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Lessons in Thermal Mass and Great Insulation

Betty Saenz — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 10:12:58 +0000

I think it is easier for one to learn a lesson by actually feeling it, experiencing it with their own body and mind. Such is the case with thermal mass. I first learned about thermal mass in the Texas Hill Country near Austin, Texas. I believe it was at Lyndon Baines Johnson’s boyhood home in Johnson City, Texas. It was a very hot Texas Summer day, temperatures were maybe in the high 90′s or so. The old historic home was made of hand hewn large rectangular native stone. I entered the home and felt pleasantly cool. It was amazing! It must have been in the 70′s in there on this hot Summer day. Those massive natural stones did the job! They created thermal mass to even out the temperature extremes.

Now, in 2010, my husband does not understand the benefits of thermal mass or excellent insulation. No matter how much I talked to him he just did not get it. Words just don’t mean as much as experiencing it. So one weekend, when we were out in Buda, Texas previewing a community, I took him to see a home built with foam insulation. This particular builder always leaves the large HVAC closet open at the top to the attic. You can walk in the closet and look up to see the foam insulation under the roof decking in the attic, so hence, you are in the attic. My husband has been in our typical Texas home’s attic and felt the extreme temperature difference. In the Summer, going up in your typical Texas attic is like walking into a sauna set on highest heat. You start perspiring profusely immediately upon entry. Your air-conditioning duct work has to struggle to deliver cold air through that heat! My husband was totally amazed at the coolness of this attic space. Here it was, a hot summer day in the afternoon and that closet and hence the attic was in the 70 degree range. This is why in homes built like this, the attic is considered conditioned space.

Do you have similar experiences? If not, I’d love to help you in your GREEN education. Sometimes it is better to experience it than just read about it. I’d love to show you some homes with thermal mass and or great insulation. I know of homes we can see that are of Passive Solar design and made of SIP construction – Structurally Insulated Panels. This building design concept of thermal mass protects against the huge temperature swings. Thermal mass is part of Passive Solar design. I also know homes in the Austin area made of ICF construction - Insulated Concrete Forms. ICF combines thermal mass with insulation. It is concrete mixed with recycled polystyrene. I even know of an old historic Texas German settler home currently for sale made of the old fashioned but well working native stone blocks or high-mass masonry walls. I’d love to help you buy your own energy efficient home. Call me, Betty Saenz GREEN REALTOR at (512) 785-5050 or e-mail Betty Saenz

Renewable Energy Roundup Coming Soon

Betty Saenz — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 15:32:02 +0000

Our beloved annual Renewable Energy Roundup and Green Living Fair is coming up soon. Put on by the Texas Solar Energy Society, the Fair is now in it’s 11th year and coming to historic and fun Fredericksburg, Texas September 24th through September 26th, 2010. I go every year and am never there enough time. There is always so much to see, do and learn for people of all ages. Children 12 and under are FREE. Tickets are $10.00 to $12.00 and available at the gate. There are so many booths set up to learn about so much. There are food vendors, talks about any green living topic you can imagine and all at a very reasonable entry fee.

This years talks include information on small wind systems, saving water, rainwater collection, city gardening, aquaponics, wild plants, compressed earth block building, Net Zero homes, Geothermal Systems, organic farming and ranching, solar cars, solar cooking, photovoltaic systems, greenwashing and more!! There are natural cooking demos and I guarantee you will learn a lot about many topics. I hope to see you there!! I’ll probably wear my TOFGA, Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners t shirt I got at the fair last year when I joined that great organization. There is usually a ride share set up to share rides to the fair from the Austin Texas Metro Area. I am looking at all the talks now and having a hard time deciding which day to go, I think I will go to all three!!!

My Front Yard Organic Grocery Store

Betty Saenz — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 05:56:53 +0000

Sweet Red Peaches

I just love my front yard organic grocery store. I enjoy picking my own fruits of my own labor knowing they were produced without being sprayed by some harmful chemical and my fruit is not waxed or picked green to gas ripen after shipping in some cold gas chamber. Geez! What has happened to our food supply?! One has to only watch “Super Size Me” and “Food Inc” to understand our dilemma in the United States. That is why I am so happy to grow some of my own. Gardening in Central Texas is not hard. I am no rocket scientist and I manage easily enough. It’s easy to grow some of your own food.

Nature's Bounty

I started my 2010 year with the sweetest, tastiest most melt in your mouth apricots!!! Picking fruit is easy! Next it was the reddest, juiciest, sweetest large red-skinned freestone peaches and also blackberries. For 4th of July we had homemade peach ice cream out of our old White Mountain ice cream freezer. Then on to sweet little figs! Getting a second fig crop now. Yum! I always share some fruit with the birds who visit my National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat yard. Currently it is a great apple harvest. Delightful juicy sweet and slightly tart green apples. The tree was bowing down it is so laden with fruit!! Fresh apple pies baked from scratch this weekend!! Next will be pomegranites. And I always have plenty of herbs – two kinds of oregano, mint, parsley, rosemary, thyme, lemon grass, dill, basil and more…

Luscious Peaches

Next year I bet my nectarine and plums will come into full bloom and subsequent production!! I have some papaya and citrus trees too. And guess what?? I am raising catfish and crappie in my backyard pond. All this organic produce and food on a 60′ cty lot in Leander, Texas, Williamson County. Yippee!!!

Contact the organic gardening REALTOR Betty Saenz to buy or sell a home, farm or ranch. I’ll help you get your own organic garden growing on your own piece of Real Estate!!

Austin Texas Gets New Mode of Transportation

Betty Saenz — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 04:29:08 +0000

Tomorrow morning, March 22, 2010, is a historic occasion for the Austin, Texas Metro Area. At 5:25am, the new Capital Metrorail redline train leaves Leander, Texas’s TOD on its way to Austin, Texas. I will be at the Leander Station at 4:30am to help. I am excited about the event and the prospects for all of us who live in the area. We need solutions to Austin’s traffic problems and commuter rail will play a part be it big or small. I know CapMetro is relieved and I am too! I will be there assisting as a MetroRail Ambassador. Watch this video for tips on how to ride.

Now, you can consider buying a home or condo near a rail station and perhaps live carless! Search Austin Homes
And if you work in Downtown or Central Austin you can buy a less expensive home in the suburbs, such as Leander and ride the train in to work everyday! Search Leander Homes

Birding Around Austin Texas: the Williamson County TX Audubon Group

Betty Saenz — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:20:40 +0000

Betty Saenz, member of Williamson Audubon Group

If you live in the northern part of Austin, Texas or even elsewhere, the Williamson County Texas Audubon Group (WAG) is a great organization to further your interests in nature and or birds. I just retuned from a Williamson Audubon Group meeting at the New Church on County Road 245 in Georgetown, Texas. A large crowd, including myself, were entertained by guest speaker and local, award winning wildlife photographer Greg Lasley. Mr. Lasley said he has had his photos published in over 100 books and magazines which include American Birds, Texas Highways Magazine, Wildlife Conservation and many more. His book, Texas Wildlife Portraits was available for purchase and signing. Mr. Lasley’s book is available for purchase on Amazon.com Mr. Lasley showed many photographs of various birds and other Texas wildlife on 2 huge screens so all attendees could see them well. Listeners could hear the Lesser Prairie Chicken recording on his i Phone while looking at its photograph. Lasley said the Lesser Prairie Chicken with their orange sacks on the side of their faces can still be seen roaming in the wild in the northeast Texas Panhandle. Many Native American tribal dances mimic the Prairie Chicken. Other photos included the Screetch Owl, Inca doves, a golden cheeked warbler with its bright yellow head and namesake cheeks, black capped vireo, wild turkey, yellow throated warbler, Least Bittern, and the beautiful Painted Bunting. Painted Buntings have a bright blue head, red throat, bright green below the head and an orange belly and back. Mr. Lasley also had photos of females and immature males which both looked a drab green. He said it takes 2 years for the male painted buntings to mature into their bright colored plumage. I have not yet seen one in the wild but long to! Mr. Lasley has had some interesting experiences on his wildlife adventures. He spoke of a ranch owner who fed wild Harris’s Hawks store bought kidney off of a mesquite tree on his ranch. There were pictures of a Wood Duck with can be seen on Town Lake (Ladybird Lake) and a white tail hawk as seen in McAllen, Texas in the valley. There was 1 soaring adult white tailed hawk as well as a nest of fluffy, downy babies.

Among the non-bird photos was a jackrabbit, coyote, Mexican ground squirrel, armadillo, Pallid bats roosting, an alligator at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, a painted damsel fly, a black saddlebags dragonfly, a blue faced ring tailed dragonfly, an Ebony jewel wing (black) dragonfly, a wolf spider carrying its babies, a flame skimmer dragonfly, a Toothpick grasshopper, a long jawed spider with a dusty dancer damselfly caught in his web, a beautiful red Mayan dragonfly, a praying mantis photo taken through a Macro lens, a South Texas Queens butterfly, a migratory American Snout butterfly, a Banded Peasant dragonfly, a Rock Rattlesnake, a Luna Moth in Luling, TX, a Texas horned lizard, a Texas Spiny Lizard, a red-eared slider turtle, a Texas tortoise and a 6 foot Texas Indigo snake which are known for eating rattlesnakes. This goes to show that most birdwatchers, like myself, are nature lovers. Many of his photographs were very unique and artistic showing just an animals head, part of a tortoise’s shell or only a section of a Wild Turkey’s plumage.

My 25 minute drive from Leander, Texas to Georgetown, Texas and back was nice down the new section of Ronald W. Reagan Boulevard (Parmer Lane). It felt like you were miles and miles from nowhere since there was no traffic. You can join the Williamson Audubon Group (WAG) by signing up on Meetup.com

April 12. 2010 at 7:00pm at the NewChurch Georgetown, TX the Guest Speaker for the Williamson Audubon Group will be Richard Kostecke, PhD of The Nature Conservancy. I am amazed at how much the people in this group know about birds. I am hoping to be able to identify all the birds in my Texas backyard! In looking at my personal, signed copy of Greg Lasley’s Texas Wildlife Portraits, I think I can almost narrate through most of the book after the presentation tonight. Hopefully I can hold my grandkids attention that long! LOL

Contact me at (512) 785-5050 or by e-mail to learn more about the Williamson Audubon Group or about buying or selling a home, lot or ranch in the Williamson County or Austin area.

Avoid VOC’s in Your Texas Organic Home

Betty Saenz — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:35:45 +0000

What are VOCs and what can we do to avoid having them in our homes? VOCs are Volatile Organic Compounds, and no, this is not the type of “good” organic we want in our Texas Organic Home. VOCs are pollutants in our homes and can effect the indoor air quality of our homes. The resulting poor indoor air quality can have both short and long term ill health effects. For some great information on VOCs, just visit the United States government’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website and look at the web page on Indoor Air Quality. Since VOCs are emitted by building materials, furnishings and paints as well as other materials in our homes, I am concentrating on these two in this blog. One of the best ways to avoid VOC’s is in the construction or even remodeling process.

There are green cabinet makers who follow green woodworking practices for example that are aware of the problems VOCs can cause in indoor air quality. Among these are Jeff Mitzel at Green Award Custom Woodworking at 5710 E. MLK in Austin, TX (512) 323-6633. Jeff and the other craftsmen at Green Award Custom Woodworking care about our earth and the indoor air quallity in your home enough to use materials that do not off gas in your indoor living environment. They also work by a zero waste policy. Waste ply materials are recycled by local artists, teachers and art therapists as well as in other woodworking projects at the Austin,TX shop. Using locally milled woods, new green products as well as reclaimed woods, the wood shop uses over 70 green raw materials in the creation of millwork and cabinetry. Green Award is also Austin, Texas’ oldest continually running cabinet and millwork shop.

Austin’s Healthy Economy

Betty Saenz — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 02:20:42 +0000

Austin, Texas is Poised for a Fast Economic Recovery according to Forbes-

The Austin, Texas, Round Rock, Texas Metro Area is ranked number 3 in a Forbes Real Estate list of America’s Fastest Recovering Cities. San Antonio, TX was number 2, the Dallas-Fort Worth, Arlington, TX Metro Area was number 6; Houston, Sugar Land, Baytown, TX Metro Area was number 8 on the list. The November 19, 2009 article entitled “America’s Fastest-Recovering Cities” by Francesca Levy stated that no area completely escaped the recession but these areas have “diversified industry and relatively stable housing” which provides residents with “comparatively secure standards of living”. The article went on to quote from Texas A & M University Real Estate Center’s research economist James P. Gaines that Texas did not have a housing boom or bubble as much as other areas of our country did so therefore we are not experiencing a big bust. I am thankful to be in Texas and in the Austin, Texas, Round Rock, Texas area. My forefathers settled here when Texas was a Republic. It is sad to look at pictures of what is happening in say, Detroit where whole neighborhoods are simply returning to nature, houses completely covered with vines and vegetation as they slowly rot back into the Earth.

My Pond on 2009 Austin Pond Society Night Pond Tour

Betty Saenz — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:29:30 +0000

My home in Leander, Texas is one of the ponds on the Austin Pond Society Night Tour tonight, 7/18/09 from 8:00pm to 11:00pm.

My Home, an Austin Pond Society Feature

This Austin, Texas event is great for people who like looking at beautiful yards & water features. It’s a great way to get ideas for your own projects. For refreshments I am planning to serve organic lemon grass tea, organic mint tea from my gardens. My yard is accessible. There are slightly uneven surfaces but no steps. Many other ponds are accessible as well.

Water Features

Leopard Frog on Lilly in My Pond

My Water Features include a disappearing fountain by my front door, which was my 1st water feature. When I bought my home there was a full size oleander trying to live in this small 2’ X 2’ space!! I lined the hole with an EPDM liner, added a grate, small pump & vessel. After adding river bed rocks and water I was in business and amphibians moved in.

The Creation of my waterfall and bog

My pond, waterfall & bog are in my backyard & were hand built over 2 years. It all started when my son and I started digging a small hole for a small pond one evening. Every article on pond building that I read said that many pond owners felt their pond was not big enough and encouraged you to build a pond a good size from the beginning. So we did. I have goldfish and a hybrid koi/goldfish in my pond. Also Rosy Reds, snails, Leopard frogs and toads. A teeny tiny, bird sounding frog called “Peepers” live in my yard too.

I do organic edibles and xeriscaping in my front yard. The front yard is, sadly, water hogging St. Augustine, what yard I have left. The small back lawn is a wide blade Zoysia- it rocks! I have numerous Native Trees & other plants that support butterflies, bees & wildlife. My yard is a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat™. I share my peaches, blackberries, tomatoes, water & other food with wildlife. I put the lights in my backyard so I could work in the yard in the cooler nights of HOT Summer.

The Cabana, Patio and Greenhouse

The bar is made out of an old Mexican blanket chest I found on Craig’s List. Topped with a solid piece of stone, we added shelves, a native juniper (“cedar”) foot rest & native stone around the bottom. The 2 signs are from Craig’s List.

Stone Patio: Well over 10 tons of locally quarried Native stone were used in this project. I went to Florence and Jarrell to pick out and order stone. I set the natural patio stones in sand and finished it off with decomposed granite. This created a permeable surface to allow the rain to water my beloved Live oak trees. It is part of my get rid of lawn process. The large stone patio is also a surface that our active & large German Shepherd (from Blue Dog Rescue) cannot tear up.

My greenhouse is built out of primarily recycled materials which include a used door, used window and 3 sheets of glass from old sliding glass patio doors. The greenhouse has been great for keeping my plants from freezing in winter.

My large, irregularly shaped Dog Run is made of hog fence panels, landscape timbers & cedar posts installed in a shady, breezy area with a low maintenance, no-mud pea gravel floor.

Current Improvements

I am currently doing more retrofitting of my home to be even Greener. On my list is finishing the gutter system and adding a large rainwater collection system. I plan to use tall, rectangular brown colored tanks that will fit up against the house. I will be taking out the strip of grass on the east side of my driveway and installing crushed rock.

With Drought & HEAT Xeriscapes Should be the Next Yard Fashion

Betty Saenz — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:47:41 +0000

With record setting high heat, drought, and lake levels getting lower and lower it seems that xeriscaping would be all the rage in Central & South Texas but it’s not. Who started the fad of growing these expansive water hogging St. Augustine (“carpet” grass) lawns anyway? I have yet to know the full history behind this ecological disaster. However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, there is a way out, and it is called xeriscaping. Not “zero scaping ” as it often is miscalled, implying that xeriscapes can’t be beautiful when they can be colorful & artistic when well designed. Xeriscaping is landscaping that is designed for drought and water conservation to protect our water supply and environment. A xeriscaped yard is not only beautiful, but uses less water, requires less maintenance and the native plants and flowers attract & provide habitat for native species of birds, butterflies & other living things.

Getting Started

One of the first steps in a xeriscape landscape plan is to reduce or eliminate the lawngrass. Another alternative is to replace the existing lawn with a grass that needs little water to live like zoysia or buffalograss. I look at many homes and landscapes in the Austin, Texas Metro area. Right now so many lawns are that sickly, depressing shade of yellowish brown. If left on their own, lawn grasses may die and weeds fill in. The next year I see people trying to re-sod with St. Augustine only to start this cycle again.

Learning More about What and How To Plant

Some great ways to learn about xeriscape plants are through the Native Plant Society of Texas, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin, and local nurseries. The “big box” store nurseries still carry invasives, and plants that “look pretty” but are not good for conserving water. Some cities such as Leander, Texas and Austin, Texas have recommended plant lists. Leander’s is on the City of Leander website- search for Preferred plant list.doc and the City of Austin has a Grow Green section on their website. Go to the Plant Guide section. There is also a Grow Green booklet free of charge at the City or many Austin area nurseries. The City of Austin also has a Xeriscape Advisory Board to help homeowners design these water-wise gardens. Texas A & M Horticulture has some great information. The Williamson County Extension Office at 3151 Inner Loop Rd. in Georgetown, Texas has local demonstration plots at to see xeriscape plants & grasses growing. There is a map in the Extension Office & plants & trees are labeled & staked. The Wilco Master Gardeners maintain the xeriscaping gardens.

Professional Advice and Installation

You may choose to hire a professional landscape architect or designer to design a custom plan for your yard. The Austin Area has many experienced and knowledgeable professionals with many completed projects on the ground (or should I say “in” the ground! LOL). Many will design the landscape plan, giving you a drawing of where to plant what and a list of desired specimens but allow you to carry out your plan thus saving you money. Or, you may choose to have the entire design implemented completely by professionals while you relax in the air conditioning watching through the window! You avoid heatstroke that way!

Enjoying Your Xeriscape

Now that your own yard is a Texas Hill Country heat lovin’, water shruggin’ paradise, you may want to take a further step and get your home Certified as a Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation or the Texas Parks and Wildlife Texas Wildscapes or Best of Texas Backyard Habitat programs. Get a cool glass of fresh- squeezed lemonade, hibiscus tea or other cold beverage and go hand with your butterflies and birds, relishing in the thought that you are having a share in conserving water and our wonderful state.

Commuter Bus from Austin to San Antonio

Betty Saenz — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:43:05 +0000

I learned about the commuter bus from Austin to San Antonio on the EchoTown.net web site Blogs from a biking blogger upset about public transportation. Tired of waiting for a commuter rail to get from Austin to San Antonio or vice versa, this blogger uses the commuter bus service. The Austin-San Antonio commuter rail line has been under discussion for many years. Expected to begin March 30th, 2009, Austin’s Leander to Austin commuter rail is not in operation for the public yet either. So what’s a carless person to do? Taking the bus may be the best current option. Here is the BT Interurban website to guide you through the process. There is WiFi on the bus system for laptop use in route and bicycle racks to carry your transportation to the next destination. Bus tickets are available at HEB grocery store locations in San Marcos, New Braunfels and Kyle. The two bus routes run along IH 35 between Austin, Texas and San Antonio, Texas with stops in San Marcos, Texas in Hays County. For more information about bus and other transportation options in San Marcos see the CARTS or Capital Area Rural Transporation System website. For information on Bicycle Transportation in San Marcos see the Texas State University website section on bicycling. In San Antonio the bus service connects with San Antonio’s Via bus system. In Austin stops are tied to existing Capital Metro bus system locations which extend as far north as the Leander Station Park-n-Ride in Leander’s TOD with Express Bus Service. For more on the Long-Range Transit Plan for the Austin area see Capital Metro’s All Systems Go site. The CapMetro site also has information on the Regional Commuter Rail project for the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Rail District. For more information on the San Antonio area’s Alamo Regional Transit check the Alamo Area Council of Goverments web site.