envirologics.com

Austin Energy Green Building™ holds its one-day Green by Design workshop four times a year. Austinites preparing to build, buy, or remodel a home can learn how to improve energy and water efficiency, increase comfort, and reduce maintenance.

Space for this workshop is limited. We strongly suggest that you register as early as possible to guarantee your seat.
To register for the next workshop, print the Registration Form (pdf), fill it out and fax to (512) 482-5441; or e-mail. Registration fee is $35 per person. Check the website for workshop dates and deadlines.

The workshop is offered at just $35 per person. It includes:

• A full day of instruction with Austin Energy Green Building staff
• A comprehensive workbook, Green by Design
• Free advice from local green building professionals
• Continental breakfast, lunch, and break refreshments
• A chance to win cool door prizes from local green businesses

What You Will Learn
This workshop will give you an overview of the green building process. You’ll come away with a framework for making better design and building decisions, including:

• Assessing what your family needs in a home
• Choosing a designer and builder
• Selecting a lot or making the most of the one you have
• Increasing comfort and reducing utility bills
• Making smart material and appliance choices
• Developing a beautiful landscape that saves water, time, and money
• Creating a home that benefits your family and the planet

The quarterly Downtown Austin Emerging Projects map and database show both public and private-sector projects in and near downtown Austin that are currently under construction or in the planning phase.

• Downtown Austin Emerging Projects map – revised July 31, 2008 (485K PDF file)
• Downtown Austin Emerging Projects descriptions – July 31, 2008 (44K PDF file)
  
  

Glimpses of Projects

24″ x 36″ PDF ‘poster’ of Emerging Projects in the lower part of downtown.

Updated July 16, 2008.

Graphics and descriptions of selected downtown projects.

Residential / Mixed Use

• 360 – Residential, Retail/Restaurant

• 404 Rio Grande – Residential

• 5 Fifty Five Web Site – Ninety-eight condominium residences atop the new 31-story Hilton Austin Downtown.

• AMLI Downtown (Block 20) – Residential, Retail, Restaurants

• Austin City Lofts – Residential, Retail

• Block 21 – Residential, Retail, Hotel, Cultural Venues

• Gables West Avenue – Residential, Retail

• La Vista on Lavaca – Residential, Business Center, Restaurant

• The Milago – Residential

• The Monarch – Residential, Retail

• The Nokonah – Residential, Retail

• The Plaza – Residential

Retail

• Austin Market District – Whole Foods Market and Corporate Offices

• Second Street Retail District – A partnership between the City of Austin and AMLI Residential Properties

Office

• New City Hall and Public Plaza

• Frost Bank Tower – Offices, Retail

• 300 West Sixth Street – Offices, Retail

• Computer Sciences Corporation – Offices, Retail

Hotels

• Hilton Austin and 5 Fifty Five – Hotel, Residential, Offices, Retail and Restaurants

• Hampton Inn & Suites

Parks

• Republic Square

Art, Culture and Entertainment

• Austin Convention Center

• Lester E. Palmer Events Center

• Long Center for the Performing Arts

• Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin

• Mexican-American Cultural Center (MACC)

• Austin Museum of Art

Streetscape Improvements

• Second Street District Streetscape Improvement Project

Pedestrian and Bicycle Facilities

• Pfluger (Lamar Boulevard) Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge

• Pfluger Bridge Extenstion Project

Other Facilities

• Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH)

• New U. S. Courthouse

This article is published at www.eurekalert.org on 26-Feb-2008

A research team of the University of Granada has managed to produce the most useful material to date to eliminate pollutants such as benzene, toluene and xylene, organic solvents widely used in the hydrocarbon industry and generated by road traffic in cities. The world-wide problem of the exposure to aromatic hydrocarbons has mainly focused its attention on benzene, which is considered to be harmful to health, even in low concentrations.

This material is a monolithic carbon aerogel with the advantage of not only being able to retain these pollutants: it can also be easily regenerated and can therefore be used in several cycles. This research has been carried out by David Fairén Jiménez, from the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Granada, and directed by lecturers Carlos Moreno Castilla and Francisco Carrasco Marín. The aim of this study was to prepare and describe a series of new materials – monolithic carbon aerogels – as adsorbers of benzene, tolene and xylene (BTX).

The study of the elimination of volatile organic compounds from anthropogenic sources – road traffic in cities, solvents, industry, etc. – such as BTX, is very important as these substances are highly pollutant. In order to eliminate these pollutants, “it is necessary to use materials with a high concentration of micropores, which is where the absorption of pollutants takes place, but these pores must be the correct size and properly arranged. Thus, we achieve a high level of efficiency when eliminating and retrieving BTX after the saturation of the material”, said David Fairén.

Furthermore, the design of the adsorbent bed must allow a sufficient contact for the elimination of compounds and at the same time avoid a decrease in pressure. Finally, the material used must withstand the mechanical forces of vibration and movement. David Fairén states that “the monolithic carbon aerogels, which are the materials we worked with, satisfy all these requirements”.

Twice the information
This research provides a methodology for the study of porous samples by comparing definition techniques of the more used surfaces, such as gas adsorption, with other difficult techniques, such as small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). On the one hand, these techniques provide information on the characteristics of these materials and about the physical conditions of pollutants within the pores. On the other hand, they have obtained materials with better properties than other results published in the bibliography regarding the elimination of pollutants such as benzene, toluene and xylene. This is because they have a high capacity to retain pollutant compounds and they can be easily regenerated and used in several cycles. The design of these samples, as they can be synthesized in the required way, makes them suitable to be applied in streams with a high gas flow without a decrease in the pressure of the adsorbent bed.

Reference
David Fairén Jiménez. Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the University of Granada.
Mobile: 0044 7504765078.
E-mail: fairen<@>ugr.es