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Below is a list of a few of the past Programs & Projects of the Houston Advanced Research Center.
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HARC's Cultivate Green program was seed funded by the Texas State Energy Conservation Office to create demand-side knowledge of green building and energy efficient practices.
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HARC works with the City of Houston Health Department to develop regional environmental health indicators.
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The Galveston Bay Indicators Project identified quantitative measures that met selected criteria and summarized significant portions of the data relevant to the health of Galveston Bay. The Galveston Bay indicator framework consists of 16 assessment questions and 28 indicators describing physical characteristics, biological resources, and human uses of Galveston Bay.
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The Galveston Bay Invasive Species Risk Assessment identified 296 current and potential invasive species of the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed. Of those, 84 invasive species were ranked by local and regional experts based on a set of ecological risk and management criteria. The risk assessment resulted in a list of prioritized invasive species which can be used by resource managers to target invasive species research and management resources toward high risk invaders.
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We work with building owners, architects, engineers to assist them in greening their work, writing specifications, conducting ecocharrettes, assessing LEED® possibilities, and processing LEED documentation.
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HARC's built environment team works on behalf of the Department of Energy and the State Energy Conservation Office to promote the use of green buildings in hot and humid climates.
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Houston Environmental Foresight was conceived in 1993 at the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) as a community-based project to identify, examine and rank major environmental issues that face the 8-county Houston region. Critical concerns were analyzed and prioritized in Phase 1 by experts and regional stakeholders. Foresight Phase 2, completed in 2000, developed achievable recommendations that could be used by decision makers in the region.
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The goal of this program is to provide the citizens of the Houston metropolitan area green materials information. We provide the information in the most user friendly way for residential materials needs and in a manner known as the CSI format for the commercial/institutional materials needs which is the industry standard.
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The SWBI is supported by government, industry, university, and research organizations to promote environmentally-friendly fuels. The initiative furthers the development of new feedstocks, accelerates commercialization of biobased fuels, and documents air emissions reductions.
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Several years back HARC received an EPA-NSF STAR award to conduct a sustainability assessment of the Lower Rio Grande watershed. The report of the binational research team quantifies water supply shortages under drought and climate change conditions, defines development option for the agricultural sector, and documents decline in regional biodiversity. A PDF file of the final report is available for download.
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Past Reports
Below is a list of a few of of the past Reports produced by the Houston Advanced Research Center.
In 1998, the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) commenced a project to examine the drivers - both internal and external - that lead some corporations to pursue transformational business practices that contribute to sustainability. As a result of these practices, a corporation may undergo fundamental redefinitions concerning its mission, approach to operations, or even the nature of its industry or sector.
In 1997, HARC and the University of Houston published the first edition of "A Guide to Electric Power in Texas," a report providing background and key issues for understanding the deregulation of electricity. The 3rd jointly published edition was released in 2003. The First Edition ( 677 KB) and Second Edition ( 855 KB) are also available.
The Houston Cool and Green workshop (May 1999) was one of several such events that were part of the Southern Great Plains regional assessment of the U.S. Global Change Research Program, mandated by Congress in 1990 ( P.L. 101-606). These workshops linked research by scientists to the needs of stakeholders in each region. They provided planners, managers, organizations, and the public with information to cope with climate change, shaped to fit the unique priorities within each region.
This Guide, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, was produced as a collaborative effort with the City of Houston. It was designed to capture sustainable development as applied in key Houston central city corridors.
In 1993 as part of HARC's early involvement in climate change issues, HARC and the Texas Water Commission sponsored a series of EPA-funded research projects on climate change and Texas. This report by HARC's Center for Global Studies analyzes impacts and policy options for climate change effects on water resources and energy.
From 1993 - 2000 HARC participated in a World Bank project aimed at improving water management in the arid Northeast of Brazil. Our team assisted the state of Ceará in improving policies for resettling people who lost their homes and fields to a new water reservoir. The First Interm ( 149 KB) and Second Interm ( 74 KB) reports are also available.
Economic processes are at the heart of the environmental crisis. Industrialisation has created a culture of mass consumption of mass production that persists even in the face of current environmental damage and the potential of serious ecological threat.
Additional information can be found on the HARC Energy & Building Solutions Documents page.
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| Page Updated/Reviewed: 05/06/2008 10:02 AM |
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