Green By Design

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

George has been building and teaching healthy building practices for many years; come to learn about green building in general, or specifically to learn healthy building practices. More infor mation at www.geoswan.com

President Obama and Congress are currently crafting an economic stimulus and recovery plan which could jumpstart an inclusive green economy and create hundreds of thousands of green jobs.

The House of Representatives just passed a bold and visionary green stimulus plan, including $500 million to train workers for green-collar jobs. But your Senators need a little nudge to get on board.

Please write to your Senators today. Tell them to pass President Obama’s green stimulus, including $500 million for the Green Jobs Act.  It’s time to build a strong, green economy for America.

Fill out this quick form to send automatically  to your senator

This is a major addition to a one story residence, modern, blending in with the tress and Austin’s Mac Mansions laws. It also provides a chimney design for the least use of AC using natural ventilation.

Development

Hard to get the whole picture, lots of trees around.

Preserving all the trees was one major aspect of the design.

The angles meet the street and parallel the house next door, which will undergo a similar renovation.

The inside chimney, provide lots of ventilation and heat escape.

Second floor, open to below and above.

Tree house in the city.

• 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

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

Kathleen wrote:
I saw your e-mail address on the MCS-Global website.
Just in case you could help us, I’ll ask….
Do you know of areas in Texas where chemically sensitive people have done better with their health? I see your specialty is the actual housing, which we may need at some point. But right now we’re trying to locate an area that would be more “healthy” for my husband who has MCS.
Thanks,
Kathy

Answer

Well the only thing we know for sure in Houston has one of the worst air qualities in the world, so not there. I think in general the rest has to be look at by location - depending on sensitivities.

Most important is to look and see where the trade winds come from, and what is upwind from there. In general, prevailing winds in TX are NW during the winter and SSE for the rest.

Now to find out what industries are upwind from you
http://scorecard.org/
This website is a great resource in general to find out more about things we dont think generally affect us, like a concrete plant. Consider also allergens - molds, cedar, pollens and such. I had an mcs client that smoked but got send for spin if he took a whiff of pine.

Have you worked out a comprehensive plan for your husband? Using natural products at home and organic diets has a tremendous impact, and i have seen many recover, including myself.

Im sure you know you can think more clearly than him, he is lucky to have an understanding and helping partner!

A few documents of interest

Chemical Sensitivites documents
Chemical Sensitivities for beginners
Chemical Sensitivities-resources

If you need more help let me know, i do consults in all aspects of mcs.

Thank you,
Andres Schulz
www.envirologics.com

In http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/buildhealthy, Gretchen wrote:

Hello, We have an acoustical ceiling in a mobile home…it appears to made from a paper product. We need to use a stain blocker, then paint the ceiling. We know of Bin by Zinser for stainblocking. The ceiling is now painted with ‘flat’ paint.

Also, we are going to paint the closets with a formeldehyde blocking product. We have used Bin in the past. My husband is very sensitive to it, so is there another product you’d recommend?

We are also redoing the floors. Some areas of the subfloor(fiberboard) will need patching. We have plywood, which seems o.k. for us.

Also, the shelves in the closets are made from a fiberboard material which seems to be coated. Should we replace the shelves with Fir which does not outgas?

We will need to use caulk, wood filler, and other products to repair, maintain and upgrade this home. (It is a 1975 Viking mobile home).

Of course, it is not insulated well…is there a product we could affix to the paneling, like a wall paper? Some people replace the paneling with drywall, but I don’t know if we could do that and live in here at the same time.

People recommend that we replace this old home with a new one(toxic!), but we are in a situation in which our HOA is not friendly, so we feel that we have no choice but to fix this up and eventually sell it and then move to our ‘non-toxic’ home.

Thanks for any information.

Answer

Mobile homes are inherently toxic, that’s is a goal of mine, to build modular with good materials. Will keep you posted. But an older one is certainly better than a new one.

For any kind of sealants look at AFM products; they also have caulks.
afm safecoat products
For products also look at www.natl-life.com

The alternative is to remove anything that is offensive, not cover it up.
If you can find a local green building supplier, you can always try small samples of these products, remember everyone is different so there are no absolute solutions.

A product that seems to work for everyone - is alumna foil. Its not pretty, you cant paint it, but it seals and it doesn’t off-gas.
Here is a good list of these materials - i used to sell green building materials so this is from my old website
environmental depot

Again, if any of these interest you, talk to the people at www.natl-life.com or another green building supplier.

A few documents of interest

Chemical Sensitivites documents
Chemical Sensitivities for beginners
Chemical Sensitivities-resources

If you need more help let me know, i do consults in all aspects of mcs.

Thank you,
Andres Schulz
www.envirologics.com