Rio Grande Valley slow to adopt green building techniques
The Monitor - McAllen, Texas
June 03, 2006
Kate Lohnes
Monitor Staff Writer
“Green” design, or designing buildings in such a way you minimize harm to the environment, has caught the eye of conservationists worldwide, but according to local experts, the Rio Grande Valley has yet to pay attention.In Texas, Austin and San Antonio are only two examples of cities jumping on the green building wagon, said Pat Williams, regional manager in the Valley for SpawGlass Contractors, Inc. SpawGlass is a Texas-wide contracting company that employs some green design in its projects and has been responsible for much of the new construction at the University of Texas-Pan American and South Texas College campuses. According to Williams, this area of the state trails behind large metropolitan areas in creating sustainable buildings.
“In my opinion, the Valley is a little bit less into it than some of the rest of the state,” he said. “(Sustainable building) hasn’t caught on as large here yet.”
At Diseño, Inc. architectural firm in Pharr, architect Ruben Escobar and intern/project manager Erick Diaz both had similar opinions.
“Green building has more application in places like San Antonio and Austin,” Escobar said. “They’re very energy-conscious there. You see it applied more.”
The Valley isn’t without its own examples of green building. The World Birding Center location at the Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park in Mission, designed by Lake/Flato Architects, Inc. in San Antonio and opened in February 2004, was recently named by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) as one of its top 10 green building projects for 2006. The center and its counterpart in Weslaco both use regional materials in its structure, like locally-made brick and recovered cypress wood, said Williams, whose company constructed the buildings. The center in Mission also has large cisterns that collect rainwater, which is recycled for use in the habitat for butterflies, birds and more.
David Lake, Lake/Flato architect and member of the AIA, said his company only designs buildings that are eco-friendly.
“Every project we do is a sustainable design,” he said. “We don’t do projects that aren’t committed to conserving energy and the environment.”
While the birding center is a good example of green building, it is one of the only examples here in the Valley, said Carmen Pérez García, executive director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Garcia, who has been an advocate of sustainable building for the past 40 years, said she hasn’t seen much change in the building community because many people don’t know what building green means.
“It’s very hard if you don’t know what you’re doing,” she said. “If you’re not used to thinking that way, it’s so hard to change the mindsets. People are so used to doing things the same way.”
The issue also stems from a lack of resources in the Valley, said Perry Vaughn, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of America chapter in the Valley. To be considered truly green, Vaughn said, materials used in a building should come from within a 500-mile radius of the construction site, meaning they are either a natural resource or are manufactured within that zone. The quality and availability of recycled materials, he said, can also be scarce.
“The recycling ability is probably more challenging in the Valley than anywhere else,” he said. “We don’t have the level of recycling programs that major metropolitan areas do.”
There are “passive” green methods local residents can employ, regardless of whether you’re building a house or revamping a pre-existing building, said Diaz and Escobar. When building, align your house from north to south, so at sunrise and sunset the sun doesn’t overheat your house, or use deep awnings and tinted windows to stop light. Pick light-colored roofs that will reflect sunlight instead of absorbing it. Keeping natural vegetation in your yard and planting plenty of trees brings with it shade and coolness for your house, they said. Instead of using city water to keep your landscaping green, Diaz suggested placing a plastic drum in your yard to collect rainwater for later use.
“Green construction might end up paying for itself,” he said. “If it pays for itself and you take good care of it, the building might last longer. Instead of building and destroying, you’re saving energy and not consuming it.”
While there may not be much change now, Garcia and others all said that increasing demand elsewhere is leading to green products that are more accessible and less expensive. With prices coming down, Garcia said builders and contractors must educate themselves and their customers.
“Now the onus is on the manufacturer to develop more friendly, less toxic materials,” Garcia said. “The public is becoming more savvy out there. Hopefully the building material manufacturers will have no choice now. They’ll be driven by a public that is better educated and more demanding of less toxic materials for its citizens.”
What the Valley needs, said Williams, is time to catch up with its metropolitan neighbors and lots of information.
“If the consumer demands it, the market will respond to it,” he said. “The architects will respond and the builders will respond, and the product will be delivered. It has to start with demand, and the market will respond and deliver green buildings.”
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Kate Lohnes covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. You can reach her at (956) 683-4427.
© 2006 The Monitor and Freedom Interactive Newspapers of Texas, Inc. Posted by: Paul on October 12, 2006 at 20:28:35