Don Ferrier, Ferrier Custom Homes

from ecobuildingjobs.com

Don Ferrier, owner of Ferrier Custom Homes, an award-winning, green-friendly DFW-based home builder, gave a powerpoint presentation titled "Money Spent, Money Saved."After telling us about his clientele and their needs, he proceeded to show how building a more sustainable home can actually lead to cost savings.

About 65 percent of Ferrier's customers are baby boomers. Generally, baby boomers want to save money, and many want safety features like FEMA-certified safe rooms. Ferrier Custom Homes also caters to a large number of people in the 29-40 age range. Customers in this age range generally want a home with as many "green" features as they can afford. Ferrier even caters to survivalists who want self-efficiency.

Ultimately, most customers have to balance their heart and their wallet; nevertheless, sustainable features can lead to cost savings for virtually any customer, commercial or residential. For example, Energy Transfer was able to recoup $32,000 in sustainable upgrades to one of its buildings in 3.5 years. These upgrades included using more sustainable materials, a 16 SEER air conditioning unit, minimized west windows, and air tight windows.

Another customer spent over $20,000 on green features for a zero-energy casita with a 17 SEER air conditioner, a windmill, an upgraded roof, and upgraded windows. Initially, Ferrier estimated that it would take over 40 years to recoup the cost for these upgrades; however, the home owner expects to be able to recoup his investment much sooner than that.

Green features are not just for new builds; they can also be part of a remodel. Ferrier Homes won a sustainability award for remodeling a former drug house with a stormproof roof, which helped to lower homeowner's insurance premiums, weather sealing, an upgraded air conditioner, and other energy efficiency upgrades.

You can check out Ferrier Custom Homes at http://www.ferriercustomhomes.com/home/

Chris Bosworth, BRIT

Chuck Bosworth

The Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) was originally part of SMU, but, because of political issues on campus, the original organization relocated to an old health care facility in Fort Worth, Texas. A few years ago, it was decided to tear down the old building and build a new LEED certified building, mostly because LEED certification went hand in hand with BRIT's ecological mission. As part of the LEED platinum certification process, decision makers opted to use over 90 percent of the former building's materials in the construction of the new BRIT site. The new "building" consists of 2 functional areas, the library and plant research, linked by an enclosed breezeway. 

To become LEED platinum certified, BRIT was able to gain points by adding green features to both the interior and exterior of the building. On the outside, they sloped the land so that runoff water would eventually collect into a pond, and trees were planted in the parking area to help prevent flooding. Logs were put underneath trees so that the areas could be used as meeting spaces, which gave the organization more points towards LEED certification. A set of cylindrical solar panels were installed on one roof. The advantage of using cylindrical panels as opposed to flat PV panels is that the roof can be painted white and the panels can be raised up so that light can be collected from 360 degrees instead of the 180 degrees offered by a traditional solar panel. Moreover, the grill shape of the cylindrical solar panels makes them less susceptible to hail damage. 

On another roof Texas native vegetation was planted. BRIT chose Texas native plants for two reasons: LEED points and extreme weather. Texas native plants are better able to withstand extreme North Texas weather conditions like drought, making the plants more sustainable. One unforeseen problem that arose, though, was that birds ended up dropping seeds on the roof, seeds that came from invasive plant species that the BRIT team now need to worry about on their roofs.

In addition to trees in the parking lot, outlets for electric vehicles were added and parking lot lights face downward to lessen light pollution. They also chose to grow Texas native prairie grass outside to show off North Texas in a near pristine state, and, of course, to rack up more LEED points. Rain collectors were also installed, presumably to help with irrigation.

Inside, sustainable building materials like wool and bamboo were used for the walls and carpet respectively. 

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Andre McEwing, TCCD, Formerly of Southeast Fort Worth, Inc.

Image from linkedin.com

Andre McEwing spoke to the class about why sustainability makes good business sense, especially in the inner city. For several years, Mr. McEwing managed Southeast Fort Worth, Inc., a nonprofit that strives to attract business to southeast Fort Worth with by helping them procure government assistance through deductions, credits, and sometimes abatements. For him, the greatest challenge was to balance the "sweat equity" of the local community and showing the ROI to potential investors. To be successful, he felt that he had to constantly discuss fundraising wherever he went, and he needed to rely on a diverse board that represented varying local, governmental, and private sector interests.

The City of Fort Worth has designated a number of "urban villages," or target mixed use development areas, where they want to improve infrastructure and attract private investment as well as new residents.

Finding investors was always a challenge because they naturally wanted to be part of a larger city plan. When such plans are proposed, many vocal citizens may oppose the plan and slow down implementation of the plan. Citizens may also not be happy with the companies that ultimately decide to invest in their community; however, Mr. McEwing stated that one cannot simply dismiss a private interest because a few citizens do not like what they represent because private investment translates into jobs.

One of the most use tools at his disposal were tax increment financing, usually referred to as TIFs. By leveraging the future real estate value increases of a development project, city government and nonprofits are better able to attract private investment.

A specific challenge in multiethnic southeast Fort Worth is that there have been demographic shifts in several neighborhoods, which needs to be taken into account when attempting to attract private investment. For example, Mr. Ewing was able to help a local apparel store move to a new location because of a southeast Fort Worth TIF that make it possible to convert an abandoned gas station into a new apparel store. Before the move, the apparel store owner had been suffering from lackluster sales because his core demographic had long ago moved to other parts of the city.

Amari Roskelly, Jacobs Engineering

Amari Roskelly(http://amari-sustainabilityblog.blogspot.com) spoke to our class about the LEED AP Exam and the LEED process, in particular how it works for military installations. Ms. Roskelly holds an MSIS in Sustainability and recently passed the LEED AP Exam.

Ms Roskelly started her lecture by introducing herself, defining sustainability, and listing the 5 basic needs: food, water, shelter (the built environment), clothing, and social interaction. She then spent some time discussing three green building rating systems.

The first and most sought after system is LEED, which came about at the turn of the twenty first century. The certification criteria consist of five categories, and LEED offers four certification levels: certified, silver, gold, and platinum.

Estidama is the newest rating system. Based in Abu Dhabi, while this system also concerns environmental sustainability, it emphasizes the social interaction facet much more than LEED.

Living Building Challenge, which started in 2007 and is based in Portland, is a lesser known system which a very idealistic goal. Instead of making buildings that have a less damaging impact on the environment around them, Living Building actually seeks to construct buildings that actually improve the surrounding environment.

For LEED certification, there are several challenges, especially for military installations. First of all, an organization cannot simply focus on certifying the building; the whole building site must be taken into account. Also, documentation of green features can be troublesome. For example, it cost Ms. Roskelly's team almost 400 man hours to document a 110% efficient rating as part of Fort Collins' LEED certification process. As sustainability coordinator, Ms. Roskelly spends much of her time putting together documentation. She said that she needs to have drawings submitted as early as 60 percent of the way through the design.

After her lecture, Ms. Roskelly answered a few student questions. One student asked what steps one should take to become certified in the sustainability field. Rather than attempting LEED AP certficiation, which actually requires on-the-job experience, she recommended trying to become a green associate. In response to another question, Ms. Roskelly recommended a short documentary about Greensburg, KS and its successful implementation of green practices after a tornado decimated much of the town:

Greensburg, KS Video:

Laura Blaylock, Tarrant Regional Water District

Laura Blaylock, a hydrologist and sustainability champion, gave my REAE 5304 class a tour of Tarrant Regional Water District LEED Gold Annex Building. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized verification of environmentally friendly and sustainable buildings. 

Ms. Blaylock started by giving us an overview of the history of the TRWD and an explanation of its mission of providing water to over 2 million residents in an eight-county area stretching from Wise County in the northwest to Freestone County in the southeast. 

When the TWRD began to outgrow some of its facilities, it also realized that it needed to better centralize its organization and find a more central location for its SCADA IT command center. Hence, the idea for an annex building was born. Since the Water District's mission deals with maintaining a sustainable water supply, it only seemed fitting to try to construct a more sustainable building. 

Initially, the TWRD aimed for LEED Silver status. However, after Ms. Blaylock and others were able to convince management that the building plans made the building optimal for a solar array, the TWRD set out to construct the first LEED Gold building in Tarrant County. While the panels were expensive, they should pay for themselves in 16 to 18 years

Many of the building materials that were chosen also helped this building achieve LEED Gold status. For example, the conference rooms boast cork flooring, which is a renewable material. Building cabinets are made of a material that improves air quality, a key factor in LEED certification. Walls were painted with non-volitile organic compound (VOC) paints to further improve indoor air quality. The floors are polished with beeswax, another renewable substance. Most of the furniture comes from either recycled or recyclable materials, and even the steel used in the building is 40% recycled steel. 

The building even received LEED credit for its bike racks, its proximity to bicycle trails, its wellness center, and its eco-friendly meeting spaces that feature an employee-led recycling program.

The building's interior lights are responsive to daylight, and its exterior lights are downward facing LED lights that reduce light pollution.

Being a water authority, one would expect the building to demonstrate water conservation, and it does. It has three 2,500 gallon rainwater tanks and a drip irrigation system for its landscaping. 

Ms. Blaylock, like most other sustainability officers, was trained in a different field but became the organization's sustainability champion because she made a suggestion and was able to articulate the message of sustainability in business terms so that leadership could see the economic and social as well as environmental benefits of sustainability, the so-called "sustainability bottom line."

Rik Adamski and Tactical Urbanism

Rik Adamski from the Congress for New Urbanism spoke to the class about Tactical Urbanism and DIY Urbanism. He started off by defining urbanism, which could describe a city as well as smaller municipalities. Urbanism is simply when an area is designated as a multi use area (residential, commercial, industrial, etc.). Tactical urbanism is a way to get the community involved to enact change or improvements, especially when government fails. For example, when a city neglects signage or painting crosswalks, citizens can organize themselves to post laminated signs or paint the crosswalks themselves. These measures can be seen as ways of going 'against the grain' but still effecting change. 

This is not to say that local government cannot be involved or even lead tactical change. For example, in New York City some officials wanted to close part of Times Square to vehicular traffic, but traffic engineers did not want to consider the proposal without a multi-year (and multi-million dollar) study of how such a change would affect New York City traffic patterns. Instead of engaging in such a costly study, the group instead applied for a permit to close Times Square for a few days for an event involving lawn chairs, which only cost the city a few thousand dollars. Traffic in the city actually improved during the event, leading city officials to the conclusion that it was in fact feasible to close part of Times Square to vehicular traffic. 

When tactical change is primarily led by community leaders, it is often referred to as DIY urbanism. A good example of DIY urbanism is how Oak Cliff became a bicycle friendly part of Dallas. An IT Oak Cliff professional wanted to improve Oak Cliff and was able to influence others, including his city council, to make bike lanes a priority. Other examples of DIY urbanism include printing and posting signs when the city fails to do so and organizing city litter pickup events. 

I never realized that DFW is a "pattern region"(leader) for DIY urbanism. Living in Arlington, I rarely have a chance to go to downtown Fort Worth or Dallas to see how these cities are promoting multi-use facilities and attempting to improve community involvement. 

When asked about why Fort Worth's bicycle initiatives have been successful and why a similar initiative in Arlington has failed, Mr. Adamski said that culture was the critical factor. In Fort Worth, proponents of bicycle lanes were vocal in their support, and the public seemed to genuinely support the initiative. In Arlington, proponents were slow to voice their support for bicycle lanes, which allowed a very small opposition to stymy a multi-million dollar initiative that, in my opinion, could have greatly improved living conditions in Arlington. 

I agree with Mr. Adamski's analysis of why the bicycle initiate failed in my town (Arlington) and now realize that people like me could have done more to persuade city leaders to continue with the initiative. I attended a few of the special meetings that the city had, but I did not offer any vocal support for the plan, nor did I join any of the pro-bicycle organizations that sprouted up during this time. 

I often ride my bicycle to work and ride on Davis Drive, one of the roads that was going to get a bicycle lane. Since Davis Drive is not one of the main thoroughfares in Arlington, one might not think that painting a bicycle lane on the street would be necessary. At least once a week a driver will yell at me to "get <<expletive>> off the road" or to "use the <<expletive>> sidewalk." Mind you that this is not a busy street, and it is quite easy for drivers to pass me, even during rush hour. Had people like me spoken up, perhaps Arlington would be more bicycle friendly today. 

Dan Lepinski's Solar Shuttle

Dan Lepinksi, a pioneer in the field of solar energy, demonstrated his Solar Shuttle, DEFINITION, and gave a powerpoint presentation about solar energy. After briefly introducing himself and the giving an overview of the Solar Shuttle, the class went to the back parking lot at the UT Arlington Fort Worth Center to take a look at his heavily-modified trailer with solar cells.

Mr. Lepinski first became interested in solar energy when he worked on a prize-winning sixth grade science fair project. Although he won the science fair, one of his teachers commented that solar energy was too expensive and not practical, which motivated Mr. Lepinski to spend his life experimenting with solar energy and finding ways to make it more mainstream.

One of the projects he worked on was a contraption that converted solar energy to AC power which could be used during an emergency or disaster when the power grid fails. 

The Fort Worth Police Department had become aware of Mr. Lepinki's device at a MayFest celebration and in 2005 requested to use it during the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. They accomplished this by housing the regulators, batteries, and inverters inside of a horse trailer and putting the solar panels on the roof and side wall of said horse trailer. After his equipment was returned to him, Mr. Lepinski started to donate his "Solar Shuttle" for other emergencies and began demonstrating it to the public as one of the more practical uses of solar energy.

The Solar Shuttle is a heavily modified horse trailer with reinforced walls and a set of photovoltaic panels attached to the roof and driver's side wall. The inside of the Solar Shuttle consists of photovoltaic(solar) panels, boxes that regular power into batteries, specially made batteries, and inverters (DC to AC power convertors).

Sunlight is converted to electricity when it hits the solar panels. This electricity is then regulated before current is passed to the batteries. The batteries then store the electricity until it is used. When someone plugs something into one of the AC outlets, power from the batteries is converted from direct current to alternating current.

After demonstrating the Solar Shuttle and answering student questions, the class returned to the classroom, where Mr. Lepinski gave a powerpoint presentation about solar energy. He explained the different types of photovoltaic cells, such as rooftop panels for electricity, panels for hot water heating, transparent cells for skylights and flexible cells used for powering smaller devices like cell phone chargers. If a solar panel, such as a rooftop panel for electricity, is applied over existing building elements, it is considered BAPV, business applied photovoltaic glass. If the photovoltaic glass replaces another building element, like when a transparent solar panel replaces a skylight, it is called BIPV, or business integrated photovoltaic glass.

Mr Lepinski also dispelled several myths about solar power concerning their aesthetics and cost. Rather than being an eyesore, newer panels can be made less conspicuous by coloring the glass or by shaping them to match roof tiles or shingles. With federal, state, and local tax incentives solar panels can actually be more cost effective than using only grid electricity, especially over the long term.


I have to admit that before Mr. Lepinski's presentation, I had the same stereotype about solar energy as his sixth grade teacher: that it is too expensive to be economically viable. However, Lepinski gave a lot of evidence to the contrary. I was not aware, for example, that solar panel prices have decreased dramatically in the past few years and that a system can be set up on a home for as little as $8,000, before tax credits and other incentives. It was also surprising to find that the government subsidizes thirty percent of the cost of solar panels in the form of tax credits and that state and local governments give further incentives for companies and individuals. Moreover, Lepinski's view that solar energy should be seen as a supplement in a portfolio of energy solutions made a lot more sense to me than trying to convert everything to solar.

First Day

Today was my first of three eight-hour class sessions in Real Estate 5304- Sustainability and the Built Environment. We started at 8:30 a.m. by introducing ourselves. We then briefly discussed the meaning of sustainability and the three pillars of sustainability: social, environmental, and economic sustainability.

I introduced myself as an Information Systems Major and said that this semester is my last semester in the program. I didn't really talk about why I am taking the class. This class counts as a non-Information Systems elective for me. The reason that I chose this class as an elective is because I have seen how sustainability has become a greater focus for many organizations. For example, where I work, my department has a sustainability committee that reviews ways that we can make our workplace more sustainable. I have also heard from others that sustainability has taken an increasingly important role where they work as well. In other words, I am hoping that being familiar with sustainable concepts will make me more marketable to a potential employer. On a personal level, like to see how I can apply these concepts in my own life to help improve the environment and perhaps save my family some money in the long run.