San Antonio

Palo Alto College

Palo Alto College is 1 of 5 Alamo Colleges, 3 of which have coordinated green initiatives. Palo Alto chose to address water issues. From the collaboration, PA has developed a new continuing education curriculum for contractors/subcontractors that addresses LEED issues; though it does not offer certification (LEED-AP, etc.) or credit toward a degree. Stephen Colley touch on a very wide range of topics, briefly discussing a Department of Energy study in 2000 that found that the US is losing the equivalent of 18,000,000 barrels of oil/day from inefficient homes while we import that much from the Middle East each day. He touched on drilling operations and noted a higher frequency of earthquakes in areas where fracturing for wells is occurring. Relating to Palo Alto’s focus on water issues, he noted that faulty rain harvesting systems threaten to stall/prevent acceptance of the systems on a large scale, further noting the city’s concern over backflow issues if the systems are adopted for potable uses, echoing the concerns out of Austin. Mr. Colley turned us on to a manufacturer of compressed earth block machines, with whom we eventually visited, and he mentioned that Palo Alto is trying to establish a compressed earth block curriculum, teaching the methods by which compressed earth structures are built and the energy advantages to be gained from such methods.

Slow Food

Slow Food is a non-profit member-supported association focused on countering the “rise of fast food and fast life”. “The organization advocates for food and farming policy that is good for the public, good for the planet, and good for farmers and workers.”

We met with Susan, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef who spends time at Lamar Elementary, revamping their existing garden and teaching the children how to grow and harvest food. Every other Monday, students are cycled through the garden in shifts, taking turns performing various tasks in the garden – planting, harvesting, cleaning, pulling weeds, watering, etc. By letting each student play a part in the garden, they are encouraging each one to take ownership of the garden. Unfortunately, Texas law prohibits food grown on campus from being consumed in the school where it is grown, so the food is not included in their cafeteria meals, but Susan managed to supply the schools with food from local farmers markets as a demonstration of what is possible when food is grown in a “good, clean, and fair” manner, rather than turning to fast food.

UTSA Sustainable Business Program

Roy R. Pachecano introduced us to the Sustainable Business Program at UT San Antonio. Their role is to “help advise small to medium-sized business to adopt sustainable practices”. Clients primarily include businesses with operations along the coast or just inland from hurricane-prone coastal regions. They are operating under a $1,000,000 grant from the US Department of Commerce – Economic Development Administration. According to Roy, 1/3 of businesses devastated by disaster don’t make it back into operation, and 2/3 of businesses don’t have a disaster recovery plan. Roy and his colleagues formulate programs to increase the resilience and sustainability of disaster-affected communities. In their first year of operation, they have served/advised approximately 200 companies.

Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance

The Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance manages the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone, the most environmentally sensitive area of Texas. Development within the recharge zone is tricky because runoff does not get filtered through the RZ and pollutants enter the aquifer freely. The challenge to protect the aquifer is especially great because most of San Antonio’s development over the past 15 years has occurred along the recharge zone. The GEAA initiates legislation to control water quality for the citizens who rely on the aquifer for drinking water. Currently, they are trying to establish zoning/development control in 19 counties. Rural counties without a “home-rule” city can not establish official zoning ordinances, so the GEAA aims to establish uniform codes across these counties before they establish their own in order to better manage development in the EA Recharge Zone.

An interesting example of the challenges faced by the GEAA was that of an ordinance passed in 1995 to control San Antonio development in the RZ. The ordinance was not actually effective until 2005 because developers who were aware of the proposed ordinance before it was passed informed owners and advised them to plat their properties before the ordinance was passed, thereby allowing those development plans to be grandfathered in. Developers knew about the proposed ordinance because they were on the task force that developed the plan. The first non-grandfathered project got underway in 2005.

Build San Antonio Green

Build SA Green is a non-profit group that works with home builders to build green residential. For commercial projects, they recommend LEED standards. They certify single-family and multi-family construction in 3 levels:

• Level 1: Home is 15% more energy efficient than a home build under normal SA building codes.
• Level 2: Home is 30% more efficient that SA standards (According to Kris Zebrowski at BSAG, this level of certification is approximately equal to achieving LEED Certified)
• Level 3: Home is 50% more energy efficient and operates on 90% solar power.

Each certified home has a manual given to the homeowner upon completion to inform the owner of the features of the home and how best to maximize the efficiency of the home. Kris stressed that the goal of BSAG is not to change what builders do, but to help them do it better. Currently, they have certified approximately 830 projects, including both new construction and retro-fits. KB Homes, a major home builder in the area has signed on to build all new homes through BSAG to at least a Level 1 certification.

According to Kris, the San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) says that buyers are looking for green homes more than ever and that normal residential construction is declining while green construction is growing.

Alamo Architects

At Alamo Architects sustainability is simply a part of their culture. Rather than take on a project and decide along the way to incorporate sustainability, they approach each project with that mindset. They don’t always strive for LEED certification, but at times have steered a project that way even after the project has begun.

The most interesting part of this visit was the site from which Alamo operates. What was, at one time, an old industrial warehouse, is now their “spacious and technologically sophisticated work environment”. Their site design achieved LEED Silver certification and was recognized by the City of San Antonio Green Building Awards. A few photos of their site follow, but much more information can be found on their website.

This wall surrounding the site was made from old
pavement excavated from the site

 

Poteet Architects, LP

Poteet Architects primarily involves themselves with downtown project in San Antonio, and especially redevelopment/revitalization projects on the south side of town. In fact their offices are located right in the middle of their focal area, establishing a real connection with the area and the work they are doing. Jim Poteet discussed some of their project with us, most of which can be found on their website. One very interesting project he discussed was a container guest house they did for a woman who owns and operates a restaurant (a repurposing of an old gas station, which they also designed) across the street from their office. Coincidentally, the owner of the restaurant lives directly behind it, so we were able to catch glimpses of the container through the fence. Interestingly, zoning ordinances would never allow the container under normal circumstances, but the container is concealed from view by neighbors and casual passers-by, so it has a home for now. The container has been featured in several publications around the world.

Container home featured in a magazine (there were several)

The Monterey - This was one of Poteet's projects,
directly across the street from their office

I was able to find a spot to get a clear shot of the home
behind  The Monterey restaurant

Mr. Poteet described some of the challenges with reviving downtown San Antonio and creating a sustainable city, noting that people in San Antonio are not driven to live downtown because they do not have the traffic that plagues cities like Austin. So, apparently, sustainability is only important when it becomes necessity.

Pearl Brewery Redevelopment

The Pearl Brewery Redevelopment was a special stop we made to kill some time between appointments, but it was definitely worth the time. Obviously, it is a project developed around the old Pearl Brewery on the northeast side of downtown, and in fact houses the American Institute of Architects in San Antonio. It is a LEED Gold project with many interesting features, as the photos reveal.

Entrance to site, not that interesting, but relevant

Pervious paving with additional drainage.
Note the rail used as an aesthetic feature of the sidewalk throughout the development.
Also of note were the repurposed tanks as sidewalk planters.

Reclaimed water for irrigation

The river has been incorporated beautifully with the site

Out with the old...

Not sure what this used to be, but I assume it served a
purpose in the old brewery, and is now an outdoor chandelier

The interactive Solar Power Station shows you how much energy is being consumed
by the site, how much is generated by solar, and how much is provided
by the grid. It was an overcast day, so solar was in limited supply.
There was also a video showing installation of the array on top of the buildings.

LEED Gold

Full Goods is mentioned in the Lake Flato post as well

These bike rental stations were all over San Antonio

The CIA (Culinary Institute of America) is located here and operates a bakery on-site..
I can attest, they know what they are doing.

Pearl Stable - used to house the draft horses in the late 1800s

Hitching posts that appear to be repurposed pipe, I assume from the old site

Lake|Flato Architects

Another architecture firm, Lake Flato occupies an old car dealership building in downtown San Antonio. From their website: “Lake|Flato has gained national recognition for architecture that is rooted to its place, responds to the natural environment and merges with the landscape”. Each floor in their office houses design teams specializing in new construction, adaptive reuse, residential, commercial, special projects such as Porch House, etc. Some of their notable works include the Dallas Arboretum; the BNSF Railroad Corporate Headquarters in Fort Worth; Full Goods Warehouse, part of the Pearl Brewery Redevelopment Project in San Antonio; and the Livestrong Foundation in Austin.

We visited a while with Heather Holdridge, Sustainability Coordinator. Her role is to ensure energy efficiency in all of their projects. She creates energy odels for every project in the office. She is able to monitor residential energy consumption from lights, electronics, even down to individual appliances, through e-monitor, an online resource that allows Heather and even the homeowners to keep a close eye on energy consumption within the home. Her job sounded fascinating and really gave me a great idea of what I might like to do after my time at UTA.

AECT Compressed Earth Block

On recommendation from Stephen Colley at Palo Alto College, we visited AECT, a company that manufactures mechanical presses that form clay soils into compressed blocks that can be used as an alternative to other building materials like wood and metal studs. The proper mix of dirt, non-expansive clay, and aggregate must be used to achieve the perfect block. The blocks work in similar fashion to adobe and are naturally good insulators, reducing the need for high energy loads to heat and cool homes.

We’re told that an adobe or earth home is worth 100% more than its cost of construction the day it is finished and earth walls require less fossil fuel than typical 2x4 walls. 19.5 gallons of diesel fuel can produce 3,100 blocks/day at a rate of 450 blocks/hour. Considering that it is possible to create blocks out of dirt excavated on-site, it is easy to see how an earth wall can require less fossil fuel than a 2x4 wall.

I have video that shows the medium machine in action, pressing 10” x 14” x 3.5” blocks, but I was unable to upload it, so photos will have to do. A smaller machine is available that presses slightly smaller blocks, as well as a larger one, which presses the same blocks as the medium machine but can handle larger loads and press approximately twice the number of blocks per hour as the medium machine. AECT even manufactures a military grade machine, which has the same specs and capacities as the large press, but is built with a few features that make it more suited to military uses, such as paint color, Humvee tires, and helicopter hooks.

New compressed earth blocks fresh from the medium machine

Closer view of compressed earth blocks

Large machine

Military machine (note large wheels and
helicopter hook in bottom center of photo)

Compressed blocks ready to build something

Demonstration building. This wall is made of cement stabilized
blocks that cracked when left exposed to elements

Demonstration of various finishes applied to CEB

 Green Spaces Alliance

Green Spaces Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to hold and defend conservation easements within the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone. They acquire easements that restrict uses of properties to uses like hunting, farming, ranching, recreation, etc., but do not allow development of the property. According to Patrick Boyer, Stage 3 water restrictions are predicted in San Antonio this year, continuing indefinitely. Through conservation easements they aim to control the quality of water entering the aquifer and limit consumption that occurs as development in the area continues to grow.