Alan Hoffman - Alan Hoffman Company - UCD-Dallas, TX

 Alan Hoffman, owner of Alan Hoffman Company presented to us on July 2, 2011.
Over his 17 years as a "green" home builder in the Dallas area, Alan has developed a composite system of building homes that makes them highly efficient.  His ancestors are from Europe and when visiting there he made note of the massive 3 feet thick perimeter walls of his relative's home.  The thick walls acted as a thermal mass that allowed the interior temperature to be moderated by the average 60 degree ground temperature.  There was a kiva-style fireplace built into a wall that helped warm the house in the winter but no A/C was necessary even though the house was 400 years old.

Alan's design incorporates insulated concrete forms (ICF) exterior shell walls with a conventional wood framed roof that is insulated with open cell foam insulation.  The houses are tornado-resistant, termite-proof with fire-proof wallls.  The thermal mass of the walls in conjuction with the insulating form allows more temperature benefit from the ground on standard slab-on-grade foundations.  Also because the exterior walls are a monolithic structure air infiltration is very low.

He built the first and second LEED homes in Dallas, both of which are LEED-Platinum.
His latest house is 2,656 s.f. requiring only a 2.5 ton HVAC unit.  He incorporates locally quarried stone features into his homes as well.

Alan uses ICF products manufactured by ARXX ICF which has a manufacturing facility near the Dallas area.

His next venture is a 22-home urban infill deveopment in the Lakewood area of Dallas, TX.  The development will include community greenspace that all the homes will face as well as a rainwater harvesting system that will provide irrigation water for the neighborhood xerascapes.



To find out more about Alan Hoffman Company and ICF check out: http://www.concretehomestore.com/

McKinney Green Gardens at Gabe Nesbitt Park - McKinney, TX

The last stop for our summer session in sustainability was the McKinney Green Gardens at Gabe Nesbitt Park in McKinney, Texas

The City of McKinney and the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Urban Solutions Center have designed and planted the McKinney Green Gardens, a landscape water conservation demonstration at Gabe Nesbitt Park. The McKinney Green Gardens will help educate children, homeowners, developers and landscapers about water conservation practices by illustrating how a water conservation landscape can be beautiful and water-saving at the same time.

The one-acre McKinney Green Gardens will illustrate the practices of planning and design, proper plant selection, irrigation efficiency, new technologies and landscape best management practices.

With this installation, the City of McKinney shows a dedication to conserving our natural resources, to educating the public on conservation practices, and to creating beautiful outdoor spaces for all to enjoy. McKinney Green Gardens is a one-of-a-kind demonstration. This garden leads by example, using resource efficient plants, highly efficient irrigation systems and best garden practices for Texas, while showcasing a garden aesthetic that uses ecologically sensitive green design.

Six landscape areas represent the following landscape concepts: cottage, butterfly, wildlife, rock, serenity moon and native plants. Nine different turfgrasses will separate each landscaped area. These will include: Crowne, Palisades, Cavalier and Zorro Zoysiagrasses, Buffalograss, Premier Bermudagrass, St. Augustinegrass, Tall Fescue and Tifton 10. Each landscaped area is connected by meandering paths, all leading to a central gathering place.(1)

Check out the link to their website at the bottom of this page.  It has an interactive GoogleMaps type map with tags identifying plants, grasses and other features of the garden.  The website also includes listings of plants, grasses and irrigation systems used in its construction and support.

Native plants are identified with labels.

Even with the extreme summer temperatures many of the native plants were flowering and attracting butterflies.

We also saw a small cottontail rabbit running and hiding from us and the hot Texas summer sun.

For more information about the McKinney Green Garden check out their website here: http://mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/

(1) all of the preceding is an excerpt taken from mckinneygreengardens.tamu.edu/ website and is wholly attributed to that site.

McKinney Green Building - McKinney, TX

 The McKinney Green Building in McKinney, TX is a  USGBC LEED - Platinum building.  We took a quick look around the outside of the building to observe some of the energy saving features.

The parking lot is paved entirely with permeable hardsuface brick pavers.  They conceal a large underground stormwater storage cistern which helps mitigate stormwater run-off into surrounding tributaries during heavy rains

The southern elevation features deep sunshades that also act as natural light reflectors allowing indirect natural light into the building while still shading interior spaces from direct sunlight.  This saves energy through reducing the need for electric light and cooling during the hot times of the year.

The western elevation features a different type of sunshade and natural light reflector.  Upper story windows are shaded by a trellis.  In the far right side of this photo you see part of one of the giant cisterns that is part of the rainwater harvesting system for this building.

The building has lots of bike racks for those who chose to use bicycles as an alternative form of transportation.  It is also a way to score an extra point toward LEED certification.

For more information this building check out the following links:
http://www.igreenbuild.com/cd_2876.aspx
http://www.hdrinc.com/portfolio/mckinney-green-building
http://www.andresconstruction.com/features/commercial/leed.swf

Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney - McKinney, TX - LEED CERTIFIED

 Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney is the first "green" auto dealership in the U.S. and a model for other dealerships.  They earned USGBC's LEED - Silver in 2007.  Their motivation was two-fold: save money and it was the right thing to do.  The project architect was Gensler and the general contractor was Turner Construction.

The building at first glance looks like any other dealership but look around and you'll notice some not-so-subtle differences.  One of the main ones is the water cistern on the south side of the building.  It captures rainwater from the roof as well as the condesation from all of the buildings air conditioning units.  The water is used to irrigate the native Texas and drought resistant landscaping. 

Once inside the dealership you may notice several display boards (left and below) that help educate customers to some of the energy saving features incorporated into the building around them.  Some of these features include, Low-E glass fascade, starch-based carpeting, waterless urinals, low-VOC paints, recycled glass wall tiles and many more.

The roof is a reflective "sandwich" type insulated roof which helps to reduce the heat island effect caused by dark roofs.  This helps maintain a more comfortable temperature inside the building without using addional energy.  The concrete paving around the build has fly-ash, a waste by-product from coal buring, as an additive that increases the reflectivity of the concrete also reducing the heat island effect.  (left) the north and west walls are planted with a creeping green ivy which helps to keep those walls cooler during hot Texas days.

(right) In winter some of the waste oil that is recovered during oil changes on vehichles is used to heat the maintenance bays at the dealership.

The dealership has two areas used to wash customer's cars.  The floor drains in these areas capture the wash water and cycle it through a ionizing filtering system which cleans the water and allows it to be re-used to wash other cars.  The water is so clean that it runs off faster and requires less water to do the same amount of cleaning and also requires less hand drying after the wash.

To learn more about Pat Lobb Toyota of McKinney and their efforts to go green click the following:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMwZDs6YQ5I&feature=player_detailpage
http://green.autoblog.com/2008/05/16/toyota-pushing-dealerships-to-go-green-with-leed-certification/
http://patlobbtoyota.com/Eco-Friendly-Dealer/
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=sb_success.sb_successstories_mckinney07

Lee Hall, President - Sustainable Structures of Texas/ Montgomery Farm - Allen, TX

On August 6th we met with Lee Hall of Sustainable Structures of Texas and toured one of his homes at Montgomery Farms, TERRAcourt, the first LEED Gold home in Collin County.



TERRcourt as viewed from atop the earth berm to it's north



TERRAcourt evokes the style of an old German-Texas barn but is really a high-efficiency modern home.  The 5,000 s.f. house is clad with thick limestone walls and a combination of raised-seam metal roof and fiber-reinforced concrete tiles that look like aged slate but are much more durable.



Fiber-reinforced concrete "slate" roof tiles over the garage

Leuders Limestone in a random-course pattern provides an old-world style charm to this modern home.  The garage roof (right) is covered with what looks like conventional slate roofing but is actually a fiber-reinforced concrete tile that is much more durable and less prone to break than natural slate roof tiles.  These were sourced locally in Garland, TX which helped add to the LEED points the house was able to receive.  The raised-seam metal roof is Solar Panel ready.


(left) Native Texas trees were rescued from nearby developments and transplanted here to provide shade from the western Texas sun.  Montgomery Farms maintains a large supply of rescued trees for native landscaping.  Native trees are better aclimated to Texas' weather conditions and rescuing them saves them from being waste in a landfill.

(right) Galvanized steel lintel "eyebrows" protect south-facing high efficiency windows from some of the hot Texas sun's rays.  They are a simple and cost effective way to incorporate a feature into the stone work that creates a drip for rainfall and shade for the sun.

(left) The main stair opens into the living area.

Living area with view of the backyard/outdoor living area

Lee Hall the owner of Sustatinable Structures of Texas explained the design that went into the construction of the walls (what he refered to as, "the bone") of TERRAcourt.  His design was unconventional in that he was able to greatly reduce the amount of heat bridging or thermal bypassing by eliminating unnecessary wall framing.  Rather than a conventional 16" on center spacing he was able to increase the spacing to 24" by adding some special bracing.  This one change resulted in a 60% reduction in in surfaces that could allow thermal bypass.  The walls were also built with 2x6's instead of 2x4's creaing stiffer walls with a deeper cavity for insulation.

Lee determined that he wanted to meet the EPA's Indoor Air+ specifications for indoor air quality.  This required a tight exterior skin with very low leakage.  This house measured at a .09 tightness factor.  All openings are poly-sealed and spray foam was incorporated in an upstairs floor that shared the ceiling of a garage space on the ground floor.  All exterior walls were insulated with a spray-on cellulose based insulation and wall framing was oriented at intersections with exterior walls to avoid dead spaces where insulation could not be applied.  90% of the interior finishes are required to be no-V.O.C.  The house smell fresh when you walk in.  The inside air is conditioned with only 9 tons of HVAC, about half what you would expect for a house this side.  The units are 16 SEER with dual speed motors to maintain airflow even when not cooling or heating.

(left) The house has an additional 1,600 s.f. of extended outdoor living area that incorporates a trellis that is covered with translucent panels that allow dispursed natural light into the house but protects it from direct sunlight.

(right) The backyard incorporates a bio-swale that captures stormwater runoff from the houses roof and allows it to natural absorb back into the ground rather than running into a storm drain.

(left) A large earth berm protects the north side of the house from traffic noise on Bethany Road.  The berm is so high that the roadway is not even visible from the second story of the house.  When standing in the backyard you would never even know there is a busy road just over the hill.  The berm is landscaped with flowering drought-resistent native plants.

For more information about Sustainable Structures of Texas click here:

http://www.ssotx.com/index.html

Synergyfish - Aquaponics - Dave Pennington - UCD-Dallas, TX

Our final Tuesday night presentation for the summer was provided by Dave Pennington of SynergyFish and was regarding the field of aquaponics and system design.  He also introduced us to "papercrete" a glass-reinforced paper, styrofoam, cement product used to build small domed structures.

We are the only animals on the planet that create waste that does not go back into the natural cycle.  We currently use 85% of water for planted agriculture.  Dave claimed that nutrients in food have declined by 40%.  I wasn't sure what the timeline was or the accuracy of the figure so I did a little checking.  Since 1975, based on USDA records there have been a 50% drop in the amount of calcium in broccoli. Watercress down 88% in iron content and cauliflower down 40% in vitamin C content.  Click here for more information.

Aquaponics eliminates the concept of waste and elininates the use of chemical fertilizers.

The University of the Virgin Islands, St. Croix offers an intensive course on Aquaponics.  Click here for more information.

Aquaponics can be used to produce the following fish:

• Talapia (Mozambique variety)
• Goldfish (easy to grow, size self-regulating)
• Koi (easy to grow, grow throughout lifespan)
• Catfish
• Trout (high temperature sensitive)
• Bass
• Freshwater prawns
• Barramundi/Jade Perch (Australia)

Talapia are the prefered species because they are omnivorous, hearty, easily bred, fast growing and have a mild flavor.  The only drawback is that they are sensitive to cold temperatures because they are tropical fish.

Fish:Tank size ratio = 1pound / gallon in rearing tank
Recommended density = 0.25 pounds fish / gallon of water max.

Dave feeds his talapia a combination of organic pelletized fish food, black soldier fly larvae, vegetable scraps, duckweed and other "weeds".  He grows his on black soldier fly larvae which are common to Texas.  They lay their eggs in waste material, the adults do not eat, sting or bite and it is not a disease vector.  They essentially convert garbage into larvae (fish food).  When the larvae reach a certain size they stop eating and move away from the food source to pupate into adults.  Dave collects them at this time and feeds them to his fish.


For more information on Dave Pennington and Synergy Fish visit:  http://synergyfish.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRfNw64kP2A&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=k2UzJ9tn0OU

BC Workshop - Brent Brown and Benji Feehan - UCD-Dallas, TX

Brent Brown and Benji Feehan of BC Workshop presented to us on July 2, 2011.

Building Community Workshop is a 501c3 non-profit established in 2005 in Dallas, TX.  They currently have about 18 people on staff, 6 employees and 10-12 volunteers.  They have a direct design side like a conventional architecture studio except they typically work only for non-profit organizations.  They also self-generate projects (initiatives)

They have a bent toward social responsibility.

They create what may be considered: Unity Design, Do-gooder Design or Public Interest Design.  They refer to it as SEED, Social Equinomic Environmental Design.

They feel the basis of sustainability is ethics.

BC Workshop is about people.  We took ourselves our of nature and we now live in spaces that don't have to have sunlight or wind.

BC Workshop strives to help stakeholders have a voice in the built environment.
They see a fundamental flaw with the system and strive for Design Justice.  They have recognized that doing LEED buildings does not change our behavior.

Brent and Benji provided a presentation on their Congo Street Project.  Congo St. was a part of S. Carrol Dr. in Dallas that was renamed when the World's Fair came to Dallas to warn visitors to stay away from that part of Dallas.  The street had been virtuall forgotten.  It was a 19' wide street with homes that averaged ab out 650 s.f. each.  The streets at both ends of Congo Street had been repaved and Congo had been ignored.  They redesigned the neighborhood and recreated the existing homes into LEED rated homes for the families still living on the street.  The areas along the street have been landscaped with native plants that require less frequent water and attention.

BC Workshop offers lunch and learn events every other Friday in their facility at 2814 Main St. in Deep Elum.

"Design justice through community engagement"

For more information on Building Community Workshop visit:  www.bcworkshop.org