Sustainable Development & Green Building in the Hill Country
The Hill Country region is going to continue to grow and develop at a face pace; the challenge we face is this: How do we grow in a way that sustains our environment, economy and quality of life?
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System advances the global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices through a set of universally accepted performance criteria. Some of the LEED tools are well suited for Hill Country cities, small towns and even rural residential areas.
While LEED primarily addresses structures, the Sustainable Sites Initiative partnership, involving the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, is developing guidelines and standards for landscape sustainability. These will supplement green building designs to achieve clean air and water, an improved quality of live, energy efficiency and climate protection.
TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strives to protect our state's human and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Our goal is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste.
Recent News
January 9, 2010
Green Building lecture and book signing at the Wildflower Center
The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center is hosting a free lecture and book signing January 20th at 7pm. Building an Emerald City, is a roadmap to help policy makers, public officials and green building advocates develop programs to create more sustainable communities. Check it out
June 19, 2009
Hill Country home off the grid
Talk about the concept of a self-sustained home and the image that comes to mind is a rustic cabin with bare minimum comforts. But one couple in the Texas Hill Country — Rick and Stephanie Ertel — has erased that image. The couple has built a platinum-certified LEED home that is both environmentally friendly and luxurious. What’s more, it also won an Austin Energy Five-star rating. Read full SA Business Journal article here.
June 1, 2009
Showing just what ‘green' means
Motorists are driving to Seguin from as far as 100 miles away to get a first-hand look at possible renewable resources of the future. They've logged as much as an hour on the road from towns such as Kerrville and Shiner, or just minutes from the local area for a glimpse of silver blades spinning atop a tall turbine. See full MySA.com article [[http://www.mysanantonio.com/livinggreensa
Read more Sustainable Development news and find upcoming events.
Helpful documents:
Conservation Development in Texas - A primer on conservation development.
Convervation Subdivision Design Overview - An overview of the process and benefits of Conservation Subdivision Design.
Conservation Design Benefits - A summary of the economic benefits of Convervation Design.
Flawed Processes, Flawed Results, and a Potential Solution - A Constructive Critique of Outmoded Subdivision Ordinance Provisions.
Conservation Design vs Typical Cluster Regulations - An overview of how the "Growing Greener" model ordinances differ from traditional "cluster" regulations.
Enhancing Subdivision Value through Conservation Design - Conservation subdivision designs are “twice green” because they succeed both environmentally and economically.
Creating Greener Communities Through Conservation Subdivision Design - Describing what is arguably the most effective land planning technique yet devised in this country for protecting community-wide greenways and open space networks.
Helpful links:
USGBC - Central Texas - The U.S. Green Building Council, Central Texas - Balcones Chapter is a not-for-profit organization made up of building industry professionals, facility managers, and property owners in Central Texas and surrounding communities.
Sustainable Sites Initiative - Interdisciplinary effort
by the American Society of Landscape Architects, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and the United States Botanic Garden to create voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable land design, construction and maintenance practices.
Austin Energy Green Building Program - The country's first comprehensive program designed to encourage using sustainable building techniques in residential, multi-family, commercial, and municipal construction.
Design~Build~Live - Exists to share, practice, promote and nurture natural building and sustainable living.
BuildingGreen.com - We are an independent company committed to providing accurate, unbiased, and timely information designed to help building-industry professionals and policy makers improve the environmental performance, and reduce the adverse impacts, of buildings.
SECO - State Energy Conservation Office - Administers and delivers a variety of energy efficiency and renewable energy programs that significantly reduce energy cost and consumption in the institutional, industrial, transportation and residential sectors.
TCEQ Texas Commission on Environmental Quality strives to protect our state's human and natural resources consistent with sustainable economic development. Our goal is clean air, clean water, and the safe management of waste.
DSIRE - Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency
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