Day One: Austin, Texas

We met at Dr. Forgey's hotel and split into two groups to carpool to our sites.  This day proved to be the most frustrating due to the holiday and many of the businesses being closed.  Nevertheless, we made the most of it and improvised along the way.

We started by visiting the Pedernales Lofts in East Austin.  The mixed-use lofts were built in 2005 and somewhat spearheaded growth in an area that many did not wish to live in.  The multistory lofts house commercial/retail space on the lower level and residences on the floors above.  This property shows that one may build sustainably without utilizing LEED.  Here are some facts retrieved from a case study conducted by Austin Energy which can be found here

• Former industrial brownfield
• 33 units per acre, high density building
• Easy access to mass transit
• Mostly native vegetation
• Rainwater harvesting system
• Limited east-west windows
• Ceiling fans in all main rooms
• Programmable thermostats
• Reflective roof covering
• Durable stain concrete flooring
• Community gardens/compost facility
• $90/ sq. ft.

Balcones Recycling is currently located directly across the street from Pedernales Lofts.  This particular location specializes in paper and plastic.  They are also responsible for 60% of Austin's residential curbside collections.  Much of the low value paper is exported to Mexico.  Less than 2% of material leaves as waste.  They are currently building a new recycling facility that will be certified LEED Gold.  Since 2001, Balcones has been perfecting new fuel technologies.  The Little Rock, Arkansas plant uses wood to produce high btu fuel.  You can read more about it here.  Balcones utilizes rail cars that run beside the facility to send shipments.

Innovative Water Solutions was next on our list of visits.  Founded in 2004, IWS designs and installs irrigation and rainwater collection systems.  Unlike most rainwater systems, many of IWS systems also provide potable drinking water.  This is a great alternative for those that live in rural areas that traditionally require a well for water.

Another service that IWS offers is graywater harvesting.  This is very effective for those that reside in a pier and beam foundation home.  The pipes are easily accessible unlike in a slab foundation home.  According to IWS, graywater volume equates to 50% of your indoor water use.

Here are some key points that I took away from the presentation:

• Rain barrels do not hold enough water
• Systems are very flexible

Next we visited Sol Austin.  Sol stands for Solutions Oriented Living and offers efficient single family modern homes that are capable of achieving net zero energy. This means that the homes produce as much energy as they consume.  Solar PV arrays are found throughout the community.  Homes range in size from 1000 to 1800 square feet.  Prices start at $190,000.  Nearly all of the homes were occupied, with a few being built, and not many additional empty lots.  Many of the windows face north and south to provide daylighting without too much heat getting through.  The HVAC utilizes geothermal heating and cooling so it is highly efficient.  The homes are built to 4-5 Star Austin Energy standards.  As of this writing 13 lots remain out of 40.

We rounded out the day by visiting Ecowise.  Founded in 1990, Ecowise is touted as the earth friendly everything store.  Many of the products sold in the store are sourced locally or on a state level.  Ecowise offers low voc paints, bath and body products, baby items, and a large selection of floor coverings and building materials.  I also spied a biodiesel pump near the entrance.  There were several individuals passing through the store during our site visit.