24 Jul Model of Sustainability Falls a Little Short

While visiting friends on a long weekend up north – Dallas area – I had the pleasure of visiting the Plano Environmental Education Center (EEC). Even in the late morning of a day that pushed triple digit temperatures the natural and built structures provided a relatively comfortable outdoor space to explore. Completed about four years ago, the center displayed a great representation of sustainable features. Yet, even by 2010 standards, it falls short of demonstrating net zero energy and water capabilities.

Energy – The EEC offered maybe 15-20 shaded parking spots covered with 54 solar panels. Nearby they had a couple of spots charger. Over in the children's play area, a 30-foot wind turbine tower sprouted out of the ground. I also noticed that the building's windows only looked north and east to avoid late afternoon heat gain. The living roof (low-growing plants and soil/gravel) and foam paneling also help the building's energy efficiency.

with a Blink electric vehicle 

Water – The center boasted two water storage tanks: one a 2,600-gal cistern that collected water from the solar parking structure for landscape irrigation and the second, a 20,000-gal tank that stored rainwater from the main building's roof for flushing toilets. They also used drip irrigation for the landscaping and had a display of three main types of drip irrigation systems.

Materials and Physical Spaces – The facility featured some waste diversion and water protection features. The building's concrete foundation contained power plant fly ash diverted from landfill. Also, used street signs served as the roof of the shelter by the bus drop-off drive. To conserve water, all the plants were native, or drought-tolerant. For general watershed protection, the parking lot featured permeable paving – crushed concrete and granite – that filters out vehicle oils and allowed rainwater to soak into the ground rather than become run-off.

The most fun area, of course, was the outdoor play spaces with a sand table, wooden building blocks, and animal cut-outs and – my favorite – a bin of butterfly wings to wear if you were so inclined.

Short-comings – The EEC came up short on going net-zero on water and energy. The solar panels and wind turbine only off-set about 30% of the center's electricity needs. Only water for irrigation and toilets is supplied by rainwater. Even in 2010 my house was net zero energy and I had a co-worker who used rainwater to cover all her home water needs.

Upgrading to net zero seems possible, however. Looking at the space available at the EEC, there's definitely space for more solar PV and even an additional water tank with filtration and UV disinfection for potable water (i.e. sinks and water fountains). Certainly some clever, determined people could overcome the funding and logistical hurdles to make it happen!