|
In This Issue...
May 18th
Member Meeting
UT Solar Decathlon Competition
Austin: America's Top 10 Greenest
Cities
SBC Calendar:
May 18th - Member Meeting at Casa de Luz
Local
Austin Workshops:
May 20-22nd and May 27-29th - Photovoltaic/Solar
Installation Workshop
Every
1st Saturday - Electrical Wiring
Every
2nd Saturday - Basic Carpentry
All of these workshops are presented by
Janet's Solar Electric and they are for women only. For fees and
hours, please call 275-0557 or visit www.janetssolarelectric.com
Items
for Sale:
Strawbales
We have approximately 600 clean wheat
straw bales available to anyone if needed. We will be baling 10,000
or more within the next month. If anyone needs any amount please
email us and let us see what we can do. We can deliver or you
can arrange for pickup. We are located in the Seguin,Tx area.
Happy Building!
Please email at dayhuntingtx@hotmail.com
or see our listing on www.strawlocator.com
Adobe or Compressed Soil Block Machine
The adobe machine or compressed soil block
machine is the first medium sized machine made by AECT and makes
approximately 250 blocks per hour. The size of the blocks are
10 x 14 x 3.5 inches. The machine has about 40,000 blocks made
on it and is good working condition. If you have any questions
about the purchase
of this machine, please give me a call.
Mike
Lowrie
830-510-6639
210-422-7927
mikeent@earthlink.net
|
May Meeting is back to 3rd
Wednesday
THIS WEEK!
Regretfully, Dan Chiras's trip to Texas has been cancelled. Hopefully next time around we will be successfully in securing
this nationally well-known green builder and author as our monthly speaker. Please see his schedule for other parts of the
country (Colorado, Wisconsin, etc) at www.danchiras.com.
May 18th Member Meeting: Applying
the Principles of Green Building to Remodeling with Robert Zirkel
|
We are happy to be joined by Robert Zirkel of Shelter Design
and Construction. During his presentation, Robert will be
discussing energy efficiency, sustainability, durability,
reducing waste, and use of non-toxic building materials.
He will also be talking about how he makes design and building
decisions based on green building guidelines.
Shelter
Design and Construction provides a broad range of construction
services, including remodeling, additions, and construction
of custom homes from the ground up. They offer assistance
in the design and project development process, and are accomplished
in every phase of residential construction, from foundations
to finish trim and cabinetry. Other areas of expertise include
kitchen and bathroom remodels, screened porches and decks,
attic and garage conversions, and renovation of historical
homes. Shelter Design and Construction is guided by the
belief that environmentally conscientious building principles
can and should contribute to the comfort, beauty, health,
and harmony of a living space.
To see his portfolio of work and find out about his services,
as well as learn more about green building in general, visit
his website at: shelterdesignbuilders.com. His work has
also been featured in Natural Home magazine.
|
Please
join Robert to learn more about remodeling with green building
principles. SBC meets every 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7 pm
at Casa de
Luz, 1701 Toomey Road in the Cielo Room. You are welcome to
join us before the meeting at 6 pm for a wonderful macrobiotic
meal at Casa de Luz.
Austin ranked as one of America's
Top 10 Green Cities by the Green Guide
by Jemilah
Magnusson
With 80 percent
of Americans living in urban areas, The Green Guide naturally
wanted to find out which cities are kindest both to the environment
and our health. We often think we have to escape the city to get
to where it's green and healthy to live, but many cities have
advantages including parks, excellent public transport, and walkable
commutes to work, unavailable in sprawling suburbs. And facilities
such as bike trails that keep people out of cars can also help
reduce America's obesity problem.
For our list
of the top ten, we sought out good water- and air-quality, efficient
use of resources, renewable energy leadership, accessible and
reliable public transportation, and green building practices.
We also looked for parks and greenbelts and access to locally-grown
fresh food through farmers' markets and community supported agriculture
groups. Finally, we included affordability in our green criteria,
since the health benefits, public parks, and other amenities of
living in a greener city need to be available to more than just
the wealthy.
Based on these
criteria, the ten cities set green examples for other American
cities to follow. While no city has a pristine enivoronmental
record, The Green Guide's list acknowledges progress around the
country to greener and healthier cities.
Austin,
TX
The only southern
city to make the list, Austin (pop 656,562) is clean and affordable
with 15 percent of city space devoted to parks and nature preserves,
ranking well in the top tier of green-building cities with 19
building projects registered for LEED- (U.S. Green Building Council's
Leadership in Energy and Efficiency Design) certification. Austin
really stands out for its commitment to renewable energy, with
the most aggressive short-term goal in the nation: 20 percent
of energy needs to be met by renewable energy and energy efficiency
by 2020. Austin also aims to take full advantage of the Texas
sun with the declared goal of becoming the number one solar manufacturing
center in the U.S. For activities, Lake Austin and Town Lake offer
canoeing, kayaking and rowing and the city possesses 32 miles
of bike trails.
Other cities
on the list include:
Boulder, CO
Chicago, IL
Honolulu, HI
Madison, WI
Minneapolis, MN
Oakland, CA
Portland, OR
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
The full article
can be read at www.greenguide.com.
UT Students competing in Solar
Decathlon
|
|
A student-run
team of undergraduate and graduate students from architecture,
engineering, and landscape architecture at UT will compete
this fall in the Second Annual Solar Decathlon.
Eighteen university teams will design and build solar powered
houses under 800 square feet and then transport them to
the National Mall in Washington, DC on September 29th through
October 6th to compete against each other. The competition
is sponsored by the Department of Energy and the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory.
|
|
The teams
and their houses will compete in ten categories judging
the efficiency and ingenuity of the designs. The UT SolarD
Team is currently in the construction phase of the project.
They have begun manufacturing the pier foundation system
and have ordered the SIPs (structurally insulated panels)
for the main structure of the house. The design of the structure
was made keeping in mind the dimensions of the semitruck
beds that it will be transported in. The SNAP House breaks
conveniently into four chunks with utilities grouped into
these units. To construct the house there is a system of
rails and boat rollers that sit atop the foundation piers,
so the house literally slides and snaps together.
|
More information can be found at www.utsolard.org
|
