We ended the day with a presentation from each one of the students. We were instructed to pick an Eco-municipality, a sustainable corporation, and a green/sustainable residential or commercial development.
We picked the City of Burlington, Vermont, Starbucks, and Farmers Branch Home for our presentation. Please follow this link for the Powerpoint.
This class has open my eyes to a new world that I didn't know existed. Thank you UTA for an opportunity to learn about such an important subject.
Saturday, April 20, 2013
Tarrant Regional Water Districts - TRWD
April 13, 2013
After grabbing a quick lunch at a convenience store, we took a five minutes drive to Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) to see Laura Blaylock. She has graciously agreed to meet with us and gave us a tour of a first LEED Gold building in Tarrant County, TRWD Annex Buiding.
Walking through the kitchen area, we noticed that TRWD encourage cycling program and healthy working environment. They removed all soda machines and replace with fresh fruits, and provide a gym with personal trainer to promote healthy lifestyle, which result in lower insurance premium.
After grabbing a quick lunch at a convenience store, we took a five minutes drive to Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) to see Laura Blaylock. She has graciously agreed to meet with us and gave us a tour of a first LEED Gold building in Tarrant County, TRWD Annex Buiding.
This building houses the second largest roof-mounted solar array in Texas, with over 19,000 square feet of solar panels.
The facility is constructed with all materials came from 500 miles or less. When we first walked into the building, we can see an educational plaque gave us an overview of the building.
This LEED Gold facility is equipped with 236 kW solar systems, 70% of the annual power supply came from roof-mounted solar panels, automatic lighting systems that adjust the brightness based on sunlight.
We've never seen such a unique way of running electric lines throughout the building. These engineers have great tastes & good practical sense.
There are also three 2,500 gallon rain water tanks used for irrigation of native Texas landscaping.
Fort Worth Trinity River Visiton Authority
April 13, 2013
After listening to a very interesting presentation from Sandy Bauman, we walked a few blocks over to the Trinity River Vision Authority to meet with Shanna Cate.
The awesome project includes three different areas along the Trinity River: Uptown/Central City, Gateway Park, and TRV experience.
This project literally blow me a way and would leave the river walk in San Antonio, TX behind. This video give you an in dept look at the projects.
UNTHSC Sustainability
April 16, 2013
Sandy Bauman, Sustainability Coordinator from the University of North Texas Health Science (UNTHSC) spoke with us today about her efforts to promote and educate people on sustainability.
UNT website shows us that they really "mean green". Sandy promoted the use of public transportation vs. building more parking lot by offering E-pass. UNTHSC also offers discount of LEFE vehicles.
To promote their sustainability agenda, UNTHSC uses social media and newsletter to publish information to educate their faculties and students.
They purchased water bottle stations instead of the traditional water fountains we normally see to encourage sustainability behavior and minimized plastic bottle waste.
They move one step further by providing locations of these water stations so that people can easily find the nearest stations.
UNTHSC converted an old bowling alley into a LEED Gold facility:
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Sandy Bauman, Sustainability Coordinator from the University of North Texas Health Science (UNTHSC) spoke with us today about her efforts to promote and educate people on sustainability.
UNT website shows us that they really "mean green". Sandy promoted the use of public transportation vs. building more parking lot by offering E-pass. UNTHSC also offers discount of LEFE vehicles.
To promote their sustainability agenda, UNTHSC uses social media and newsletter to publish information to educate their faculties and students.
They purchased water bottle stations instead of the traditional water fountains we normally see to encourage sustainability behavior and minimized plastic bottle waste.
They move one step further by providing locations of these water stations so that people can easily find the nearest stations.
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92.4% of the previous building’s construction was recycled
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Over 20% of the MET’s
construction materials contained recycled matter and/or was extracted,
processed, and manufactured within 500 miles of the its location
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Indoor air quality was considered in the choice of the building materials and ventilation systems
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The fire suppression system does not contain ozone-depleting substances
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Approximately 250,000 gallons of potable water are saved each year
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An estimated $55,000 in energy costs are saved every year
Friday, April 19, 2013
SouthEast Fort Worth Inc
After our Cowtown Clean-up, we headed over to meet with Mr. Allan Smith from Southeast Fort Worth Inc to learn about the planned development for the "forgotten" part of Fort Worth.
Mr. Smith has over 25 years of experience in the construction business. He is also the VP of Black Chamber of Commerce.
Southeast Fort Worth Inc is a community development corporation that focus on developing businesses to make a strong community. They work closely with the City of Fort Worth to pair up the developers and city's programs.
After our meeting with Mr. Smith, we drove over to the new Renaissance Square in southeast Fort Worth
Mr. Smith has over 25 years of experience in the construction business. He is also the VP of Black Chamber of Commerce.
Southeast Fort Worth Inc is a community development corporation that focus on developing businesses to make a strong community. They work closely with the City of Fort Worth to pair up the developers and city's programs.
After our meeting with Mr. Smith, we drove over to the new Renaissance Square in southeast Fort Worth
Botanical Research Institute of Texas - BRIT
This YouTube video shows us the Living Roof at BRIT http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=IMJHHL3HVRs#!
Information on their website regarding the sustainability is as follow:
Through careful site design, responsible landscape management, and
conscientious human behavior, BRIT seeks to reduce its footprint on the
natural world as well as protect and restore ecosystem services. The new
BRIT building was designed to accomplish several key goals: reduce
energy and water consumption, enhance indoor environmental quality, and
use recyclable and renewable materials. This was achieved through
daylighting, photovoltaic panels (solar energy), low-flow and low-energy
fixtures, low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) materials, wool and
linen furnishings, certified wood products, and recycled-content steel
and rubber, to name a few. In addition, the BRIT landscape—with its
native plants, vegetated walls, bioswales, living roof, and retention
pond—was designed to eliminate use of potable water, reduce overall
maintenance costs, curb energy consumption, extend the life of building
materials, mitigate urban heat island effects, and manage onsite storm water. But our sustainable campus means little if the people using
it are personally wasteful. Therefore, BRIT’s employees and users are
encouraged to model sustainable personal practices, such as recycling,
composting, and water and energy conservation.
Fort Worth Cowtown Cleanup
April 6, 2013
Our class participated in the 28th annual citywide litter clean-up. It was a rewarding feeling to be able to give back to the community.
We saw many families, groups, and individuals participated in the event. There were children as young as five years old (in my estimate) walking beside their parents.
The event is coordinated by Debbie Branch. This special event has won various awards such as:
We were not able to take pictures while holding our trash bags. But you can find lots of photos on the web.
We saw many families, groups, and individuals participated in the event. There were children as young as five years old (in my estimate) walking beside their parents.
The event is coordinated by Debbie Branch. This special event has won various awards such as:
- Keep America Beautiful Awards
- President's Circle Award 2005-2010
- Keep Texas Beautiful Awards
- Gold Star Affiliate Award 2005-2010
- Sustained Excellence Award 2005-2009
- Volunteer of the Year – Susan Johannes – 2009
- Governor’s Community Achievement Award – second place – 2009
- Governor’s Community Achievement Award – second place – 2008
- Governor’s Community Achievement Award – second place – 2007
- Governor’s Community Achievement Award – first place – 2004
We were not able to take pictures while holding our trash bags. But you can find lots of photos on the web.
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