  

Alan Hoffmann Homes: http://www.concretehomestore.com/

Dallas Green building programs: http://www.greendallas.net/green_buildings.html

ARXX products:  http://www.arxx.com/Content/Products.

ARXX estimator calculator: http://www.arxx.com/Estimating/Estimator.aspx

Trash To Cash

The McCommas Bluff Landfill is one of the few city owned waste facilities in the nation, and is largest open air landfill in Texas.   Waste facilities in the state are highly regulated businesses, and in Texas they are under the guidelines of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).  

One of the unique features of the McCommas facility is that it generates onsite renewable energy by using an “enhanced leachate recirculation” (ELR) method, meaning that there is a controlled introduction of liquids circulated into the landfill that enhance the production of methane gas.  The gas is captured by a series of pumps and pipes and sold directly to a local utility company for energy needs.  Besides generating renewable energy, another benefit of the ELR process is that it increased landfill airspace resulting in greater carrying capacity and lifespan of the landfill.   

Timeline of Dallas Landfills

In the 1960’s Dallas city landfills were a network of smaller privately landfills that the city usually with short term contacts.

In 1976 the city realized that it needed a long-term approach to the areas growing landfill needs and chose a large area south of downtown Dallas located in a floodplain as the future site of what became knows as the McCommas Bluff Landfill.   

In 1983, levee construction was completed, roadways, weigh stations, drainage features, and the first waste cell (of 23) was excavated in preparation for accepting waste at the new city owned facility.  

The primary purpose of the McCommas Landfill is to serve the waste needs of Dallas residents.  The landfill currently accepts about 600,000 tons of waste annually and projects service capacity of about 120 years.   

The secondary purpose of the Dallas landfill is to manage commercial waste needs and balance the capacity with the residential needs.  Commercial haulers drop off approximately 1.1 million tons of waste each year at the McCommas landfill for a fee.  

Reuse, Recycle and Recovery

Initiatives to reuse and recycle waster and natural resources, and recover methane gas is an important part of the business practice and  philosophy at McCommas Bluff, and a few of the reasons why this landfill serves as a model for other municipalities and privately owned landfills.  Some of the annual statistics include...  

25,000 tons of concrete diverted, crushed and reused 

15,000 tons of brush diverted, crushed and reused 

500 tons of old tires diverted to vendors 

100 tons of glass, plastic and metal diverted to the processor

5 million cubic feet of landfill gas is captured and sold to the local utility year generating 1.2 M/yr in royalties on revenues. 

While a visit to the McCommas Bluff Landfill may not seem particularly exciting, one myth is debunked, the landfill is not a “dump,” it is a highly sophisticated engineered facility with long-range planning and careful consideration for site selection and zoning.  The facility must adhere to strict local, state and federal rules and regulations regarding protocol requirements for the treatment of waste including environmental monitoring, minimizing storm water pollution and the control of greenhouse gas emissions.  There must be an awareness and active consideration for resource management, the surrounding ecosystems and soil conservation.      

City of Dallas - http://www.dallascityhall.com/sanitation/mccommas_bluff.html

Landfill Gas - http://www.window.state.tx.us/specialrpt/energy/renewable/landfill.php

Talking Trash with Mary Suhm, Because You Have Not Heard the Last of Flow Control:http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/07/flow_control_1.php

Why Dallas Wants All Your Garbage: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2011/05/the_green_path_from_trash_to_t.php

River Legacy Science Center - Mindful Design in Practice

River Legacy Science Center was designed and constructed with sustainable principals in mind from its conception.  The goal of the center was to provide a learning facility focused on nature and the built environment, and how designing within the confines of a natural setting, minimizing site disturbance, resource degradation, and minimizing consumption is possible. 

The Living Science Center is part of the 1300 acre River Legacy Park located along the Trinity River in Arlington, Texas.  The Center features exhibits, aquariums, environmental educational programs and nature trails.  There is a detailed exhibit in the lobby which outlines a number of considerations for sustainable building practices, some of which are featured on the grounds in the Living Science Center, others of which serve as an education tool for patrons interested in reducing their carbon footprint though mindful design of the built environment in nature.  The topics include:

Natural Resources - A building can function within the existing ecosystem without placing additional stress on is resources or processes

Cultural Resources - The style, design element and resources of a building can use regional and culturally appropriate materials  

Site Planning - Adaptation to the environment, recycling, reuse and energy conservation can be supported by a sensitive site design

Architecture - Choice of building materials can first be gathered from rapidly renewable resources, secondly from recycled natural products and thirdly from synthetic materials.  Off-gassing carbon based products should be avoided. 

Energy and Utility - Renewable energy and building orientation should be considered first, water and energy conservation should be incorporated, and water treatment methods that are suitable to the ecosystem explored

Waste Disposal - Reuse materials onsite when possible, compost, recycle, and reduce the generation of waste  

Some of the sustainable feature at and around the River Legacy Science Center include:

Mulch covered nature trails to minimize the foot traffic impact on native soil

Trees relocated and parking lots laid out to minimize impact

Modular pavers installed to allow more air and water to reach the soil 

Path surfaces made from granite dust to allow more air and water to reach the soil

Native landscaping uses less water and fertilizer

Pond created from an existing depression and fosters natural habitat

Root watering crystals used throughout to retain water for plants

The Living Science Center also offers a number of educational classes for children, adults and families, including:

After-School Clubs

Nature School Classes

Texas Turtle Watch

Invasive Plants in Your Landscape

Water Festival (Water Awareness Through Education and Recreation) 

Nature Walk

Animal Exploration

River Legacy Science Center serves as a wonderful example and gentle reminder of  the importance of preserving and honoring nature and how the choices we make in the built environment impact ecosystems, natural resources and social well being.  The center represents the essence of sustainability with its peaceful backdrop of bottomland forest, the symphony of birds, the fluttering of busy butterflies and the laziness of the summer day with complete with sunbathing turtles.  You get the feeling you are the intruder as you walk along the nature trials and one is reminded of our responsibility to work within nature, not to impose, but to foster and compliment what nature already does, and naturally.    

River Legacy Park ; http://www.riverlegacy.org/
Google Map of the Park: http://bit.ly/nLBK51