Home improvement

Mark Frauenfelder, the editor-in-chief of Make magazine, the leading publication of the do-it-yourself movement, will speak as part of the museum's Celebrity Lecture Series. Adults/$12, children, seniors/$10.

The South-Central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource, a partnership of energy efficiency industry stakeholders committed to the accelerated adoption of advanced building systems and energy efficiency products and services in the south-central U.S., is hosting two workshops:

9am to Noon -- Commercial Building Diagnostic Tools and Lighting Technologies.
1-4pm -- Commercial Building Operators-Evaluating Common Opportunities and HVAC Economizers. Cost: $20/per workshop, $30/both workshops. Lunch provided. See website for directions, parking info.

Learn to make green cleaners out of vinegar, cooking oils and baking soda to reduce toxins and save money. Part of Irving's Urban Farming Lecture Series.

Green business professionals and environmentally minded residents meet monthly to network and learn about sustainable living. NOTE: The January is meeting is cancelled.

Learn about professional home energy audits, energy retrofits and renewable energy. Tour the Environmental Ed. Center, Plano's only LEED platinum-certified building. Free.

Get answers to questions about renewable energy -- from solar panels to wind turbines to geothermal heating. Free.

Learn what happens during a home energy audit from auditors. Hear what homeowners say about their energy audits. Learn about rebates for energy efficient retrofits. Free.

Learn techniques for making your home more energy efficient. Plano residents receive an energy efficiency tool kit. Free.

Learn techniques for making your home more energy efficient. Plano residents receive an energy efficiency tool kit. Free.

This meeting is hosted by the North Texas Renewable Energy Group. Topic: "Pecan Street, Incorporated."
Presenter: Chris Holcomb, Data Scientist with Pecan Street Inc.

Though this project has an unusual name (after the street on which the homes are located in Austin), it is truly solar energy and energy efficiency related, and of interest to everyone - whether you own or rent. The Pecan Street project is an ongoing study by the University of Texas, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and, Environmental Defense Fund to develop and test an integrated clean energy smart grid of tomorrow in the homes of today. It's an ambitious effort intended to not only "smarten" up the utility grid, but find true benefits that energy customers really want. For more information, see http://www.pecanstreet.org/projects/mueller/