Upgraded our insulation to R50 this week

This week we had insulation added to our home. We went from 6 inches of insulation, installed when the house was built in 1983, to 20+ inches of insulation with a radiant barrier. This should save us a lot of money over the years. That said, we have a vaulted ceiling so there's still other solutions to find. A lot of our roofline doesn't have attic over it.

Carrollton City Presentation - Green Parking options

Today my staff and I saw a presentation by Peter J. Braster, Sr. TOD Manager for the City of Carrollton. The city has a great master plan for the three DART stations that are set to open in December of this year.



Peter walked us through the development around Downtown Carrollton which is already underway. There is a new parking lot being installed which will be green in that cars will park on "grasscrete" and the paving bricks used in the lot can be reused later when the permanent parking structure is built in a few years. Then this lot will be converted back for use as a building. Here's a sample of what it looks like.







While some of the plans are waiting on commercial funding, other aspects of the plan are well underway. Watch Carrollton transform. Great things are coming.


Find out more about the Carrollton TOD efforts at their Facebook Group

Carrollton Citizen's Evening

Tonight was the 3rd Annual Carrollton Citizen's Evening where various city departments distribute information about their services and answer questions. We heard about crime stats, new city codes and code enforcement, and got to meet with our council members and the mayor.

As is my custom these days, I documented it all with pictures.

Carrollton Citizen's Evening

Let there be light! Solatube Installation at Texas Pride Realty

In late August 2009 I started my own brokerage. I planted a flag in the ground and said from this day forth I will work for myself. I rented a humble office in an part of Carrollton that is on the verge or revitalization and all was good. Yet my humble little office lacked on vital necessity. Light!


Being a GREEN person I knew the solution and actually had the forethought to wright the solution into my lease. I recently installed at 10 inch SOLATUBE and the light is AMAZING!

The folks who installed the solatube were from Daylight Rangers (plug) and they did a great job. Be sure to get the $60 instant rebate when you sign up. There is a 14 inch model for about $100 more which would be great for larger spaces. The installed price is around $550. It's so worth it.



AFTER


ROOF INSTALLATION - SMALL PLASTIC DOME




BEFORE

Property Standards Board for the City of Carrollton

For the past 3 years I have had the pleasure of working on the Property Standards Board for the City of Carrollton. Where a board like Planning & Zoning deals with what to build in what location, Property Standards deals with dilapidated and unsafe buildings. Before the city staff can take action against a property they need to get the citizen's permission. Our board represents the citizens. We decide if the facts of the property merit the city going onto the property, making the repairs or demolishing the structure.

I think this board is almost more important than Planning & Zoning. We keep the city from declining too far. We look at troubled homes and properties. Today's case had a house that was completely destroyed inside, the flooring was ripped out, the house was filled with animal feces. The second story wooden deck had collapsed and fallen over. We also look at old vacant commercial spaces. Old grocery stores, filling stations, big-box stores, etc. The

I'm really proud of the work we do on this board. This is one of the most active panels in the City. As we move forward with new development for DART rail and new housing developments we need the city to be the best it can. Cleaning up, fixing and recycling properties is vital to our redevelopment.

Looking for new DallasGreenStreets.com Logo

Learned at #Raincamp about LogoTournament.com

Submitted a request for new logo for my DallasGreenStreets.com environmental site.

I'll post the winner soon. Our environmental efforts deserve so much more than my current site gives.

GE locomotives go green

New technology allows the train's engine to capture the energy it now wastes, store it in a battery and use it for acceleration.



from http://money.cnn.com/video/fortune/2009/12/23/f_BG_GE_locomotive.fortune/