Santa Fe TND powers with solar, reuses water

Fourteen homebuilders are at work in Oshara Village, a New Mexico development that combines New Urbanism and resource-saving features to reduce stress on the environment. Developer Alan Hoffman says his 470-acre project, just south of Santa Fe, uses both passive and active solar energy systems to cut energy costs. It will also reuse waste water from the houses to irrigate the landscape.
Waste water will go to a reclamation plant, which will return it as “A1-grade purified and disinfected water” for irrigating parks and individual properties, Hoffman says. Cleaned waste water will also supply toilets in the development’s office and commercial buildings.
Oshara Village’s strategy of combining “walkability, sustainability, mixed uses, and architectural integrity” has found a receptive audience, according to Hoffman. With almost no advertising, 112 of the 175 lots in the first phase were sold prior to the start of construction in 2006. This was achieved in part by involving “bicycle people, open-space people, alternative energy people in the design process,” which got them on the project’s side and generated favorable press coverage, he says.
Sixteen houses are now complete and another 26 are under construction. Eventually the project will contain at least 750 housing units — and possibly as many as 1,000 to 1,100. Hoffman expects the development to have about 600,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. Ground may be broken this spring for the town center, Oshara Plaza, whose tenants may include a grocery store, dry cleaner, packing and shipping service, bookstore, bike shop, hardware store, and restaurants.
Despite the sluggishness of the residential real estate nationally, market-rate houses at Oshara are selling well, at $329,000 to $700,000, he reports. Affordable houses, required by the county, are being offered as low as about $100,000. Santa Fe County initially mandated that 15 percent of the housing in new developments be affordable. Recently the county doubled the affordable share, to 30 percent. Although this benefits lower-income people, Hoffman says it pushes prices higher for middle-income homebuyers, who in effect subsidize the low-priced houses.
To help gather the sun’s warmth, builders are asked by the developer to install south-facing glass equal to 6 percent of each house’s floor space. A solar-powered system provides domestic hot water. Housing will range from live/work units to townhouses, patio homes on 40-by-110- to 120-foot lots, and detached houses on lots measuring 55 by 110 feet or larger.
The hope is that all of Oshara Village’s residents will benefit financially from the energy- and water-saving features and from being within walking distance of many of their daily needs. Hoffman has been trying to entice large-scale employers in the medical, high-tech, and motion picture fields to occupy commercial space there. An agreement with the neighboring Santa Fe Community College will provide access to a supercomputer, which could make the development attractive to research companies.
“As the cost of oil rises and free time becomes more valuable, there will be an ever-growing desire for this mixed-use model,” the developer says on the website www.osharavillage.com.
A nonprofit New Village Institute has been formed, promoting the energy-saving techniques used at Oshara Village. The Institute intends to operate a “Sustainability Center” in the Plaza, explaining the options available to consumers.
The Institute has commissioned two studies. One showed that a household using Oshara Village’s energy-conserving techniques would consume 51.8 percent less energy in its home than would a household occupying a conventional dwelling. The second study calculated that people who live, work, and shop at Oshara Village would use 61.3 percent less energy for driving than would typical Santa Fe commuters who drive to many daily destinations.