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With the construction of the first net-zero-energy public housing development in the nation, the Paisano neighborhood in Central El Paso is getting a little greener.

“It’s really a blueprint on how things should be done from design to construction and the quality of life it offers to residents while being environmentally friendly,” said Marty Howell, the city’s sustainability manager. “There is a trend rolling throughout the country, and this project is one to talk and boast about.”

The Paisano Green Community, which is expected to open in April 2012, is an energy-efficient, 73-unit El Paso Housing Authority complex for senior citizens. The complex will feature wind turbines, rooftop solar panels, air-source heat-pump water heaters and more. all energy consumed will be generated on site, and no fossil fuels will be burned at the complex — making it one of the most cutting-edge green projects in the nation, officials said.

“It’s an exciting project all around,” Housing Authority spokesman Shane Griffith said. “Even in the construction, we’re looking at a lot less waste and a lot more recycling of materials.”

El Paso is one of only 36 communities across the country — and the only in Texas — to have received a competitive grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to build green affordable housing. The grant is funding $8.25 million of the $10.9 million project, with the city providing a $500,000 loan. The El Paso Housing Authority is funding the rest.

The project is expected to receive the highest rating through the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system — platinum — and be certified through Enterprise Green Communities. LEED and Enterprise are the two most recognized systems that rate energy-efficient buildings across the country. The Paisano Green Community will be featured during the Re-Energize the Americas Conference in El Paso on Oct. 26-27. The conference is an event of the Paso del Norte Group, New Mexico State University and the University of Texas at El Paso intended to spur economic development of sustainable energy resources in the region. The conference coincides with the 18th Annual Border Energy Forum, which promotes sensible use of energy throughout the Southwest and northern Mexico.

“It’s a young idea that’s maturing,” Howell said about the green community’s design. “It’s a catalyst for change.”

Wind, sun, no noise

“Feel that breeze and that sun? That’s exactly what we’re taking advantage of here,” Griffith said during a recent tour of the construction site. “That’s the energy we’ll be capitalizing on.”

Architects took into consideration everything from the sun to the wind in their design, placing doors, windows, overhangs, canopies and barrier walls where they will best create shade, reflect sunlight, create cross ventilation and deflect wind.

“There won’t be any noise, either,” Griffith said.

The complex is about 70 percent complete, officials said. The wood framing was panelized and built off-site in El Paso, and the walls and roofs were insulated with a hybrid of three installations: rigid board, polyurethane foam and net, and blown fiberglass fill.

The roofs are covered with solar photovoltaic panels to capture the sun’s energy. inside, the units use air-source heat pump water heaters, which are up to three times more efficient in creating hot water.

Two 80-foot-tall wind turbines featuring blades with a radius of 12 feet will soon be installed at the site, Griffith said.

“There are no gas lines here,” Griffith said. “The renewable energy systems means some units will have annual utility bills as low as $8.”

Clean electric power generated by the sun and wind will be the only energy used on site, minimizing the project’s carbon footprint, Griffith said.

“This type of construction is the future for low-income homes in El Paso,” said Ralph Martinez, Ph.D., director of Energy Initiatives at UTEP’s Center for Environmental Resource Management.

Martinez said El Paso’s more than 300 days of sunshine is ideal for this type of project.

“It’s a great source of renewable energy to power our homes,” he said.

In an arrangement known as “net metering,” the Housing Authority will sell the excess power it generates at the Paisano complex to El Paso Electric and buy back power at an equivalent rate on a monthly basis. “Net metering” for El Paso was approved under Senate Bill 1910, sponsored by state Sen. José Rodríguez, in May.

Martinez said the bill, together with better financing options and permitting processes, will boost the use of rooftop solar systems in the future — options the university is researching. UTEP researchers are competing for grants from the U.S. Department of Energy under its Rooftop Solar Challenge to address key market barriers, emphasizing streamlined and standardized permitting, Martinez said. Winners are expected to be announced next month.

“The community in general had not been proactive enough in seeking those types of grants, but I think you’ll start seeing more and more of these projects here and across the state,” Martinez said. UTEP recently received a $1 million grant to install two rooftop solar panels expected to save the university $32,000 in utility costs a year, he said.

The neighborhood

The 4.2-acre Paisano Green Community project, being built on the site of a Housing Authority complex that had been vacant for 10 years, will add new life to the neighborhood.

Surrounded by two freeways and the Bridge of the Americas international crossing, the Paisano community is across from the El Paso Zoo and next to the County Coliseum. a large detention pond and a water treatment plant are nearby.

The community also has several bus stops, a park, a shopping center and a hospital in the vicinity. all are easily accessible to senior citizens, officials said.

“I am thrilled that the most energy-efficient public housing community in the U.S. will be situated here in El Paso,” said city Rep. Cortney Niland, who represents the area.

“This community is just another way the city of El Paso is striving to be competitive, efficient, and environmentally conscious, leading the charge in affordable, energy-efficient public housing.”

The City Council recently approved a zoning change for the project from residential to mixed-use, which not only allows for the installation of the wind turbines but encourages the construction of commercial space.

When completed, the Paisano Green Community will include a community building and a commercial building that can house businesses such as a grocery store, a pharmacy or barber shop, as well as professional office space.

Griffith said the Paisano units will be allocated using a lottery system for senior citizens already living in Housing Authority complexes. in turn, their units will be opened to others on the authority’s waiting list of about 14,000 seniors. The authority has some 1,800 units available for the elderly, Griffith said.

“You can see there’s definitely a need,” he said.

The Housing Authority of El Paso is one of the country’s largest and provides affordable housing to more than 40,000 low-income residents.

Cindy Ramirez may be reached at ; 546-6151.

In his speech at the Irvine Hilton on Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown listed his priorities as education, criminal justice, energy and water. then Assemblyman Jose Solorio was given the mike and, referring to Brown’s No. 4 priority, said something I didn’t quite catch about two areas in Santa Ana not having potable water.

Did I hear him right? I asked the guy next to me. A few minutes later, I went over to Solorio’s table and interrupted him in midbite of his mashed potatoes. “Yes, it’s true!” he said. “I know, it sounds like a third-world problem, but it’s right here.”

Jose Espinoza, president of the Diamond Park Water Board, opens up the gate leading to the main pump for the neighborhood’s water well on Diamond Street in Santa Ana.PAUL RODRIGUEZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER ADVERTISEMENT

For more than two years the state has known that water in aging, shallow wells used by about 150 families in two Santa Ana neighborhoods have dangerous levels of chemicals. near Valley High School and Diamond Street, about 90 families are served by a well that tests high in nitrates. in northwest Santa Ana, on Roosevelt Avenue and Catalina Street, 54 families are on a well that tests high in uranium. Both wells are more than 70 years old, drilled when they served mostly farmland. as housing popped up, it was cheaper for the residents to stay on the wells than to hook up to the city.

The state has issued health warnings, and most residents drink bottled water. Jose Espinoza, who lives near Valley High, told me his family of four spends about $35 a month on it. But over on Roosevelt, Pat Stice says, “I just drink it right out of the faucet.” she and her husband have lived there since 1954. “We’ve been drinking it all these years and we have children with no deformities, grandchildren with no deformities and great-grandchildren with no deformities.”

The solution is to run city water pipes to the homes. last summer, Solorio was able to get inserted into Brown’s first budget funding that will make that happen. But the pipes are still only on blueprints. Santa Ana put the project out to bid once, rejected the bids, and has it out to bid again. Public works chief Raul Godinez says he hopes to get the bids approved next month and break ground by January.

But two-thirds of the property owners in each neighborhood first must agree to the plan. by law, the city can only bring its pipe to the property line. Each resident must pay for the rest of the hook-up, which some aren’t all that keen to do. Espinoza says he expects his to cost $400-$800. the petitions are still circulating, although organizers told me they think they’ll get enough signatures.

“I feel sorry for all of us, especially some of the poorer families,” Stice told me. Her husband, however, isn’t worried about his own situation. “I’m an engineer and I’ve got seven boys, and they’ve got shovels,” says Jim Stice, 81. “In about 30 minutes, we can have it done.”

Contact: 714-796-4994 or

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I took breastfeeding class and my lactation consultant said that for low budget electric pumps she recommends the Lansinoh double pump because it is the same maker as the Medela, the only difference is Lansinoh doesnt have a stylish carrier and for half the price it is worth it. Has anyone ever used the Lansinoh Double Electric Breast Pump?

I use a Lansinoh Double Electric and I love it. I don't know if it is the same as Medela, but the parts work together. I got the Medela kit from the hospital when I had my baby. it had the storage bottles that screw to the cups, and the cups and the tubing. I bought the Lansinoh pump, and I use the Medela kit with the Lansinoh pump. The cups on the Lansinoh are not as comfortable as the Medela ones.

i've heard something like that… but i thought it was the Ameda as well… but it was a while ago.
if it is the same as the Medela pump, that's cool. i got the backpack PIS advanced & the bag is already falling apart! (been pumping for only 2 months!) but the pump works great!

my breast pump is the lansinoh and it worked perfectly i never had a problem with the motor and the replacement parts are medela and ameda…..i pumped everything instead of breastfed and considerin how much i used it it is worth the price and cheaper then medela

I want to use a computer PSU to run a pump. If it's rated at 600W, does that mean that I can operate the pump at 12V (where it draws 30A)? I know that simple math would state that I could safely draw 30A at 12V (or as high as 50A); but I'm not sure if a computer PSU works that way. My only question is whether or not It's rated to supply all it's amperage across all of the rails (multiple 12V and 5V). or could I draw 600W through a single 12V rail? (although I will only need around 400W through the 12V rail).

yes – 600W at 12 V will draw 50 amps – so that is some pump!
A 600W computer PSU will not be able to handle that – the 600W rating here is composed of a number of power rails, and there is not a 12V 50 amp rail among them.
If you only plan to run this pump for a short time, your best bet is to charge up a 12V auto or recreational battery, as that can give 50 amps easily – although the time it will last depends on the Amp/Hours rating of the battery that you choose.
Is there a good reason that you cannot use a mains powered pump?

…there is a chart on the side of the power supply wich shows how many 12v rails it has and te 12v output. if it is a 600w supply that is 600w total, from 3.3v, 5v, and 12v. look at the chart…