Guided Tour/Lunch – McCommas Bluff Landfill – Dallas (12/5/09)

Hey Young Sierrans! Another behind-the-scenes, environmental educational opportunity awaits your participation!

Just in time for the holiday season, the City of Dallas has gratefully arranged a guided tour for our group of the McCommas Bluff Landfill (MBL).  You may have read all about it in last month’s Advocate magazine cover story, Trash to Treasure. Here’s our opportunity to tour the facility and learn about this big business, waste management facility from the facility manager.

As one of the largest municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills in the country, the MBL typically receives 7,000 tons of MSW per day and supports a 5-million cubic feet per day high-BTU landfill gas (LFG) processing facility. The enhanced leachate recirculation (ELR) project has been coined Texas’ largest “recycling” project since it could result in the destruction of up to 40% of the in-situ waste volume.

Optional lunch follows.  More details to come.  Save the date and please RSVP (limited participation).

Date: December 5th, 2009

Tour Time: 10am

Carpool Meetup: Old Monk restaurant (time – TBD)

More Info: Landfill Bio-Technology for McCommas Bluff Landfill (PDF) from the Sustainable Communities Conference (Feb-09). MBL – The Pursuit of Renewable Natural Gas (PDF) from the National Biomethane Summitt (Jun-09).

Guided Tour – TimberCreek Net-Zero Energy House – Lewisville (11/7/09)

It’s been a while since we’ve toured a “green” home.  And since over the last couple years we’ve seen increases in consumer/producer awareness for more energy efficient construction, increases in demand for EE housing and economies of scale in EE construction materials cost and availability, maybe we’re due for another.  Let’s tour the TimberCreek Zero Energy House project up in Lewisville which was recently completed and see if the large-scale housing construction market has made any EE progress and learn where the industry is going.

From their site: The house is a 2500 sq. ft. demonstration project for the Department of Energy’s “Building America” program to encourage homeowners and builders to take the next step in living and building in a more fiscally and environmentally sensible manner. This home will incorporate renewable energy resources as well as eco-friendly materials and building practices to achieve a high-performance “net zero” home with minimal impact on the environment.  They mention that one of their typical homes this size can be cooled and heated for $38/month and the home costs roughly 10 percent more upfront than a similar standard home, excluding the solar electric.

Date: November 7th, 2009

Carpool Meet Up Time: REI Dallas parking lot at 10:15a (map – 4515 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy, Dallas 75244) – departing at 10:30a

Tour Time: Approx. 11:00a (depending on shuttle timing, etc.)

Optional lunch: Following guided tour at Manny’s Tex-Mex or The Londoner (both on Midway Rd., near REI) – your vote counts!

No Parking at the TimberCreek House: No parking at actual house.  Park in Westside Baptist Church parking lot nearby (map – 900 Bellaire Blvd, Lewisville, 75067) and take complimentary shuttle to house.

Details: Please RSVP by 11/6 to the Pingg invitation or to the Young Sierrans email address so we have a rough estimate for attendance.  You can meet us at the house or carpool from REI Dallas.  Peter will send his phone number and additional meet up info to participants the day before the tour through Pingg.  You don’t have to be a Young Sierran or Sierra Club mbr to join us!

For more on the house’s features, or any other information, see the house website.  If you can’t join us on the 7th, the builders are offering other tour dates throughout November.

Guided Tour – Franconia Brewery – McKinney (8/29/09)

Please join us for a guided tour of the Franconia Brewery, the Dallas areas only local brewery.  We will learn about their state-of-the-art energy efficient production facility, water conservation practices, mash (post-brewed hops) recycling and more.  After the tour we can hang out with the brew master and sample Franconia’s tasty brews.  Mark your calendars!  * You must be 21 yrs old to join us for the tour. *

Date: Saturday – August 29th, 2009

Times: Pre-tour lunch (11:45a); Tour (1:30pm)

Pre-tour Lunch: Poppy’s Garden Cafe – 107 S. Church, McKinney, 75069 (map) – (972) 562-8386.  It’s about 5 min. from the brewery.

Tour: Franconia Brewery – 495 McKinney Parkway, McKinney, 75071 (map)

Cost: $5 for the tour and tasting; lunch is individual responsibility.

Please RSVP by 8/25 to youngsierrans[at]dallassierraclub.org or to the Pingg Invitation for the lunch, tour and/or both!

Guided Tour – LEED Certified Dallas Police HQ – Optional DART/Lunch (3/7/09)

** UPDATE ** At the request of our guide, the tour originally scheduled for Feb 21st has been canceled.  We’ve re-scheduled for March 7th – we hope you can join us then!  ** UPDATE **

Please join the us as we tour the City of Dallas Jack Evans Police Headquarters on Saturday, March 7th.  The Jack Evans Police building was Dallas’ first LEED Silver-Certified building (information PDF), which opened in March 2003.

You can meet us at the Mockingbird Lane DART rail station (details below), and we’ll train down together, or at the Jack Evans Police HQ.  We are planning to eat lunch at Cafe Express (veggie-friendly) in the Mockingbird Station retail development after the tour.

Date: Saturday – March 7th, 2009
Time: Guided Tour begins at 10:00 AM at the police HQ.
Mockingbird Station Location: Mockingbird/Central Exprwy, 75206 (map)
Building Location: 1400 S. Lamar Street, 75215 (map)
Cost: Tour = FREE!  DART rail ($3)/Lunch (individual responsibility)
Details:

• Meet at the Mockingbird DART Rail Station.  Buy your ticket upstairs (local day pass, $3 – bring exact change), then ride the escalator down to the platform where Peter (green Sierra Club tee-shirt) and Candace will be waiting starting at 9:00 AM.  We’ll board the Red Line train at 9:24 AM.  This will get us to the Cedars Station (one block from the police HQ) by 9:46.  Don’t be late, the train won’t wait!
• If you’re coming from up north and want to catch the train before it gets to Mockingbird Station, check the Red Line’s Saturday southbound schedule here.  The train leaves the Parker Road Station in Plano at 8:55.
• If you choose to drive, please meet us in the police HQ lobby by 9:55 AM.
• The tour will last about 1.5 hours.  We’ll return to Mockingbird Station for lunch at Cafe Express after the tour.
• Please RSVP by noon on 3/6 so we have a headcount for the tour and lunch reservation.

The event is open to anyone; you don’t need to be a Sierra Club member or Young Sierran to participate.  This tour will take place rain or shine.

Questions: Please contact Peter (youngsierrans[at]dallassierraclub.org).

Guided Tour of the New Trinity River Audubon Center/Day Hike – Dallas (11/22/08)

11/25/08 Update: Tour photos can be found on the YS Flickr site (link over on the right).Feel free to send me any photos you’d like to share!

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Please join us for a guided tour of the new Trinity River Audubon Center and a hike around the facility’s trails. Learn about the center’s site (former illegal landfill), sustainable building design/development and other background info from the center’s Education Director.

All are welcome; you don’t need to be a Sierra Club member to join us.

Date: Saturday – November 22nd, 2008
Time: 10:00 AM

Location: 6500 South Loop 12, Dallas, 75217 (map).
Cost: We’re negotiating a group rate which should be about $5 per person.
To Participate: Please RSVP by 11/18 to the Evite or email the youngsierrans[at]dallassierraclub.org email address. Final details (where to meet, etc.) will be distributed to participants on 11/19.
More Info: Trinity River Audubon Center website.

National Tour of Solar Homes – The Westbrook House (10/4/08)

10/13/08 Update: Photos of our day with Paul at his home are available on our Flickr photo site.

Please join us for a guided tour of the Westbrook House as part of the ASES National Tour of Solar Homes. The house is a 2713 square foot passive solar, energy efficient house designed by Paul and Elena Westbrook. Completed in 1996 in Fairview, Texas (near Dallas), the house has been a model of energy and resource efficiency. The all-electric home has an average monthly electric bill of $69 and the highest ever was <$150 (despite recent spikes in energy prices). These energy savings amount to about a $1,300/year savings over a typical home of the same size.

Date: Saturday – October 4th, 2008

Time: Young Sierrans Tour – 10:00 AM. The Westbrook House will be open to the public all day as part of the National Solar Tour.

More Info: Visit the Westbrook House (website) features and technical information (utility data, design process, etc.).

To Participate with the Young Sierrans: Please RSVP to the youngsierrans email address or to the Evite, which will be sent a few weeks prior to the tour. We may go out to lunch following the tour.