Visitors can tour native gardens outside, including the stunning Grande
Allee fountain. Inside, a tropical butterfly house includes hundreds of
free flying butterflies with daily butterfly releases at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The annual monarch tagging demonstrations will take place at 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
New in 2011, the Texas Discovery Gardens Green Exhibit celebrates
fun, easy ways to live more sustainably. Multiple vendors will be on
hand with natural treats, eco-friendly transportation, and more.
Sculptures and paintings throughout Texas Discovery Gardens connect art
with nature, featuring the work of Silvia Thornton, Anne Neal, Dan and
Lori Dudley, student sculptors at El Centro College, and more. We are
also proud to unveil a public art display with the City of Dallas from
Vancouver artists Michael Vandermeer and Cheryl Hamilton, featuring
stunning glass and steel nature-themed pieces that hang from our two
story lobby ceiling. Open daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. $3 admission.

Registration required, seating limited to 25, cost $50 (per rain barrel) - Register now.

Solar Power International (SPI) is North America's largest, most
comprehensive solar power trade show and conference. This annual,
business-to-business event was the first of its kind in North America
and grows bigger and better every year.

Nearly 24,000 professionals from 125+ countries attend. With one out
of five attendees coming from outside the United States, SPI is truly a
global event.

In 2011, over 1,200 companies from all vertical markets in the solar
power spectrum will exhibit in a space of more than 1 million gross
square feet.

Growing New Markets

SPI is presented by two non-profit organizations, SEIA and SEPA,
whose mission is to advance and support the solar power industry and to
promote the growth of U.S. solar markets. Fulfilling this commitment,
SPI will take place outside of California for the first time in 2011. In
Dallas, Texas, show participants will gain exposure to new products,
service providers and professionals from a new horizon of the industry.

Who Attends:

We will learn to
construct a beautiful, natural, earth friendly, energy
efficient building!  Foundation, walls, windows, framing, and roof
construction will be taught. We will be teaching the Nebraska Style of Straw
bale building, which is also termed "Load bearing".  Natural plasters will
also be covered for the interior while the exterior will be Stuccoed. 
Sheet Rock Wall Interface will also be demonstrated. 

This “Green”
Building method will provide the Camp with an ‘Arts and Crafts” structure, to be
used for both storage and a work area.

Join a multi-city clean up focusing on communities served by the Trinity
River watershed. Volunteers will contribute to make the city cleaner
and prevent litter flowing into rivers, streams, and lakes. Volunteers
are needed to clean up by canoe or along the banks of the river. Volunteers must register. To participate, contact Alma Pohler at 817.860.6752 or by e-mail at alma@riverlegacy.org.  Registration Form Here.

8 am to 1 pm – Volunteers with experience in canoeing who will help with clean up from on the river. 

10 am to 1 pm – Volunteers who want to help clean up the banks of the river, get trash from canoes and clean the canoes.

Bring your lunch and stay for lunch in the park and games.

Bath salts, and oils and fizzies, oh my!
Everyone loves bath products, and what better time than the holidays to
start working on your own signature blends. David Fisher, Guide to
Candle & Soap Making at About.com, will demonstrate how easy it is
to get started making your bath items to help melt away the stress of
the season.  Learn about and make your own products to keep for
yourself or give as gifts for the holidays. Go home with samples and

The South Central Regional Committee Leadership Summit

The
USGBC North Texas Chapter is very excited to be hosting our Region's
Fourth Annual SCRC Leadership Summit. Over the past months, the planning
team has researched and identified critical topics to be considered
with survey input from many of you.

In
addition, in the coming months, the team will coordinate session
content and speakers that address some of the latest advancements in
sustainable thinking within our chapters and beyond.

We
hope each Regional Chapter elevates the 2011 Leadership Summit for
participation and extending leadership training, relationship building
and cutting edge programming to the Chapters’ BOD’s, committee leaders
and volunteers.  Each attendee will need to bring
an appetite for learning but a willingness to engage in the conversation
- a conversation that shares with others:

This
session will explore the LEED Indoor Environmental Quality category in a
credit by credit format. We will look at the overall intent of this
category, as well as the individual intent of the prerequisites and
credits within it. We will also discuss the requirements and
verification steps necessary to achieve each credit and some real world
examples of strategies used to fulfill each measure.

This
session explores the LEED Materials and Resources category in a credit
by credit format, reviewing the overall category intent and the
individual intents of the prerequisites and credits within it. Learn the
technical requirements of the credits and, through real-world case
examples shared by USGBC LEED Faculty, strategies that work to achieve
them.