WHAT

The City of Richardson will celebrate Earth Day, April 22, with an official ribbon cutting to commemorate the completion of the Huffhines Recreation Center Renewable Energy Project. The City of Richardson was awarded a grant of over $1 million by the 2009 Federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program to implement energy-saving projects in the City including the Huffhines Renewable Energy Project. After much planning and design, Huffhines went under construction in late 2011 and the project was completed in early 2012.

The new components added to the recreation center include solar photovoltaic panels, a wind energy system, solar thermal hot water heating, electric vehicle charging stations and an educational kiosk inside the building. The renewable energy features are expected to reduce the facility’s energy usage an additional 10 percent and helped the center earn LEED Silver certification.

WHO

Bob Townsend, Richardson Mayor
Richardson City Council members
City Staff

WHEN

Earth Day
Sunday, April 22, 2012
5 p.m.

WHERE

Huffhines Recreation Center
200 N. Plano Road
Richardson, Texas 75081

MORE INFO

The Huffhines Recreation Center was originally built in 2009 and was funded through the 2006 Bond Program at a cost of $6 million. Huffhines is a Silver LEED-certified building, the second LEED-certified building in the City. The recreation center features many eco-friendly design elements including energy-saving features that lower the need for artificial lighting and optimize energy use, and construction of 29 percent of the building with recycled material.