Podcasts

The 2017 Austin Environmental Directory is now available. It is meant as a user-friendly guide to readers for learning about environmental issues, for identifying and purchasing environmental products, and for becoming involved in environmental organizations. The print version is distributed free to the Austin area. The Directory is also on the Internet at www. environmentaldirectory.info/.

Our Guest on Shades of Green was the editor Paul Robbins, a long-time environmental advocate in Austin, Texas since 1977.

A new non-profit initiative has undertaken to memorialize the history of renewable energy in Texas. The Historical Foundation for Texas Renewable Energy (HFTRE) was formed to address the fact that over 40 years of history in the development of Texas renewable energy exists in the form of documents, memorabilia, electronic files, and hardware currently scattered among many individuals, organizations, and institutions, and not always stored in a fashion that adequately protects them. There is a concern that much of this history is being, or may be, lost as time passes. Our guests on Shades of Green were:

Russel Smith, former Exec. Director of TREIA. Artist – photographer, and now new initiative for renewables history.

Dr. Gary Vliet: Former professor at UT Mechanical Engineering. He is a solar researcher and author of several text books and historical accounts of Texas.

A celebration of sustainability! A star-sprinkled evening will celebrate Mueller as a nationally certified LEED Gold Neighborhood Development, award the new Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas Mentoring Center an Austin Energy Green Building (AEGB) 3-star rating and debut a short video featuring over 30 local non-profit organizations with AEGB rated projects. Special commemorative gifts (while they last) will showcase local artists and businesses.

The 700-acre Mueller neighborhood was transformed from a municipal airport into a sustainable community through a collaboration with the City of Austin and Catellus Development Corporation. This community is the largest neighborhood of AEGB rated buildings. AEGB awarded star ratings to the homes and businesses here for being resource-wise contributors to a cleaner environment through efficient energy and water use, better health and greater comfort.

Our guests on Shades of Green were:

Mr. Stogdill - currently works for Austin Energy as the Manager for Green Building and Sustainability, a workgroup that also includes the Electric Vehicles and Emerging Technologies workgroups.  Specific areas of focus include the drive toward a better built environment, electric mobility and Distributed Energy Resource integration.  With over 15 years of experience with Austin Energy, other roles have included interim Solar Program Manager, extensive work with electric vehicles and emerging technologies as well as utility strategy.  Mr. Stogdill’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Master of Science in Science and Technology Commercialization, both from the University of Texas at Austin.

Matt Hart – Associate Principle at Barley and Pfeiffer Architects in Austin.Matt’s career began in Ohio, where he grew up working for his parent’s custom home building firm. After years of field experience, he decided to follow in his Grandfather’s footsteps obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Architecture at The Ohio State University. During his time there he received the Construction Award and was awarded the Austin E. Knowlton Faculty Prize for distinguished work.

His career continued while working for local firms in Columbus, Ohio where his deep interest in building science and sustainability eventually brought him to Austin, Texas and Barley| Pfeiffer Architecture. Over many years of Project Management, he has developed a broad understanding of architectural design and environmentally responsive construction techniques.

The Seaholm EcoDistrict is an exciting area of the City of Austin set up to be a model for an eco-friendly district with multi-uses including commercial, residential, municipal and outdoor spaces. There are many stakeholders ensuring the district develops according to the goals of the City. We discussed the new initiative to develop the Seaholm water intake building and what you might see on October 28 when the new library has its grand opening.

Our guests were:

Colin Wallis, CEO of the Austin Parks Foundation

Colin Wallis is the CEO of the Austin Parks Foundation, a non-profit organization that is devoted to building public/private partnerships to develop and maintain the more than 300 parks, trails, and open space in Austin and Travis County. APF seeks to fill the gap between what needs to be done and what our parks department can afford to do. Since 1992, Austin Parks Foundation has initiated, promoted, and facilitated physical improvements, new programming, and greater community involvement for Austin's 19,000-plus acres of parkland. Each year, APF generates millions of dollars in volunteer time, in-kind donations, and financial support for city parks.

For more information, visit https://www.austinparks.org/.

Brian Ott, The Trail Foundation

Brian Ott is an award-winning, LEED-accredited landscape architect. Brian served as The Trail Foundation’s interim executive director for nearly a year and aided in the non-profit’s appointment of Heidi Cohn as executive director in June 2017. He is also a former president of the board of directors for TTF and a longtime board member.

Brian was a managing principal of TBG Partners’ Austin office and an integral member of the distinguished landscape architecture and planning firm from 1991 to 2016, playing an essential role in many of the firm's most successful projects during that time. In addition to leading the Austin office, he played a key role in the firm wide leadership including serving as practice director for the firm. He has diverse project experiences that include exemplary and award-winning projects that encompass many project types including healthcare and healing environments, urban infill, corporate, and park design.

Our Guests were:

Stacy Savage, member of the Shades of Green “extended family” and zero waste Guru discussed about training opportunities for local businesses to get up-to-speed on meeting waste reduction goals.

Susanne Harm, Public Information Specialist Senior at City of Austin Resource Recovery

Our guests were:

Tom “Smitty” Smith, ex-director of Public Citizen Texas, still on as a much-needed consultant.

David Foster, Director of Clean Water Action, Austin Texas

Smitty and David discussed some of the hazards associated with fracking and impacts on water, the environment and local communities.

SOME KEY ISSUES WE EXPLORED:

Fracking and drinking water issues -

Issue: There are concerns that fracking may contaminate drinking water supplies with harmful chemicals, raising public health issues.

Fracking and earthquakes and tremors-

Issue: There have been well-publicized concerns that fracking wells, drilled thousands of feet down, may change geology in a substantial way, leading to earthquakes.

Fracking and leaky wells, methane, and climate risk -

Issue: The extraction process results in leakage of some greenhouse gas emissions.

The one Texas Park inside the border of Austin, Texas is the McKinney Falls State Park, a beautiful site for camping, hiking, fishing and enjoying the outdoors. We had Ryan Spencer on the show to talk about new initiatives at the park and his other volunteer efforts at the Westcave Outdoor Discover Center and the Children in Nature Collaborative of Austin (CiNCA).

Our own host Reed Sternberg was in New York City for a week attending the Climate Week NYC – Sept 18 - 24. He shared what he learned, and described some of the people he met.

CodeNEXT is the first major rewrite of Austin’s Land Development Code in 30 years. The existing code lacks the tools our city needs to effectively shape and manage growth. As we look to the future, we need a Land Development Code that embodies the values set out in the City Council-adopted Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan. The new Land Development Code should give us the tools we need to make Austin a more livable city for all. Draft 2 was released by the City Council with some significant changes. Our guests discuss the new changes and how they may affect neighborhoods in Austin.  We hear opinions from both sides of the issues.

Our guests were:

Greg Anderson - Director of Operations with Austin Habitat for Humanity, Planning Commission member

Carmen Llanes Pulido - Executive Director of Go Austin/ Vamos Austin

Jim Duncan - member of 'Community Not Commodity'

Natasha Harper Madison - community activist

The grand opening of the new Austin Public Library is Saturday, October 28 from 10 AM to 6 PM. We discuss many of the exciting features of the library and how you can view them at the grand opening.

Our guests on Shades of Green were:

Kanya Lyons, Public Information Specialist Sr., Austin Public Library

Office of Programs and Partnerships (AOPP).

She talks about the grand opening of the new Central Austin Library and some of the exciting features such as special meeting rooms, an outdoor deck for studying and reading, a roof top garden and many other cool features.

Lucia Athens, Chief Sustainability Officer, City of Austin

Lucia Athens is the City of Austin’s first Chief Sustainability Officer. Recognized internationally as an authority on sustainability, she is author of the Island Press book Building an Emerald City: A Guide to Creating Green Building Policies and Programs. She discusses the many eco-friendly and sustainable features of the new library.

The annual Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance (TREIA) conference is on October 23 and 24 in Georgetown, Texas. It is called GridNext.

TREIA is a nonprofit organization working to promote and advance the renewable energy industry in Texas. It is a network of project developers, corporations, financial institutions, end users, utilities, manufacturers, service providers, academia, and government leaders working to scale renewable energy, grow the local economy, and create jobs. Its industry stakeholders are involved in solar, wind, biomass, biofuel, energy efficiency, geothermal, hydro, ocean, and energy storage.

The GridNEXT conference is TREIA’s power industry conference focused specifically on how renewable energy technologies are transforming the electric grid of the future. The keynote speaker will be Former Vice President Al Gore.

Our guest on Shades of Green this week were:

Melissa Miller, President of the TREIA Board. She is also the Project Development Manager at EDF Renewable Energy, and has experience developing Texas renewables since 2002. At EDF, Melissa’s primary focus is in the development of large-scale wind and solar in Texas.

Vijay Betanabhatla, Senior Consultant, Energy and Utilities Group, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP. He will be giving a pre-conference workshop called “GridNEXT 1.0 Renewable Energy Project Development and Finance”

Cris Eugster, Chief Operating Officer at CPS Energy in San Antonio, a municipal utility with aggressive renewable and energy efficiency goals. He will be a featured speaker talking about “The Present & Future State of Utilities”

Joshua Long, Professor of Environmental Studies at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. Southwestern will be receiving an award from TREIA for their innovative sustainability plan that includes the campus receiving 100 % of its energy from renewable energy sources.

Bert Haskell, Chief Technology Officer at Pecan Street, a project which is focused on advancing university research and accelerating innovation in water and energy. They provide utilities, technology companies and university researchers access to the world’s best data on consumer energy and water consumption behavior, testing and verification of technology solutions, and commercialization services to help them bring their innovations to market faster. They also help prepare technically focused students for careers with industry, and help them conduct research that will change the world.