To LEED or Not to LEED

Certify yourself or your service, that is the question.
LEED,  Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable ("green") buildings.

Jackson Murphy went into great detail on the advantages of Green Buildings and perhaps becoming LEED certified. LEED certified buildings led to a 2-16% increased worker and student productivity. This was based on two examples he provided that I wanted to do a bit more research on.


One of the examples of a sustainable structure was Pat Lobb Toyota. Apparently, much of the dealership was created with recycled materials and designed with energy and resource preserving technology.  They incorporated approximately 75% recycled materials such as aluminum, steel, tile and carpet.

Another example  is the use a cistern,  a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater.  Modern cisterns range in capacity from a few litres to thousands of cubic metres, effectively forming cover to capture and conserve water for the car wash.




The dealership was designed by the Gensler architectural firm and built by Turner Construction Company.
Jackson made a great point to mention that LEED certification was not necessary unless you were working as a consultant or were in a function at your job to certify a building. He mentioned the difficutly of the test, affirming that it is in fact difficult and not to tango with it unless yu plean on using it. Apparently, one has to renew membership once it expires, so unless the applicant wants to continue to incur the fees, it is best to not go there.

Ringing the Green Bell to Sustainability

One of the main concerns in sustainability is whether or not there is a place for sustainability employment. At Bell Helicopter in Fort Worth, there are opportunities and those charged with keeping the company efficient, not only have a passion for it but are proud of the math.

Craig Liberman is an  Intergrated Facilities Specialist at Bell. He became involved with a Bell Sustainability Council (which I now lead) and grew it to include participants around Bell . He was a part of the  EHS council for the Corporation and helped to draft the 20/15 Vision goals.

"This got the attention of some Vice Presidents at Bell, resulting in the formation of my current assignment leading Sustainability Programs."

  

·reduce waste

· energy and

·greenhouse gases by 20% in 5 years (by 2015)

They evaluate facilities, "they" includes fellow UTA classmate Amy Harris, for energy use and waste.

"Also, we have been reaching out to suppliers and support companies and improving the impact of our products in use through engineering changes and new designs.  My primary focus has been reducing energy use in our factories and offices by implementing infrastructure changes like lighting upgrades and improvements to energy systems," said Lieberman.

That includes:

·office buildings

· factories

· entire plants including exteriors

· parking lots

·etc.

They implement a Kaizen process originally developed in the Six Sigma community and refined byGeneral Electric. This Kaizen process requires a pre-kaizen evaluation of a facility followed by a hands on investigation by a small team (10-15 people) looking at Machine Energy, Building envelope, Compressed Air Systems, Lighting Systems and Materials (Waste). Their goal is to identify opportunities to improve (reduce) the energy use in the facility or reduce waste.

"We participate as team members at sister companies like Textron Systems, EZGO, Cessna, Greenlee,etc. In this way, we exchange best practices and share ideas for what can be improved in our local facilities," said Liberman.  We are building local capacity at each company to execute these Kaizens and harvest savings. I was working as a Six Sigma Black Belt in the company’s continuous improvement program. This program requires that participants eventually move to a follow-on assignment in the company.  

Those include:

•  Outstanding Sustainability Program” by the Greater DFW Recycling Alliance and
• “Stupendous Recycling Program” by the North Texas Corporate Recycling Association 

 

According to Liberman, they have been very effective at replacing low performing older lighting with higher performance, longer lasting, lower energy use lighting. 

"We have attempted to do the same in our compressed air systems. Lighting controls like building timers, motion sensors have been effective. We implemented controls technology on our water heaters reducing energy use by 12% in the installations, " said Liberman.  We also installed a solar water heating system on one of our office complex buildings to heat water for domestic (sinks and bathrooms).  Some of the cost savings also come from low technology solutions (i.e. install a switch to allow folks to turn off items safely.

So, is this gentleman happy to work for Bell? This line says it all."I am thrilled to come into work every day and move the needle for Bell, for our customers and for the communities in which we live. This really is my ideal job."

 Sustainability Program efforts for the past year have resulted in harvesting projects that avoid more than 8% of Company DFW energy use and greater than 20% reduction in waste from landfill. They have engaged with the community and as a result have won two awards in the last year for the Sustainability Program. His role is to reduce the environmental impact of Bell Helicopter by helping to meet their  Vision 20/15 goals which are to: to

From Small to Large, Sustainable Cities

The City of Ceder Hill decided to make some strong changes at the beginning of this year that including reducing waste picke-up from three times a week to one time and providing a larger recycling receptacle for residents. Stephen Mason, Cedar Hill councilmember says he is not afraid of change and to his understanding, neither are his constituents. It seems like there are usually concerns as it relates to changing community waste management. Especially when the recycling programs have changed from 3 times a week to one day a week.  

This change was implemented on The City of Cedar Hill’s solid waste services the week of Jan. 8, 2012.

The rule amendments are below:

·         Every single-family home has received a 96-gallon Recycle cart.  These carts will not be picked up if they contain anything other than recyclables.

·         Residents may elect to lease a 96-gallon trash cart for $2 per month per cart. 

·         Every home will have one weekly pickup day for trash, recycling and one bulky item

·         Green waste and brush pickup will continue with existing monthly pickup schedule

Mason said that these new implements could have been politically sensitive,  but was approved unanimously by the entire council. This change was not only good for the environment Mason said but it was also good for the taxpayer’s wallets while teaching them about recycling.

The bins for the recycling are at no additional cost for the taxpayer. Education about the new rules is distributed by way of water bills and is listed on the website. When asked about exploring other green options, Mason was emphatic. At 30, he is the youngest  sitting City of Cedar Hill Councilmember and therefore, he felt it important to express the concern of his generation.

"We  as a generation are concerned about the environment that is why I am such a proponent of different initiatives that will enhance our communities and reduce cost," said Mason.

Mason was proud to mention that the City of Cedar Hill, a city of about 50,000, will soon received a wind turbine and will not have to rely so heavily on the energy grid. The City of Cedar Hill received a grant support the implementation and construction of electric fuel stations. As of now, the city has not converted over their fleet but it something the Council are looking forward to seeing in the future.

 

The City of Bedford officials are also taking big strides to making their city more sustainable. After an embarrassing blunder of closing down their library, the city bounced back by remodeling another bungle, a former Food Lion, into a beautiful, sustainable structure complete with energy efficiency.  


Councilmember Chris Brown is one of the youngest member’s on the City Council. He reiterated how he believed in the sustainable initiative that Maria was implementing and backed her on those changes. They wanted to save taxpayer money and truly believed in the effects of environmental change.  The Bedford library received a gerant for renewable energy and as part of that grant, the library has to provide tours. I would highly suggest that all city officials take a look at what Bedford put into place and try to find a place for it within their municipality.

Because of the changes at the library the community became more interested.



Teen Center at the City of Bedford Library
Photo by Chris Graves



The 17,000 square foot building holds thousands of books, computers and resources to support the Bedford community. With a $200,000 budget and 75% of the budget being for books, there was concern to get the most bang for their buck - and they did.

The library officials used grants to fund their renewable energy initiatives with the hope that the payoff would be substantial down the line.


Solar Power
Photo by Chris Graves



·         Solar energy

o    Reduced need to depend on the grid

o    Initially wanted to go geo thermal but the cost was too great

·         Wind Turbines

o    Council did not like its look

Implementing energy efficient technologies that reduced the need for extra resources, the library was able to cut back on that. 

Book sorter - no hands required
Photo by Chris Graves

When it comes to being LEED certified, this seemingly sustainable library did not need it. It was surprising to hear that they were not awarded that plaque but the application amount was not worth the sticker price- besides, they’d rather purchase books. 

 

(Left to right )City of Bedford  Mayor Pro Tem Ray Chapney and Councilman Chris Brown
Photo by Chris Graves

Fort Worth folks, can also look into ways to further their recycling education. They can access the City of Fort Worth's website for further information at : http://fortworthtexas.gov/solidwaste/.  This site can be very educational or call 817.394.1234 for more detailed information. According to Dennis Mitchell, Code Compliance officer of the Special projects division, the city sets a monumental example by not only sending out literature through the Water Dept flyer much like the City of Cedar Hill, but the city takes a "hands on" approach by allowing individual from different departments such as code compliance and Community Relations to share at neighborhood association meetings and various forums throughout the city.

“As result of my position in Code Compliance, I have been able to help others to lessen the negative impact on their households by cutting their cost by utilizing Housing and Economic Development programs (emergency repair of heating/plumbing appurtenances, weatherization of windows/doors and painting of area housing during Cowtown Brushup). Secondly, providing information and outside resources to citizens to save them money on their water bills and other utilities as a cost savings to the City of Fort Worth and to the citizen.   Socially, we reach out to the communities through the neighborhoods to meet with their organizations continually to share ways to keep their homes and communities in a safe and cost effective state of repair, limiting the need to have residences in their areas which bring blight on the communities. Environmentally, the ongoing information blitz to keep recycling, water conservation and preservation at the forefront of everyone's mind is paramount.  If we continue to impresses upon the community just how these resources can best be utilized, we can ensure the availability of these resources for years to come.”

As far as the city as a whole, Dennis said there is quite a lot of work to do.

"Not everyone has gotten the message just how much of a negative impact the lack of education in this area (sustainability) will affect the generations to come.  That is why it is increasingly important that we start with the kids in schools and at home to get them in the habit now of conserving, recycling and "thinking green".

Some things I didn’t know were that programs such as the use solar power during the past Superbowl, led to the continued use in the downtown area.

Dennis said there are other out of the box methods that he would like to see such as more rainwater conservation measures. He says if implemented it may help to deter the need for water rationing during low precipitation periods.

"We hear so much information about the sustainability impact of our precious resources. However, we need to become more involved in making the effort to keep the education, technology and implementation at the forefront of ensuring they are used wisely for future generations."

. 

Tale of Two Cribs

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of conservation, it was the age of waste, it was the epoch of realization, it was the epoch of denial, it was the season of riches, it was then a season of rags, it was the spring of hope, yes, we can; it was the winter of "oh, crap the economy... we're damned", we had a slight economy before us, we realized it was in danger before us, we were told by the "moral" some of us are going direct to Heaven, and the rest of us were going direct the other way, the contrite contridictions were uncanny. In short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted that change had to come, in all of our haste, we consumed too waste and losing precious land to landfills at the present date. Houses were constructed, builders not caring for disrepair, now we need to cut back, install responsibly and do things right, while keeping a weak economy and its consequences in sight. Politicians are much more alike in the fight, energy independence, conservation and morals are the plight, all there is left to do is what is right. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, but sometimes it takes a few to have vision and believe in their own foresight."

As adapted by Charles Dickens

OK, so I am no Charles Dickens; however, my message remains true.



Heather Ferrier's Home
Photo By Chris Graves


Paying about 12,000 more to be green, this developer power couple, Heather Ferrier and her husband Travis,  implemented their own sustainability solutions for their home. The green implementations increased the value of their home.

• Tankless water heater
• Shingle roof
• Dual flush toilet
• "zero scaping"
• Kept some of the orifnal home's amenities
• Mini -split unit
• remote control operator

After replacing 100% of their plumbing with spray foam, which embarrasingly enough, I had not a clue what that was, so I thought I would share.


Apparently, there is no better home insulating material that can seal homes from air and moisture intrusion, save on costly utility bills, strengthen the home, and protect family’s health from dangerous mold, airborne pollutants, and allergens than spray foam insulation.




Benefits of Spray Foam Insulation
Stops air and moisture infiltration

• Makes your home more comfortable
• Saves on energy costs
• Adds strength to the building structure
• It is permanent and will not sag
• Keeps dust and pollen out
• Reduces capacity requirements, maintenance and wear of HVAC equipment

Some of their challenges included  trying to get appraiser's to understand the value of the "green improvements".  However, the bonus for them and to the envy of their neigbbor's , was spending approximately $75 per month on energy bills.

Ferrier homes are well known for building some of the most beautiful, modern and sustainable homes. One of their clients, Charlotte and Thomas De La Pena were no exception to the style rule.



Stylishly Sustainable
Photo by Chris Graves

 The De la Pena's are young professionals, which is generally Ferrier homes' clientel. The usual Yuppie home, classy, contemporary was met with space concious amenities. Thomas said that he wanted to be environmentally and economically conscious, not going for the same cookie cutter type of house. The De La Pena's utilized 110,000 feet of land to build their modern style home whic boasted of outstanding features. impressively energy efficient, the class was impressed by the TXU equipment that outlined in dollar and cents how much energy the De La Pena's were using. No kiddo's at this time, but they both said one day they will have a family and want their children to understand the importance of utilizing space and not creating waste.



REFERENCES
http://sprayfoam.com/spps/ahpg.cfm?spgid=1

The Green Recycling Revolution is LIVE

There are two companies that believe in recycling, one to make a profit off of its by product the other is simply recycling to do what's right for the environment.  Here is a story of the recycling revolution and commerce.

Pulling up to the Recycling Revolution (RR), we were immediately greeted by the sight of a small business in the heart of Dallas that could use some TLC.

The building is not as “sexy” as I thought it would be based upon the name. When hearing the term revolution, I envisioned soldiers in uniform or even better, mini-captain Planet heroes and the planeteers  walking around. But instead, our class was greeted by a more astonishing pair – a mother and son working side by side for change. The owner, Eddie Lott is an eco-entrepreneur. Charming, funny, SMART and most of all,  a visionary who believed that changing the world could also be lucrative. He reiterated that one could not come without the other.  After traveling all over the world, he recognized the need for more responsible waste management. His mother, Maria Lott, believed in her son's vision and supported him to make that dream come to fruition.

Introducing the REVOLUTION…

Dry erase boards and recycled pieces of cardboard, were filled with text that encompassed RR.  Eddie introduced intricate business plans outlining his goals; recycling revolution is out of the ordinary and out of the box. His model would use composting and working with other eco friendly organizations to deliver a service that is sustainable.  With an overqualified skeletal staff working for minimum wage, as most of these blue collar employees hold Master's degrees. They are all working toward a vision  and belief by Lott and with that vision he was not only able to talk his staff into giving all they have and using ther respoctive talents to achieve greatness but was also able engage corporate clients like AT&T and convince them to recycle by using his company. 

(Left) Eddie Lott reviewing his master plan with students
Photo by Amari Roskelly

I was highly impressed.  Now take a look at this. This beautiful piece of art is made from recycled glass! Maria gushed over how she saw school buildings and mosaics made from this material.

This beautiful glass art work can be used for countertops and such could potentially create a facility or one like it.  RR recycles 10-12 tons a week of glass received. One of the points mentioned that I found fascinating was, that people will accept charges to be rid of waste but are not as willing to pay for the recycling aspect. RR services mostly Dallas and believes in “educating EVERYONE” on the recycling process by hosting educational orientations.   The RR specializes in Single Stream recycling which is the convergence of multiple "separate" material streams (i.e. paper, plastic, aluminum, etc.) into one "single stream" container.

Me holding glass art
Photo by Chris Graves


 

RR's Single Stream programs permit the following items to be placed into one single container:

• Paper
• Plastics #1-7
• Aluminum
• Cardboard
• Glass bottles

Eddie mentioned that some businesses have to pay to discard waste but do not have the same enthusiasm to pay for recycling.  His mother, Maria frustratingly mentioned that she didn't understand the difference, as there is a cost that is incurred, regardless.

Hopefully, the revolution will be televised, in this sense, and others will understand the importance of recycling and its benefits. Well, maybe Captain Planet is back afterall, and these are his planeteers.



"The Planeteers"
Recycling Revolution Staff



 "I started this business to prove it was viable and it’s something I believe in,” said Lott.

It is important that everyone understand that recycling technology is so important because it not only keeps people employed but keeps technology out of landfills.  Brian Lashley is the Director of Operations for Reverse Logistics at GENCO ATC.  The company was formed at the end of 2010 when GENCO purchased ATC.  Legacy ATC ( former employer) was a publicly traded company which began in the automotive industry by refurbishing transmissions.  ATC entered the 3PL (Third Party Logistics) arena in 1998; contracting with  AT&T Wireless.  Legacy GENCO is a 114 year old privately owned company with multiple locations, 7K employees and customers like the U.S. Military, Home Depot, Walmart, etc.  Together, there are 10K employees and are the second largest 3PL provider in North America.

How can you recycle that 3G I phone? Consumers can contact their service provider for options to recycle their old cellphones and electronics.  Some will provide prepaid shipping labels for getting the devices to the returns center; most have drop off points at their retail locations.



GENCO provide services for 3 carriers and receive roughly 8M devices annually.  Half of these units are exchanged or returned by customers who've purchased an insurance policy.  The exchange units are consolidated and shipped to an OEM( Original Equipment Manufacturer) repair facility.  The insurance units go through an asset recovery process to ensue CPI( Customer Personal Information) is removed and they're sold at auction.

" The other 4M handsets come to us from National Retailers( Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc), Dealer Agents (e.g. kiosks at the mall), COR( AT&T Company Owned Retail) locations and Direct Fulfillment( Internet purchases)," said Lashley.  "These units are triaged( looking for obvious physical or liquid damage) then processed through a test & repair operation to be refurbished and returned to the supply chain."

GenCo reduces waste by reclaiming as much as we can from the process byproducts.  Their trash flows through a metal detector to catch any batteries or other contaminants and then it's separated and compacted to be used with our partner suppliers as recycled material.  They test and reuse all returned cables and batteries to be packaged with the refurbished devices rather than buying new. 


The plastic parts are replaced on the devices are sorted, categorized and sold at auction for reuse in secondary markets.
If  they can not do the thre R's:



 they sell at auction to recoup all the available value.
.

REFERENCES

http://recyclerevolution.squarespace.com/about-us/

gencoatc.com

Calling the Shots: DFW Airport creates its own Playbook for Sustainabi​lity

The common complaint for sustainability is that there is no published data to support that the implemented changes truly make a difference.  Secondly, there are hardly any best practice manuals on file due to the fact any sustainability initiative is catered to the specific need of any business. The DFW airport visit was enlightening as the Vice President /Sustainability Officer, Rusty Hodapp,who also serves on the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Energy & Atmosphere Technical Advisory Group, highlighted the multiple facets of sustainability at the airport and gave examples on how community-wide employees were taking pride in in the company's quest for sustainability. DFW Airport's energy efficiency and air quality initiatives have receivefd accolades by the the U.S. Department of Energy, the Alliance to Save Energy and the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) among others. 

 

 

First Down:  Explaining the Triple Bottom Line.

 

Hodapp suggested that the class read "The Triple Bottom Line"  by author Andrew W. Savitz not forgetting the importance of the economical aspect of sustainability. To forget it would earn the violator a yellow flag.

 

 

 

“The Triple Bottom Line, is the place where corporate and societal interests intersect. It is a new way to measure the bottom line, where profits go side-by-side with environmental and social performance and an illuminating way to understand the often-fuzzy concept of sustainability. It is a spot that the best-run and most profitable companies have already found, and Savitz, former head of Pricewaterhouse Cooper`s Sustainability Business Services practice, says is attainable for any business that knows where to look and is willing to change.”

http://www.speakinc.com/keynote-speakers/andy-savitz/index.html

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second Down: From the top to the bottom, Sustainably buy-in gains yards

Flashback to interdisciplinary studies: earning buy-in and approval from affected parties.  In fact,   the Employee Green Team, consisting of the IT, Green Purchasing, Green Buildingand ITS, furthermore proves DFW Airport management is serious about making a sustainability touchdown.  

Hodapp talked about the following:

Principles:

• No system thinking
• Top to bottom engagement
• Integrated management
• Reach out
• Continuous improvement
• Life Cycle analysis
• Community partnerships
•  C’3 (Collaboration, Cooperation, Communication)

    

The internal and operational aspects of sustainability at the airport are important to the DFW Airport Executive team, according to Hodapp. He reiterated that it is important that everyone from Top to Bottom understand and supports the idea of being more sustainable.  He mentioned that an executive preferred using his i-pad rather than printing out pages of agendas in meetings- that’s a positive step from someone who calls all of the shots. 

 

Third Down : Implementing Change

Focus on energy and resource consumption and efficiency. 52% reduction in water use in terminal Aand C.  Initial $3.4 Million investment p[roduced 8.9 million in energy Savings. Utilized Cleen fuel for flesets to include natural gas, which is being explored and produced at DFW Airport.

 

 

 

TOUCHDOWN! 

 

An Environmental Primer was developed to foster DFW’s Sustainability Initiative Airport-wide by providing a more concise tool for identifying the environmentally regulated aspects of operations, commercial and construction activities conducted on-Airport.  The Primer is a roadmap detailing the environmentally regulated aspects of DFW Airport operations, projects, and activities.  Program and Program Managers can reference to Environmental Primer to get a snapshot of DFW’s efforts to achieve its environmental theme: “ A Balance of Nature and Global Technology.  Your continued vigilance and stewardship assure a Standard of Environmental Excellence at DFW.”

  

http://www.dfwairport.com/sustainability/index.php