01 Oct My Roundup Retrospective

Last weekend in Belton, the Renewable Energy Roundup and Sustainable Living Expo corralled the best green people, companies and organizations in North and Central Texas. The event offered a great line-up of speakers and booths to help you get your green on in the game of life. For me it was, also, a great way to grow my network of green building professionals. Here's a run-down of my favorites:

Super Speakers

I had the honor and pleasure of speaking on a panel entitled “Retrofitting Toward Net Zero Energy Homes” with two other professionals as staunchly committed to green building and renewable energy as myself: Miki Cook of Austin Energy Green Building and Lloyd Lee, President of NATIVE. What a terrific trio! Our bottom line was that the very low operating costs of a very energy efficient home with solar PV make the investments worth it.

A couple of other speakers were also exceptional:

• Peter Pfeiffer of Barley & Pfeiffer Architects emphasized the importance of passive, low-maintenance elements like window shade structures and building orientation to energy efficient buildings. Eco-bling like solar panels is great, but expensive, so work the energy efficiency first.
• Paul Westbrook, Sustainable Development Manager of Texas Instruments, compared the design of his passive solar house to commercial/industrial buildings, saying that in conceptual approach “what's good for a house is good for a factory, too.” He oversaw the design of a TI manufacturing facility that cost 30% less and was nearly 40% more energy efficient than other TI fabs.

Best Booths

My husband, son and I had the privilege of serving as exhibitors for AustinEV, a non-profit to promote electric vehicles. We displayed our custom-conversion electric car, EVee, who is our four-wheeled member of the family. She and my son are fraternal twins, both age six.

Others in the best booth category included:

• NATIVE – the best in green building and solar installation
• Innovative Water Solutions – the best in rainwater harvesting systems
• Family Activities – solar car kits were a hit with my son, Gabriel, pictured below with his car, Solee
• Designs for Life – an excellent source of birthday and Christmas gifts

It was a wonderful weekend. I look forward to heading back up to Belton next fall!