Betty and Clint Josey standing by the pavilion.

Completed in spring 2014, the 5,000-square-foot Betty and Clint Josey Pavilion aspires to be the first Living Building in Texas.

The pavilion is a site for meetings and educational events at the Dixon Water Foundation’s Leo Unit in Cooke County. Just as Dixon Ranches demonstrate sustainable ranching methods, the pavilion demonstrates the highest standards of sustainable building.

Lake|Flato architects of San Antonio designed the facility to meet the Living Building Challenge, the most rigorous international green-building certification. Before certification can be granted, the building’s performance must be evaluated for a year.

To meet the standard, the pavilion generates all of its own clean, renewable energy, and captures and treats its own water. Building materials are non-toxic and sourced responsibly and as locally as possible.

The Living Building Challenge is a natural fit for the Dixon Water Foundation’s mission of promoting healthy watersheds through sustainable land management. The Leo Unit is one of four Dixon Ranches where the foundation demonstrates environmentally and economically sound ways to manage rangeland. The foundation’s other ranches are in Cooke and Parker counties and Marfa, Texas.

The pavilion is named after Clint Josey, the foundation’s vice-president and board chairman, and his wife, Betty. As landowners, the Joseys have been advocates of holistic land management for 30 years.