Phoenix-area development moratorium has a ripple effect
Recent news that Arizona will stop granting development permits for new housing in Phoenix and its suburbs was shocking — and yet, not that surprising. It was never a matter of if but when, which is why we conceived the Next Generation Water Summit over seven years ago.
The 2023 summit is live at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m June 15 and 16. It’s also available online. The virtual event is free to Santa Fe city and county residents, but registration is required at nextgenerationwatersummit.com.
Soon after the city adopted WERS — the Water Efficiency Rating Score — into its green building code, key players in its development group sought to promote it beyond its origins in Santa Fe.
As head of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association then, I recognized that if builders had hope of sustaining their industry in the Southwest to meet demands of growth while confronting diminishing water, we needed to be one step ahead of moratorium demanders.
Months of planning were done by me, Glenn Schiffbauer of the Santa Fe Green Chamber of Commerce; Doug Pushard, owner of Harvest H20 and national rainwater harvesting and reuse expert; Mike Collignon, executive director of the national nonprofit Green Builder Coalition; and Christine Chavez, head of Santa Fe’s water conservation department.
Although water is a national issue, the summit targeted areas dependent on waters from the Colorado River and Rio Grande basins. Targeted professions were builders, architects and developers; land planners and water utility administrators; and water harvesting professionals.
Nonprofessionals in the public were always invited, and locals began getting free passes when the summit became virtual during the pandemic era. Website visitors can read the agenda, course descriptions and click on presenters’ biographies. It’s an impressive lineup.
A reception 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Drury Plaza Hotel, hosted by Mayor Alan Webber, will present awards for water efficiency. A significant award will be presented to Barry and Ellen Libert for their recently completed home
in Las Campanas.
Their net-zero energy home was the first in America to achieve the National Association of Home Builders green building Emerald level, utilizing the Water Rating Index of the 2020 National Green Building Standard. That index was built from Santa Fe’s WERS program.
The Liberts were no strangers to energy efficiency and had completed a LEED Platinum home in Sherborn, Mass., prior to designing their Santa Fe residence. They brought me on as a sustainability consultant, and I introduced them to Steve Onstad, owner of Evergreen Building Solutions.
Onstad is a preeminent building scientist and rater for virtually every energy and water efficiency protocol in existence for residential construction. We appreciated the Liberts’ sensibility to begin the sustainability process with consultants before designers and were especially encouraged when they accepted the challenge to include maximum water efficiency in their desire for net-zero energy.
It was not an inexpensive proposition, but the Liberts were determined to prove it could be done. Barry Libert is a national expert and consultant on adapting artificial intelligence for corporate governance. Ellen is a dental professor at Harvard’s medical school. As accomplished and experienced as they are, they were smart enough to know what they didn’t know.
Onstad and I introduced them to Doug Pushard, who designed and installed water-harvesting features. All domestic potable water needs are met by capturing and treating roof water, and substantial landscaping needs for drip irrigation are from a combination of greywater and captured roof water.
Modest homes can employ similar technology and, if installed during subdivision infrastructure, need not be expensive, even for affordable homes around Phoenix. Or for that matter, Santa Fe.