Monthly Archive for February, 2008

Fort Worth Prairie Fest, April 26

Jeff Howard. Published on February 29, 2008 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

For full info: link

  • Wildflower/Prairie tours led by Master Naturalists at Tandy Hills Natural Area
  • Sustainable and Green exhibitors and vendors
  • Music/Arts/Dance/Poetry and other performance for all ages.

Prairie Fest is free and open to the public and is a 100% solar powered event.

The fest was originally designed to bring attention to Tandy Hills in order to help protect it from gas drilling and to encourage the City of Fort Worth to take better care of it.

Last year 3,000 people attended. Twice as many are expected this year, if the weather cooperates.
Prairie Fest Logo
Bigger and
Greener in ‘08!

Draft action recommendations

Jeff Howard. Published on February 28, 2008 in Assessment, Building & Development, Composting, Curriculum & Research, Dining services, Energy, Landscaping & Habitat, Management Systems, Purchasing, Transportation, Waste reduction and Water. 2 Comments

The PSC’s ten work groups have drafted recommendations for short-term actions to improve UT Arlington’s sustainability profile. See the recommendations here [updated 3/6/08]. A revised list of recommendations is expected to be presented to Pres. James Spaniolo by March 31. Questions and comments should be directed to the chair of the relevant work group, indicated at the head of each section.

Live Green Expo — Plano, April 12

Jeff Howard. Published on February 28, 2008 in Building & Development, Composting, Energy, Landscaping & Habitat, Purchasing, Transportation, Waste reduction and Water. 0 Comments

For more info: link

April 12, 2008
9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Plano Centre

The Live Green Expo is a fun, family event that will help North Texans make informed decisions and take action to lead more healthy lives with less impact on our environment. Free to the public, the Expo will feature exhibitors offering a wide selection of products, services and information. In addition, the Expo will include dozens of presentations on a variety of topics, music, art, food, demonstrations and activities for youth and children.

The Live Green Expo strives to create a community in which:

  • We protect our environment by conserving resources, minimizing waste and reducing toxic products and materials.
  • We have healthy ecosystems and sustainable neighborhoods.
  • We protect our environment by conserving resources, minimizing waste and reducing toxic products and materials.

Tour of green initiatives in Denton

Jeff Howard. Published on February 27, 2008 in Building & Development, Energy, Landscaping & Habitat, Purchasing, Transportation, Waste reduction and Water. 0 Comments

The following is an announcement for a “mobile workshop” that will be of interest to people interested in green building and similar initiatives. Although it is being held in conjunction with the upcoming meeting of the American Society for Public Administration, one need not be registered for the meeting in order participate in the workshop. (The term mobile workshop means: bus tour led by someone familiar with the initiatives, including visits to various locations and conversations with individuals personally involved in them. It might sound a bit stuffy, but this kind of tour is usually fun and very informative.)

Jeff

The City of Denton is committed to the good stewardship of the environment and takes pride in the diversity of its environmental programs and award-winning and innovative approaches to environmental issues. The city continues to promote Green Buildings and most recently dedicated a Green Fire station. The mobile workshop will take attendees via motor coach to the City of Denton (40 minutes north of Dallas) and tour various green buildings in the city. The tour will be on Monday, March 10 leaving Dallas at 8:30 a.m. and returning to the Fairmont Hotel at 2:00 p.m. The cost for the tour is $20.00 which includes lunch and transportation. The local North Texas ASPA Chapter is sponsoring and underwriting this event for conference attendees. For more information, please contact Abraham David Benavides at the University of North Texas benavides@unt.edu.

Impacts of climate change on DFW area

Jeff Howard. Published on February 26, 2008 in Energy, Landscaping & Habitat and Water. 0 Comments

North Central Texas Corporate Recycling Association

and Air and Waste Management Association

present

“Impacts of Climate Change
on the DFW Area”

Wednesday, March 19
4–7 p.m.
Willhoite’s Restaurant
432 S. Main St., Grapevine
| get map |

 

Featured Speaker
Dr. Marcy Brown Marsden
Chairman & Associate Professor of Biology
University of Dallas

Join NTCRA and the North Texas Chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association for this joint networking event. Don’t miss this opportunity to mix and mingle with the BEST in the world of environmental professionals.

Dr. Marsden’s presentation begins at 5:30 p.m.

Please RSVP to Renee Chatham.

 North Texas Corporate Recycling Association
P.O. Box 860365 • Plano, Texas 75086-0365

 

 

UT Arlington to co-sponsor Fix It Green Home Fair

Jeff Howard. Published on February 24, 2008 in Building & Development, Energy and Water. 0 Comments

Saturday, November 1, 2008  May 30, 2009

  A one day event dedicated to educating homeowners on simple, do-it-yourself repairs and updates that will save money, energy, and water. Sponsored by the Arlington Conservation Council, Green Arlington Foundation, and the UT Arlington President’s Sustainability Committee.

Location: Bluebonnet Ballroom, E.H. Hereford University Center
Sponsor: President’s Sustainability Committee
Contact: Don Lange
817-272-2096

Event home page

Ecovillages in DFW Metroplex

Jeff Howard. Published on February 24, 2008 in Building & Development, Energy, Landscaping & Habitat and Water. 2 Comments

—–Original Message—–
From: updates@dfwnetmall [mailto:updates@dfwnetmall.com]
Sent: Saturday, February 23, 2008 10:01 PM
To: Howard, Jeff L
Subject: Ecovillages in DFW

Jeff:

You wrote an email asking what we had planned for ecovillages in DFW.

We are building urban villages in a cohousing format with as many

sustainable features as the amount/lay of land and the desires/money

of the residents will support.

We (AndersonSargent) built the first net zero energy home in North

Texas in 2004. This is that same energy-efficient concept on a broader

scale, although not all homes will have PV panels, either because the

residents choose not to have them or because the sites are wooded. All

will be high-performing, small homes. Many will be attached. The

communities will have organic gardens, open space, common buildings,

etc. to the extent of their own planning.

We are forming groups all over the metroplex. Once we have a core

group, we look for land. We are in that stage in four areas now: East

Fort Worth, Mid-Cities, East Dallas, Duncanville. We are also

considering a small loft ecohousing concept in West Fort Worth.

If you would like more information, please call me at 817 545-0140.

Thanks,

Terry Jensen

AndersonSargent

Sustainability web page is launched

Jeff Howard. Published on February 11, 2008 in Assessment, Building & Development, Composting, Curriculum & Research, Dining services, Energy, Landscaping & Habitat, Management Systems, Purchasing, Transportation, Waste reduction and Water. 2 Comments

The University of Texas at Arlington is launching its new sustainability Web site today: a one-stop shop for all the latest information on sustainability projects and environmental events on campus and elsewhere, and an ongoing resource listing. Check it out at www.uta.edu/sustainability. Many people are aware of the University’s outstanding accomplishments in the areas of recycling and composting. In partnership with the city of Arlington, UT Arlington is an award-winning leader. In 2007 alone, the University was recognized by the Texas and Greater DFW Recycling Alliances and the North Texas Corporate Recycling Alliance for environmental vision and programming. Fewer people are aware of some of the University’s other “green” initiatives, however. Take energy savings, for example. Since 1973, UT Arlington has invested $12,755,044 on infrastructure improvements that have resulted in $69,198,277 in energy savings. And that’s only the beginning: the University expects to gain an additional 5 percent improvement in energy-efficiency every year for the next six years. Environmental sustainability is one of the guiding principles found in UT Arlington’s Master Plan, including the use of native plant materials, climate responsive outdoor spaces, and good stewardship of water, as well as a new approach to constructing new facilities. The campus’ new Engineering Research Building will include many sustainability elements — such as energy management systems, daylight harvesting, green roof, capturing rainwater for irrigation, and more — and will achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design “LEED” Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The President’s Sustainability Committee was launched in October 2007.

Recyclemaniacs Take Over Campus

becky. Published on February 8, 2008 in Waste reduction. 0 Comments

Recyclemania is in full swing at UT Arlington. Recyclemania is a friendly competition among college and university recycling program across the US. During the 10 weeks each spring, schools compete to see which institution can collect the largest amount of recyclables. This is the first year UT Arlington has participated. We are competing as a subset, partial campus, which includes the five residence halls and thirteen apartment complexes.

After week 1 looks like Arlington Hall is the residence hall to beat and the group of Garden Club, Autumn Hollow, Legacy Heights, Maper Square, West Crossing and Oaks Landing are the apartments that are ahead. Each residence hall is competing against each other and the thirteen complexes have some groupings that are competing against each other.

The standing so far are: (in lbs.)

Arlington Hall – 212

Brazos House – 136

KC Hall – 107

Lipscomb – 109

Trinity – 164

Apartments:

Forest Glen/Cooper Chase – 50

Timberbrook – 105

University Village – 75

Meadow Run I – 95

Meadow Run II – 75

Arbor Oaks – 100

Garden Club, Autumn Hollow, West Crossing, Oaks Landing, Maple Square, Legacy Heights – 110

With the tote board up in the UC Mall area for all to see who is ahead, I think the competition will get fierce. Let the competition begin and may the best Hall or Apartment win.

UT Austin launches sustainability newsletter

Jeff Howard. Published on February 3, 2008 in Management Systems. 0 Comments

See the newsletter:

http://www.utexas.edu/safety/ehs/sustainability/newsletter/

Subscribe to the newsletter:

https://utlists.utexas.edu/sympa/subscribe/sustainability.news