March 2007 Bulletin Board
Green Building Program Staff to Speak at Upcoming Events
Austin GreenLiving and Home Products Expo
The Expo will be held at the Austin Convention Center March 9-11, 2007, and will have about 150 local and national providers of green building technologies, organic gardening products, alternative & flex fuel vehicles, and natural & organic home and personal care products. Mary McLeod will be one of 13 speakers; her seminar will geared toward helping homeowners have a greener home. Other seminars include "Introduction to Permaculture" by Selwyn Polit and "You Don't Have to Go Weird to Go Green" by Green Building Program member, Peter Pfeiffer. For a complete schedule, see the Austin GreenLiving and Home Products Expo web site.
Tickets for the Expo are available at the door for $7.50 with $1.00 off if you bring a used ink toner cartridge or cell phone (do not bring batteries) to recycle through the Capitol Area Food Bank’s “Ink Out Hunger” program.
American Institute of Architects (AIA) 2007 National Convention
The AIA 2007 National Convention and Design Exposition will be held May 3-5, 2007, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. This year’s theme is "Growing Beyond Green" and the convention will explore the growing influence of high-performance design and the effort to reduce the energy footprint of the built environment. Anyone connected to the building and design community will benefit from attending. Whether you’re an architect, designer, interior designer, landscape architect, engineer, developer, builder, architectural educator, product manufacturer, or client, this convention brings together all members of the design profession and construction industry.
Green Building staff member, Rich MacMath, AIA, is scheduled to speak with Pliny Fisk of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems and Murray Legge of LZT Architects on the zero energy home design competition held by the Green BUilding Program in 2004. Other scheduled speakers include David Suzuki; Chrisna du Plessis; William G. Reed, AIA; Raymond Cole; and The Honorable Al Gore.
Climate Change and the Built Environment Workshop
This workshop will be held at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on March 21. Speakers will include Mayor Will Wynn, Ed Mazria (founder of Architecture2030.org), Fritz Steiner (Dean, University of Texas School of Architecture), Laurence Doxsey (Housing and Urban Development), Andy Vernooy (Dean, Texas Tech School of Architecture), Mike Myers (Project Manager, Texas Energy Partnership), and Ray Tonjes (Chair, Green Building Initiative, National Association of Home Builders). Admission is $20. CEUs will be available from the American Institute of Architects. Register on-line for this event.
Happy [Belated] Birthday to Austin Eco Network
Stewarded by Brandi Clark, the Austin Eco Network grew out of the need for Austin's large and diverse environmental community to have better communication. Austin is full of active people who care about the environment. What could be better than to create a place where all these people could get connected -- even if the "place" is in cyber-space.
The Eco Network is used to call for volunteers, invite people to events, and ask for support on specific issues. Daily e-mails (usually no more than six a day) are sent to over 1600 list members. It's the easiest, fastest way we know to reach Austin's eco-concerned. Brandi moderates the list and screens every email so you won't be getting emails from people in Romania who want you to cash a money order for them. The Austin Eco Network has been a volunteer labor of love for Brandi over the years; however, she is now accepting donations to help maintain the current level of service and to create an expanded, more useful website. Whether you've been on the list for a while, or have recently joined, now would be a great time to contribute to the Eco Network's future. Services like the Eco Network have to be financially viable in order to be sustainable. You can mail checks to Environmentality, PO Box 684641, Austin TX, 78768. Brandi will create a PayPal invoice for those who prefer plastic, just email her and let her know.
Don't miss the Benefit Concert for the Eco Network!
This Friday, March 9 at the Casa de Luz auditorium. A $5 donation gets you in to enjoy teen bands The Daze, The Steps, and The C.A.V. Superband, along with other youth performers. A fun time will be had by all! Doors open at 6:30, come on down and bring the whole family.
Join the Austin Eco Network>>
Texas Wildlife Habitat Certification Programs
Population growth and urban sprawl are eating up Texas' wildlife habitat at an alarming rate. As large areas of land are developed, wildlife habitat is destroyed and open areas are fragmented, leaving less and less room for wildlife to meet its survival needs.
According to Texas Environmental Profiles, Texas wildlife is incredibly diverse and unique. Texas is home to 5,500 plant species, 425 of which occur only in Texas. Of the 1,245 vertebrate species (fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals) in Texas, 126 are found nowhere else in the world. Texas has more bird species than any other state in the United States. Over 620 identified species and subspecies of birds regularly breed, migrate, winter, or nest in Texas. Scientists estimate there are up to 30,000 different species of insects found in Texas, though the total number of invertebrate species has not been identified.
A NatureServe 2002 Biodiversity report ranked Texas:
 Second in the nation in terms of overall biodiversity (California ranked first).
Third in the nation in terms of endemism (number of species unique to the state).
Unfortunately, Texas ranked fourth in the number of species lost to extinction. Considering population growth and building development projections for Texas, the rapid loss of wildlife habitat and unique species may not slow much in the coming decade. Six Texas counties are among the top 20 areas with the largest amount of open space projected to be lost through development by 2025 under existing sprawl patterns. See Natureserve's graph "Large Amounts of Open Space in the Path of Development".
One of the things this information tells us is that every yard, every landscape, every undeveloped area will be needed to save some of Texas' beauty and biodiversity. That's where the Texas Parks and Wildlife certification programs come in. In order to earn the certification, participants must create habitat for wildlife by providing the four basic elements that all wildlife needs to survive: food, water, cover and places to raise young. It's not difficult to implement and the program provides plenty of education and examples. There are two certification options available through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department – the traditional Texas Wildscapes certification and the newer, more challenging, Best of Texas Backyard Habitats program, which includes the National Wildlife Federation's Backyard Wildlife Habitat certification requirements.
Texas Wildscapes Certification
The Texas Wildscape certification requires the landscape to be at least 50% native plants, and requires the provision of food, water, and shelter for wildlife. Texas Wildscape Application>>
The Best of Texas Backyard Habitat Program
This program is a joint effort of the National Wildlife Federation and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department that allows Texans to certify under both programs with a single form. Best of Texas Backyard Habitat takes the best of the two individual programs and pushes the bar a little higher, challenging Texas land owners to create a habitat that provides maximize benefits to wildlife and incorporates sound conservation stewardship principles.
To be certified, property owners would need to meet all the qualification of the Texas Wildscape Certification, along with taking active measures to control cats, House Sparrows and English Starlings on the property and participating in at least six of the following resource conservation measures:
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Establishing a rain garden or buffer to filter storm water |
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Using drip soaker hose instead of sprinkler |
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Xeriscape plantings |
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Irrigating sparingly and only in early mornings or evenings |
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Planting deciduous trees along the southern exposure of the house |
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Eliminating chemical use |
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Capturing roof rainwater |
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Mulching |
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Reducing or eliminating lawn areas |
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Removing invasive exotics |
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Keeping your cat indoors |
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Composting yard and food waste |
Best of Texas Application>>
City of Austin Plans To Create Community-wide Wildlife Habitat
Recently, the City of Austin announced its plans to become certified by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as a Community Wildlife Habitat. This certification is for communities that provide habitat for wildlife throughout the community--in individual backyards, on school grounds, and in public areas such as parks, community gardens, places of worship, and businesses.
Advanced Energy Design Guides Available
The initial series of design guides provide options that will result in a building using 30% less energy than those constructed in accordance with the 1999 version of ASHRAE Standard 90.1. This is seen as the first step in the process toward achieving a net zero energy building - defined as a building that, on an annual basis, uses on-site renewable energy sources to create equal or more energy than it consumes.
Each 30% guide addresses a specific building type. The first publication in the series focused on small office buildings. Most recently published is a guide for Small Retail Buildings. The third design guide will address K-12 schools. Intended for use by builders, contractors and architects, the guides provide a prescriptive compliance path for gaining a LEED rating.
Additional guides for existing buildings and 50% energy savings guides are also planned.
Purchase the guides>>
Resources
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)
U.S. Department of Energy
U.S. Green Building Council
Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA)
American Institute of Architects (AIA) |
