Distributed Renewable Energy Showcase:Â 1002 Washington Ave
Sponsor:Â City of Houston/DOE
Period of Support:Â 2/08/2012 - 4/30/2012
Area of Focus: Clean Energy          Â
PI: Jennifer Ronk
Team Members: Alex Cuclis, Jeff Williams
Support Team: Pam Gallagher, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: The City of Houston (Houston) is planning to convert a 190,000 square foot, former warehouse, built in 1924, to a multi-department office building. The building will, at a minimum, be LEED certified. This building, located at 1002 Washington Avenue, will serve as the City of Houston's One Stop Permitting Center and will be the permanent location of the City's Green Building Resource Center (GBRC). The consolidated, one-stop permitting facility will be the only one of its kind for large cities across the United States. As a one-stop shop, the City expects to have at least 1,000 visitors per day visit the new building.
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Watershed Protection Planning in the Double Bayou Watershed
Sponsor: Texas State Soil & Water Conservation Board
Period of Support:Â 4/01/2012 - 3/31/2015
Area of Focus: Ecosystems and Water                     Â
PI: Stephanie Glenn
Team Members: Lisa Gonzalez, Zach Vernon
Support Team: Becky Robinson, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: Develop a Double Bayou Watershed Protection Plan through coordinated watershed assessment and analysis and stakeholder input to address water quality issues and ensure the long-term health of the Double Bayou watershed
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Developing a Scorecard for Aquarium Species Invasion Potential in the Houston/Galveston Region
Sponsor: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Period of Support:Â 4/10/2012 - 12/31/2013
Area of Focus: Ecosystems and Water                     Â
PI: Stephanie Glenn
Team Members: Lisa Gonzalez
Support Team: Becky Robinson, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: The proposed study will build on findings from a current TPWD SWG project and develop a species specific Invasive Potential Scorecard that incorporates ecological and human dimensions through factors found to be influential in determining Availability, Release and Survival & Reproduction Potential.
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5STAR Amendment to Add Builder Obligation
Sponsor: City of Houston/DOE
Period of Support: 3/12/2012 - 9/27/2012
Area of Focus:Â Clean Energy ?
PI: David Hitchcock
Support Team: Pam Gallagher, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: Amendment to allow GTRI to issue incentive payments to 5STAR contractors on behalf of the City of Houston.
Third Party Review & Analysis of COH Health Facilities
Sponsor: City of Houston
Period of Support: July 1, 2011 - July 30, 2011
Area of Focus: Clean Energy
PI: Alex Cuclis
Support Team: Becky Robinson, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: Alex was awarded and completed a third party review of a new building on Holcomb for the City of Houston.
Port of Galveston Solar Energy Program
Sponsor: SECO/Port of Galveston
Period of Support:Â June, 2011 - December, 2011
Area of Focus:Â Clean Energy
PI: Rich Haut with Liz Price
Support Team: Ginny Jahn, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Port of Galveston proposes a 150 kilowatt Direct Current Standard Test Conditions (kW DC STC) Uni-Solar amorphous silicon (A-Si) solar array adhered to the roof of Cruise Terminal 1, two small solar arrays for the bus stop/car port areas at Cruise Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and an educational kiosk located in high-traffic Cruise Terminal 1 illustrating how solar works, real-time solar energy production and equivalents of environmental savings factors.
Third Party Review & Analysis of COH Health Facilities
Sponsor: City of Houston
Period of Support: July 1, 2011 - July 30, 2011
Area of Focus: Clean Energy
PI: Alex Cuclis
Support Team: Becky Robinson, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: Alex was awarded and completed a third party review of a new building on Holcomb for the City of Houston.
Port of Galveston Solar Energy Program
Sponsor: SECO/Port of Galveston
Period of Support:Â June, 2011 - December, 2011
Area of Focus:Â Clean Energy
PI: Rich Haut with Liz Price
Support Team: Ginny Jahn, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Port of Galveston proposes a 150 kilowatt Direct Current Standard Test Conditions (kW DC STC) Uni-Solar amorphous silicon (A-Si) solar array adhered to the roof of Cruise Terminal 1, two small solar arrays for the bus stop/car port areas at Cruise Terminal 1 and Terminal 2, and an educational kiosk located in high-traffic Cruise Terminal 1 illustrating how solar works, real-time solar energy production and equivalents of environmental savings factors.
Environmentally Friendly Drilling Systems: Shell Industry Support
Sponsor: Shell Global Solutions
Period of Support: July, 2011 - June, 2014
Area of Focus: Clean Energy
PI: Rich Haut
Support Team: Ginny Jahn, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description: Shell has joined the EFD Program as a new three-year sponsor.Â
City of Houston Solar America City Continuation
Sponsor: City of Houston
Period of Support: July, 2011 - April, 2012
Area of Focus: Built Environment
PI: Jennifer Ronk
Additional Project Team: Jeff Williams
Support Team: Ginny Jahn, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
To continue collecting data and reporting from the City of Houston through April 30, 2012.
Verification-Ready Prototype & Demonstration of Retrofittable Dual Loop EGR System
Sponsor: TCEQ/Quantlogic
Period of Support: June, 2011 - May, 2013
Area of Focus: Air Quality
PI: Yiqun Huang
Support Team: Becky Robinson, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
The project goals are to accomplish verification-ready prototype and demonstration of retrofittable dual loop Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) system with a NOx reduction goal of 50% over the baseline engine configuration for major operation modes of Texas drayage truck applications.
Ukraine Travel
Sponsor:Â International Research Group/USAID
Period of Support:Â May, 2011
Area of Focus:Â Clean Energy
PI:Â Rich Haut
Additional Project Team:Â Support Team:Â Ginny Jahn, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Rich is traveling this week to Kiev, Ukraine to meet with a variety of stakeholders to evaluate preliminary environmental needs assessment as that country begins to develop its own environmentally friendly drilling capabilities.
Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure - NTRD
Sponsor: GRIDbot/TCEQ
Period of Support:Â 01/01/2011 - 12/31/2011
Area of Focus:Â Environment
PI:Â David Hitchcock
The GRIDbot electric vehicle (EV) charging solution incorporates user behavior and preferences into a model that provides simple customer interaction, and collects and reports vehicle charging information that can verify vehicle mileage and emissions savings. As part of this project, HARC is gathering data from GRIDbot charging stations and from plug-in electric vehicles us the stations to estimate the emission effects under various scenarios. Test vehicles are from of the City of Houston’s fleet of plug-in electrics.
RPSEA CIAP (Notice to proceed received)
Sponsor:Â RPSEA/TX General Land Office/EPA
Period of Support:Â 4/29/11 - 6/30/13
Area of Focus:Â Clean Energy
PI:Â Rich Haut
Additional Project Team:Â Liz Price, Lisa Gonzalez, Stephanie Glenn, John Colvin et al
Support Team:Â Ginny Jahn, Bob Travis, Linda Gresak
Short Project Description:Â The goal is to provide a stewardship role in ensuring that research, development and deployment of safe and environmentally responsible technology can effectively deliver hydrocarbons from domestic resources to the citizens of the United States.
Measureable objectives include:
    Technology Road Mapping  Â
    Environmental Impact Mitigation
    Inter-state collaboration
    Workforce Program
    Technical support
 City of Houston EECBG Green Office Challenge - Energy Efficiency Incentive Program
Sponsor:Â City of Houston/EPA
Period of Support:Â 1/01/2011 - 9/27/2012
Area of Focus:Â Environment
PI:Â Ivy Guice
The EEIP will provide a financial incentive to help office building owners, property managers, and tenants located in the COH to reduce energy consumption and increase the economic performance of their building. The City will provide incentives to offset 20 percent of the up-front labor and material costs, with the incentive ranging from $20,000 to $200,000 maximum per building upon completion of the project. GTRI will provide administrative and technical oversight for this project.
Continued Project Support for Texas Climate News
Sponsor: Houston Endowment
Period of Support: June, 2011 - May, 2012
PI: Bob Harriss
Editor: Bill Dawson
Support Team: Linda Binford, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak, Krist Bender
Continued operating support for Texas Climate News, a web magazine about climate and sustainability.
Third Ward Sustainability Project
Sponsor: Houston Endowment
Period of Support: June, 2011 - May, 2012
PI: Bob Harriss
Additional Project Team: Amy Webb-Cabrera, Krist Bender, Stephanie Glenn, Zach Vernon
Support Team: Linda Binford, Victoria Henry, Linda Gresak
The project will document environmental, economic, and demographic trends in Houston’s Historic Third Ward, 1950-present. The quantitative environmental information will be complemented by qualitative interviews with three generations of Third Ward residents recording their personal memories and experiences with environmental and land use changes. The outcome of the project will provide an important perspective on how the Third Ward community has perceived the costs, benefits, and trade-offs related to changes in their immediate surroundings. The period of study includes major changes in infrastructure, the rise of environmental justice concerns, and numerous extreme weather and climate events. To our knowledge this will be the first comprehensive environmental history of the Third Ward conducted at the community-scale and focused on socioecological resilience and vulnerability to environmental change. The results of the study will inform City of Houston decision-makers, and will contribute to fundamental knowledge on planning for more resilient and sustainable urban futures.
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