TexEnergy Energy has partnered with Cedar Valley College to develop the energy efficient Green Building Institute. The institute "will promote the national agenda" for the conservation of energy use in buildings, the use of environmentally responsible building technologies as well as the development of sustainable communities.

The U.S. Department of Energy, impressed with the proposal, entered into a partnership April 1 with Cedar Valley. The college can use DOE resources and research from a program called Building America at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.

To learn more click here to learn more about the Green Building Institute

Have you ever wondered what the staff of TexEnergy looks or sounds likes? Well this is your chance to see the TexEnergy team in action! We were the featured experts on CBS 11's "11 on Call" segment on Thursday (June 23rd) we answered viewers' questions regarding energy efficiency and high energy bills.

TexEnergy Solutions was the featured guest on "The Home Show" with David Yates on WBAP 820 . We will be discussing the Energy Star new homes program, Texas Veteran’s Land Board loans, and ways for homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their existing home and the TexEnergy Home Energy Audit.

David is the premiere real estate and home improvement host in Texas. He hosts home improvement and radio shows in Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin each weekend.

David has been in the homebuilding/ real estate industry in Texas for more than 15 years. David is a licensed Realtor, a registered home builder, and was named a Certified Graduate Builder in 1997 and a Certified Sales Professional in 1993 by the National Association of Home Builders.

He was honored by the Dallas Home Builders Association in 1997 with a McSAM Award as the best sales professional selling homes priced over $300,000 in the Dallas / Ft. Worth metroplex. He has been honored by Bob Vila's 'Restore America' for his outstanding preservation efforts.

He coordinated the HOME Magazine 1999 American House of The Year, and built/developed the AT&T Home of Tomorrow at the 2000 State Fair of Texas.

More than 300,000 people have visited David's Design and Idea Show Homes over the last three years, and David and his projects/products have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, HOME Magazine, as well as on television stations around the country.

A center for energy-efficient building is advancing under (from left) executive director David Eishen, volunteer Jim McCormick and Cedar Valley president Dr. Jennifer Wimbish.

The timeline began in February, when college president Dr. Jennifer Wimbish asked David Eishen, a 28-year veteran faculty member and a mechanical contractor in the private sector, to study how the college could contribute to green building technologies. "She gave me the freedom to investigate what we could do," said Mr. Eishen, who specializes in teaching heating and air-conditioning courses. He wrote up a proposal in early March for the Lancaster-based college to create the Energy Efficient Green Building Institute. Mr. Eishen said he discovered that no other community colleges had such a program, and only a few four-year colleges, such as Cornell University, have one. The institute "will promote the national agenda for the conservation of energy use in buildings, the use of environmentally responsible building technologies as well as the development of sustainable communities," Dr. Wimbish said.

The U.S. Department of Energy, impressed with the proposal, entered into a partnership April 1 with Cedar Valley. The college can use DOE resources and research from a program called Building America at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Dr. Wimbish said. Yes, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory does more than just atomic research. The DOE is interested in the institute because it sees a need for trained energy raters and inspectors, Dr. Wimbish said.

The Texas State Coordinating Board also gave the school a $50,000 Perkins Leadership Grant, which includes state and federal funds, to underwrite the continuing education courses that will start this fall. The courses target two principal groups: people in the construction field who want to learn about energy and environmental efficiency, and homeowners and consumers who want to educate themselves about efficiencies in their existing homes or before buying a home. "These courses would be designed for national certification," Dr. Wimbish said. "Some would be delivered online, and maybe they would take some of the courses on-site and take their exams here.";

Institute's goals
Down the road, Cedar Valley is looking into offering a self-contained, two-year associate degree. This would prepare students without any prior experience for careers in the field. Dr. Wimbish said the institute has six goals:

• It will be a national educational center for workforce training in energy-efficient technologies.
• It will become a resource center for homeowners, the business community, building professionals, real estate professionals and government entities for studying technology, smart growth and sustainable communities.
• It will promote awareness.
• It will become a resource for public schools.
• It will work with city and regional governments to promote legislation and regulations in support of green building technologies and sustainable neighborhoods.
• It will continue to seek funding, as it has from the Texas State Coordinating Board, from the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, energy providers - TXU Corp. has already signed on as a partner - businesses and foundations.

Spreading the word
Mr. Eishen said Jim McCormick, a community volunteer, "helped us have a dialogue with the Department of Energy and also helped coordinate the support of business and civic leaders, including mayors, with the institute." Cedar Valley College received a ringing endorsement at a community meeting July 1, Dr. Wimbish said. In attendance were two DOE representatives, mayors, city managers, other public officials and chamber presidents from Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lancaster and Oak Cliff - 36 people in all, including representatives from the North Texas Council of Governments. Dr. Wimbish and Mr. Eishen are busy spreading the word about this unique enterprise, and they welcome financial assistance. To learn more about the program, call Mr. Eishen at (972) 860-8170. To help fund the program, call Pamela Gist, dean of resource development, at 972-860-8180.