Issue 1 2011 Building El Paso’s tomorrow today

From NAHB

El Paso home builder Bobby Bowling IV

was selected by NAHB to represent the

building and development industry as a

Small Business Representative on a federal

Small Business Regulatory Fairness Act

(SBREFA) panel to review a proposed new

rule from the EPA. The rule the EPA is

proposing would require "post-

construction" stormwater discharge

permitting and reporting to the EPA. In

other words, the EPA is considering

requiring property owners to continue along

the same lines of the type of reporting

builders and developers are familiar with

regarding Storm Water Pollution Prevention

Permits (SWPPP) indefinitely (i.e.

forever!!!). For example, the proposed rule

could require you to log in and record data

on every rain event, and file regular reports

to the EPA, the city of El Paso (El Paso's

designated "MS4" agent for EPA), and/or

the state of Texas. The issue from the EPA's

perspective is best summarized from the

caption below taken directly from a briefing

paper the EPA submitted to the SBREFA:

Long term stormwater discharges from

developed sites, such as subdivisions,

roadways, and commercial buildings or

shopping centers, can significantly alter the

hydrology of a site and can have a negative

impact on receiving waterbodies*.

Generally, as sites are developed, there is an

increase in impervious areas where water

cannot infiltrate into the ground, leading to

increases in stormwater discharges.

Additionally, as stormwater moves over

land, it picks up pollutants from various

sources, such as fertilizers that have been

applied to land, oil, grease and metals

contained on roadways, and sediments

contained on a variety of surfaces. These

pollutants, as well as the velocity and

volume of the stormwater discharges,

contributes to water quality impairment.

In fact, stormwater remains a leading

cause of water quality impairment.

According to the 2004 Water Quality

Inventory, urban stormwater discharge is

the source of problems in:

• 22,559 miles, or 9.2% of all impaired

rivers and streams

• 701,024 acres, or 6.7% of all impaired

lakes

• 867 square miles, or 11.3% of all impaired

estuaries

As the above summary reflects, the EPA

is responsible for enforcing the Clean Water

Act (CWA), which is intended to protect the

nations navigable waterways (*the term

"waterbodies" that the EPA inserted is

actually not the correct term from the

statute). However, as the statistics provided

by the EPA themselves show, "urban

stormwater discharge" accounts for less

than 10% of the problem! ("Urban

stormwater discharge" includes stormwater

runoff from ALL development activity,

building activity, industrial activity and

even every completed development!)

Where does the other approximately 90% of

the pollutants into the nations waterbodies

come from, you might ask? Well, some

comes from industrial and other

development activities outside of urban

areas, but the vast majority come from

farms, which are completely unregulated

and exempt from the CWA. "It's crazy that

our industry is building and developing

incredibly eco-friendly communities and

infrastructure, yet the EPA keeps coming

back to our industry to increase our costs of

development and now, just simple land

ownership, for an incredibly insignificant

diminishing return for the environment,"

says Bowling.

Bowling also points out that increased

costs would make development infeasible in

most instances, especially in today's

environment. "I showed them an example

for a 10-acre apartment project where their

additional rule could add as much as a

million dollars to the cost of the project.

They keep mentioning that 'green jobs'

could be added, by I fail to see how ANY

jobs can come from a project that is

infeasible and won't be done."

During the most recent SBREFA hearing

at EPA headquarters in Washington, several

small business entity representatives voiced

their concerns over the fact that the EPA

continues to seek new rules limiting

developers while continuing to ignore the

farming and other unregulated

communities. However, the solution to that

complaint seems to be only through

congress and a change in the CWA. "The

CWA also is very unfair to the desert

southwest, because we really have very

little, if any, 'navigable waterways' or even

any 'waterbodies.' El Paso and other desert

communities should be exempt from these

portions of the Clean Water Act, because all

rainfall either evaporates or percolates into

the ground far before it ever reaches a body

of water. Plus, a long time ago, developers

here began building retention ponds to

alleviate natural flooding patterns, so even

less stormwater is flowing here after a rain

event than mother nature intended in El

Paso today anyway."

The SBREFA committee has until

January 5, 2011 to submit comments to the

EPA with regard to the rule. After that, the

formal SBREFA report would be published

sometime in mid-February, and a proposed

rule from EPA could then be promulgated

and published for public comment. The

final rule (in one is recommended for

passage by the administration) would come

in late 2011 or early 2012.

Bowling concluded, "Every property

owner in the United States should be

concerned about this rule. It could

potentially burden cities with the task of

spending billions of dollars to comply with

an EPA rule that would do little or nothing

to protect the nations waterbodies in some

parts of the country. And, as history shows

us, when the feds burden the cities and

states with unfunded mandates, the only

alternative local governments have is to

raise taxes or create another fee."

Builders OutlookP

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www.elpasobuilders.com

Local builder chosen to represent industry in

controversial EPA Storm Water proposal

‘Every property owner in the

United States should be

concerned about this rule. It

could potentially burden cities

with the task of spending

billions of dollars to comply

with an EPA rule that would

do little or nothing to protect

the nations waterbodies in

some parts of the country.

And, as history shows us,

when the feds burden the cities

and states with unfunded

mandates, the only alternative

local governments have is to

raise taxes or create another

fee.’

Bobby Bowling IV

Builders Outlook2 JANUARY 2011

We recently had our end of the year

installation and awards banquet at the

Camino Real Hotel. I’d like to thank all of

you who attended, especially the event

partners- JOBE Materials, LP* Tropicana

Homes * El Paso Building Materials * MTI

Ready Mix * Western Wholesale Supply *

Passage Supply/Arrowcool * Sierra Title

Co. * Foxworth Galbraith Lumber * JDW

Insurance *Bank of the West * who made

the evening possible. I’d also like to extend

a special thank you to Ray Adauto and staff

Angie DeLuna and Margaret Adauto for all

the planning and hard work they put in to

hold such a great event.

I’d of course also like to acknowledge

and congratulate our award winners for

2010:

Builder of the Year-

Mike Santamaria of Mountain Vista Homes

Associate of the Year-

Javier Ruiz of Senercon/Border Solar

Pat Cox Award-

Randy Bowling of Tropicana Homes

John Schatzman Award-

Lorraine Huit of Cardel Design Group

Next time you see one of these 4

members thank them for going above and

beyond for our industry and for EPAB in

2010.

Coming up quickly on our calendar is the

first event for 2011- NAHB’s International

Builders Show in Orlando will be held

January 12th through the 15th. There’s

already a small contingency from El Paso

set to go but for those who’ve never

attended IBS, I strongly encourage you to

go and experience just how vast this show

is. There is typically over 1000 booths

where suppliers market their latest products

and tools. In the past I’ve found many of

these presenters don’t currently have a

presence in El Paso but are very interested

in trying to establish a local builder or

supplier relationship in El Paso.

In addition to this, there is also over 200

education sessions covering every possible

industry topic. Plus plenty of stuff devoted

to niche markets in the industry, including

multifamily housing, custom building,

green building, 50+ housing and

remodeling. For more information contact

Ray Adauto or go to the IBS website at

www.buildersshow.com

Locally we are getting ready for our

Spring Home Show, Presented by the El

Paso Association of Builders. The Home

Show is the ONLY home show that the El

Paso Association of Builders endorses or

promotes. This show is produced by RJ

Promotions of St. Joseph, Missouri with

Corey Jackson and others from RJ. I urge

all of our members to support this event by

getting a booth and showcasing your

products or services to the thousands of

visitors we will have. My company,

Tropicana Homes, closed three home sales

last year directly from the show. This tells

us that we have hit upon a marketing tool

that works and will work for you. The

secret? Get a booth space and work the

event. The association can really use your

help. As of this notice only 25 spots

remained so call the office or ask for Cory

when you call the number on the ad located

in this publication. Tell them you are calling

as a member or because you support the

EPAB.

Lastly, at our final board meeting of 2010

the board gave John Chaney permission to

negotiate to continue or relationship with

the Adams Golf Pro Tour event for 2011.

For those of you who didn’t get to

participate in this event last year, you

missed out. This year the tournament will

be in June so if you don’t want to miss out

this year, reserve your team or sponsorships

now as I’m sure they will be going quickly.

Ray and John have already begun getting

the partner packages together, and they are

taking reservation for teams. The Pro-am is

scheduled for June of this year.

Let’s make 2011 one of the best years

ever for the EPAB. I appreciate each one of

you and hope that I can serve you well as

your President. Thanks and let’s get going.

Greg

Bowling

President,

El Paso Association

of Builders

President’s Message

Builders Outlook3

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With all the gladness I can muster I’m

just happy that 2010 is over and done

with. The year was particularly difficult

for a variety of reasons, some of which I

don’t care to rehash, and some that

require us to really look at with an eagle

eye. Allow me to first say thank you to

all of our faithful members who

sacrificed to continue being members.

You may think the word sacrifice is a

little strong but when others bailed out

the majority of the members kept us

going.

In 2010 we had one of the most

successful membership drives of any

home builders association in the country

thanks to the leadership of Mike

Santamaria and his dedicated team

leaders. Our newest members have been

working the membership just like we

suggest. We gained new members and

lost some but overall our association is

growing in a down economy. We were

not surprised to see some local

associations fold or really cut operations.

We lost our friend Dave Rowe at the

Las Cruces/Southern New Mexico HBA

for financial reasons, and we were

shocked to hear that the Illinois State

HBA folded. They were the first state

association in the NAHB federation but

the reality of hard times came to be. At

the Texas Association a new increase of

nearly 40% in dues was passed adding to

the costs of the locals and forcing us to

look at reduced local revenue or

increases in dues to the locals. We will

be looking very closely at what steps we

need to take in order to stay on course but

we won’t be making any rash judgments

until we can look at alternative methods

of revenue generation.

Our bylaws were tested in 2010.

Without that document and without great

leadership in the Past Presidents and our

council Jay Kerr circumstances could

have been different. Thanks to all of you

for your hard work in getting us through

it.

Our new leadership comes with a

wealth of experience and dedicated

service. Some will have to learn the

ropes while others will really showcase

their talents after years of service.

Congratulations to Greg Bowling and

his administration. Our installation

capped off an interesting year but if this

event is used as a tide mark then 2011

will be a really good year for the EPAB.

We had about 240 members; friends and

relatives join the celebration of the

installation. The setting at the Camino

Real was elegant and the food was

outstanding. I would like to thank my

staff for the hard work and dedication to

details for such a big event. Our business

partners stepped up to the plate and

allowed our attendees to enjoy a really

great event. Please thank them as you

work with them. They are the unsung

heroes of the night.

Our strategic meeting in early

December gave us insight into what

direction we will take in 2011. It starts

with moving meeting times to a better

business time and removing one

headache for the staff, ordering food.

That’s not to say that we won’t have a

meal or two every now and then but I

think what you will see is a more

business focused board and general

meeting than what we’ve had before.

Our goal is to give you a good reason to

take time from your busy schedule to

come to a meeting. We have asked all of

our council chairs to do likewise and we

expect that again you will be pleasantly

surprised.

This month is our annual Home Show

at the Convention Center, January 21-23.

This is the showcase event for your

association in the first quarter and one

that should be supported by you as a

member. If you are hungry for business

then you should be hungry to showcase

your business in front of thousands of

consumers. Why would you not invest in

a weekend to see thousands of potential

customers? Your cost per exposure is

tiny, but not being there is costly. You

see if there are thousands of people over

at the show then who’s left to come into

your store? Numbers after all is the

name of the game. Ask Tropicana

Homes. They CLOSED three homes last

year directly from the show. THREE

HOMES. Now that’s what being there

and working the floor can do.

So goodbye and good riddance to

2010. Let’s remain optimistic in 2011

and work hard to make it the banner year

we all want and need. Happy New

Business Year to all of you. Thanks.

2010 ends, hope springs for better 2011Perspective

Builders Outlook4 JANUARY 2011

Ray Adauto,

Executive

Vice President

EPAB Send us your comments.

E-mail to:

ray@elpasobuilders.com

Builders Outlook 5JANUARY 2011

The United States Census just released

the preliminary numbers of the census

taken earlier this year. The numbers are

pretty much in line with what we were

hearing over the past few months.

Statewide, Texas had a tremendous

amount of growth; second only to

Nevada. Our population grew by 20.6%

from April 1st of 2000 to April 1st of

2010. That rate of growth puts the Texas

population at approximately 25.1 million

citizens.

With our growth and the loss of

population in many areas, Texas will gain

4 Congressional seats, remaining second

to California. While the local population

numbers have not been released, there is a

great probability that the growth is in the

Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Houston and

lower Rio Grande areas.

The demographic numbers have yet to

be announced but it is a good bet that the

Hispanic population had the highest

growth. With that amount of growth, it is

going to be difficult to avoid increasing

the number of minority districts in Texas;

mainly Hispanic. While I feel our main

identity should be American, there are

certain issues that can be considered

differently by more Hispanic

representation and with greater benefits to

our population.

The drawing of the districts won’t be an

easy one. Special interests will be solidly

in place influencing the redistricting that

is about to occur for our Congressional

districts. I hope this time around, it won’t

be as ugly as the redistricting was in 2003.

I can tell you quite honestly that many

tempers were flared to a dangerous level.

For El Paso County, the numbers for the

state population are close to what we used

in October of 2009 when we started

monitoring the census process. The

numbers my office used to project the

population in each House district were a

little low. The actual number per district

is 167,648. That means without

adjustments, our county population needs

to be at 838,243 residents in order to keep

all five districts within the county.

There is, however, a give or take when

determining the population. Each House

district may be a plus or minus that

number by five percent. That means the

population in El Paso county can be as

low as 796,330.

The State Demographer has estimated

the population of El Paso County to be at

804,000 which would be very good for

our representation. Other estimates

ranged from 754,000 to 773,000. Our fate

is in the hands of those who made the

count. For months, my office had been

voicing great concerns, not on the

population estimates, but on the actual

count. I supported my concerns with

specific shortcomings in the physical

count in my district. We can only wait and

see the actual count at this point.

El Paso will receive its first full Passport

Agency thanks to the American Recovery

and Reinvestment Act.

In May 2009, I was proud to announce

that El Paso will receive its first full service

Passport Agency with the help of 2.1

million in Recovery Act funding. This new

facility is scheduled to open in March 2011

and will have the capacity to not only

accept passport applications but also issue

passport books and passport cards.

With the new travel rules that require all

U.S. citizens returning from Mexico and

Canada to have a passport or passport card,

this level of service is greatly needed.

As we all know, for thousands of El

Pasoans traveling to Mexico is a daily

routine, and I urged the administration and

the leadership at the State Department to

bring a full-fledged passport agency here.

In April 2007, I wrote a letter to the then-

Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs

Maura Hartly requesting the Department of

State to establish a satellite passport office

in El Paso to accommodate the expected

increase in demand for passports as a result

of the Western Hemisphere Travel

Initiative (WHTI) that took effect June 1,

2009.

Currently, El Pasoans who urgently need

a passport are served out of the Houston

agency, and must overnight their

applications or travel across the state.

When this facility opens next year, that will

all change.

This new passport agency is one of only

five new full-fledged agencies in the nation

funded by the Recovery Act which

represents another milestone investment

for our community. This legislation was

passed by Congress and signed by the

President in February 2009; one of the very

first pieces of legislation signed by

President Obama to help move our

economy forward. Once the agency is

complete, it will have nine public counters,

with a lobby big enough to accommodate

75 customers at a time. It will employ a

staff of approximately 37 people, providing

good paying jobs to many El Pasoans.

Also, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security

will open an office here in El Paso with

full-time investigators to combat passport

and visa fraud.

The Recovery Act has provided some of

most significant federal investments to our

community. There are many projects

underway, including the $50 million

warrior in transition complex at Fort Bliss,

which was rated the #1 Recovery Act

project in the nation by the White House

and will treat wounded soldiers returning

from conflict. The Glory Road Sun Metro

terminal, a new fire station, new Head Start

facilities in the northeast and in Canutillo, a

$6 million expansion of the Project Vida

Community Health Clinic in south central,

and now we have this passport agency and

many other tangible assets that will add to

the long term economic health of our

community.

I am very proud to have this facility here

and I am grateful for all of the hard work

and cooperation by our federal officials.

This facility is long overdue, and I am

pleased to see yet another great project for

the El Paso community through the

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Preliminary census numbers good, Texas population up

Recovery Act brings needed facilities to El Paso

Chente Quintanilla

State Representative

Guest Perspective

Guest Perspective

Silvestre Reyes

US Congress

TexasBuilder

of the Year1987, 1997, 2003

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Builders Outlook6 JANUARY 2011

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Builders Outlook 7JANUARY 2011

From NAHB: The National Association

of Home Builders (NAHB) applauds the

Occupational Safety and Health

Administration’s (OSHA) decision to

withdraw the interim fall protection

guidelines for residential construction that

were issued in 1995 and revert to the

previous guidelines.

“Job site safety is the number one priority

for builders,” said NAHB Chairman Bob

Jones, a home builder from Bloomfield Hills,

Mich. “This action will clarify what actions

builders need to take to comply with OSHA

regulations while helping to ensure safer

work sites.”

The interim guideline, intended as a

temporary policy, was implemented in 1995

to allow employers to use alternative

measures for fall protection without having

to provide a written, site-specific fall-

protection plan or prove that conventional

fall-protection systems were not feasible for

a particular project. Prior to 1995, OSHA

required builders to provide conventional fall

protection (i.e., guardrail systems, personal

fall-arrest systems or safety-net systems) for

workers engaged in residential construction

working six feet or more above a lower

level.  If an employer determined that using

conventional fall-protection methods was not

feasible or would create a greater hazard, the

employer had to provide a written fall-

protection plan utilizing alternative fall

protection methods. OSHA’s new

compliance directive (STD 03-11-002)

eliminates the interim guideline and reverts

back to the pre-1995 regulation.

In a 2008 letter, NAHB requested that

OSHA rescind the interim guideline as it

created confusion about fall protection

requirements for residential construction.

The new directive (STD 03–11–002) will

require employers to comply with 29 CFR

1926.501(b)(13), which will “eliminate

confusion in the residential construction

industry as to which fall-protection methods

and systems must be used and would make

compliance with OSHA fall-protection

requirements for the home building industry

much simpler and easier to understand, as

well as put into practice” according to the

letter. The guideline still provides flexibility

for employers by allowing them to

implement a written fall-protection plan if

they determine that conventional systems are

not feasible or create a greater hazard to

workers.

OSHA’s Advisory Committee on

Construction Safety and Health and the

Occupational Safety and Health State Plan

Association also supported rescinding the

interim guideline.

Construction and roofing companies have

until June 16, 2011 to comply with the new

directive.

Showroom: 2131 Missouri

915 • 533 • 6045 fax • 533• 6096

Thomas R. Brown, Owner

New OSHA Ruling Clarifies Key

Residential Safety Regulations

From NAHB: Sales of newly built,

single-family homes increased 5.5 percent to a

seasonally adjusted annual rate of 290,000

units in November, according to newly

released figures from the U.S. Commerce

Department. The gain represents a partial

bounce-back from a near-record low,

downwardly revised number of new-home

sales in October.

“While builders continue to face a great

deal of competition from short-sale and

foreclosure properties, the improvement

registered in new-home sales in November is

a good sign,” said Bob Jones, chairman of the

National Association of Home Builders

(NAHB) and a home builder from Bloomfield

Hills, Mich. “With consumer interest in new

homes expected to continue to revive as the

economy and job markets improve, and

inventories of new homes for sale near record

lows, our concern now is that a lack of

construction financing will keep builders from

being able to expand the selection of what

they have to offer buyers heading into the

spring.” 

“Builders in our latest surveys have

indicated that they are starting to see more

buyers who are seriously considering a new-

home purchase, and today’s numbers showing

that sales headed in the right direction in

November bode well for what the future may

hold,” agreed NAHB Chief Economist David

Crowe. “The extremely low inventory of new

homes on the market is also a positive sign

that builders have been exercising tremendous

caution with regard to new construction

activity. That said, unless builders’ access to

financing for new development improves,

many will not have a product to sell when the

opportunity arises, which in turn would slow a

market recovery as well as potential job

generation from new home building.”

The improvement in new-home sales was

driven by gains in two regions in November.

The South, which is the nation’s largest

housing market, posted a 5.8 percent gain,

while the West showed a 37.3 percent rebound

from the previous month. Meanwhile,

declines of 26.7 percent and 13.2 percent were

registered in the Northeast and Midwest,

respectively.

The inventory of new homes for sale fell to

197,000 units in November, marking the first

time in 42 years that this measure has fallen

below the 200,000 level. This amounts to an

8.2-month supply at the current sales pace.

New-Home Sales Rise 5.5 Percent

EPAB ON THE SCENE

JANUARY 2011

Installation and

Awards Banquet

The annual installation and awards banquet

featured some surprises along with some well

deserved honors. The 2010 installation of the

2011 Executive team and Board of Directors was

held December 14 at the Camino Real Hotel

downtown. The setting was elegant and the

event moved along at a good pace ending within

the promised ending time. The hotel delivered a

great meal and quick service making the night

just that much more enjoyable.

Leading the awards was the selection of

Builder Member of the Year and Associate

Member of the Year. Mike Santamaria of

Mountain Vista Builders was honored as the

Builder Member of the Year. His selection was

based on the outstanding work he did during the

year as membership chair, Past President and

involvement in other activities at the association.

The Associate of the Year went to Javier Ruiz,

President of Border Solar-Senercon and chair-

man of the Desert Green Building Council. His

work for the association has touched not only the

local builders but Javier travels the country giv-

ing lectures and seminars on green building,

solar power and other energy wise systems. He

is a great ambassador for the association and

very deserving of his award.

The annual service to the association award,

the Pat Cox Award, went to Randy Bowling of

Tropicana Homes for his unselfish time and

energy spent on behalf of the association for the

Texas Association of Builders. Randy travels

almost weekly to Austin for hearings, committee

meetings and legislative issues and does so with-

out asking the association for anything. His

position as Chair of the Government Relations

Committee (GRC) at TAB has brought great

respect for his leadership and vision on behalf of

association members throughout the state.

Lorraine Huit was honored with the John

Schatzman Community Service Award for her

dedicated 25 years of service on behalf of the

EPAB. She has chaired or worked on so many

civic and community committees that it would

be hard to list them all. Most recently she has

been active with Candlelighters, the United Way,

and others, and she is the current President of the

Westside Rotary Club. She travels around the

country and the world in that capacity and

spreads the good word of the EPAB everywhere

she touches down. Lorraine joins Anna Gil as

the only two recipients of the Schatzman.

Brad Roe of Roe Engineering was honored as

an Honorary Life Member of the EPAB. His

presentation was the public recognition that the

Board of Directors gave Brad earlier in the year.

Brad has a long history with the association

including his work as President of the EPAB

over two decades ago.

The EPAB was honored to have the Reverend

William C. Cobb, Rector of St. Clement Church,

give the invocation and blessing. He was witty

and certainly got the festivities off to a great start.

MTI Ready Mix and Western Wholesale

Supply teamed up once again to sponsor the bev-

erage bar. Their contribution allowed those

attending to enjoy a great happy hour. Our

thanks to both Tony Mullen and Sam

Shallenberger for their partnership.

The installing officers for the Board were

Brad Roe, while Bob Bowling III installed the

executive team and his son Greg as President.

The Bowling legacy continues with all three sons

having served as Presidents along with dad. A

very impactful talk was given by Greg and the

celebrations concluded. Congratulations to our

award winners and to the incoming leadership.

The 2010 Strategic Planning session was held

in Ruidoso early in December. The event was

President Greg Bowling’s idea to get members

buy in to what the association goals should be in

2011. Kristi Sutterfield, former NAHB EO of the

Year facilitated along with Ray Adauto. Several

proposals of significance were made and will be

implemented during 2011. Thanks to all who

took time to go and work on behalf of the asso-

ciation.

John Cullers and Dalton Caldwell throw a

yearly Christmas luncheon at a local establish-

ment. This year the invitees were treated to some

good Mexican food and plenty of refreshments.

Pictured are l-r Dalton, Margaret Adauto,

Adriana Cullers, and John Cullers.

Strategic Planning

NM Bowl Game

Cullers & Caldwell

Christmas Lunch

The UTEP Miners got the invitation to a post

season game and the Albuquerque based New

Mexico Bowl was the sight. Several EPAB

members took the trip including Mark Dyer and

Ray Adauto. The game against BYU didn’t go

the way Miner fans wanted but the trip included

some restaurant visits and good conversation.

We hope the Miners do well in 2011

BUILD a better social network!

find us on facebook:elpasobuilders

Builders Outlook10JANUARY 2011

Javier Ruiz

Senercon/Border Solar

Expert Advice

2011: Energy Challenges

and Opportunities

First of all, I would like to wish everyone a

very successful 2011 year, and even though a

New year is just a change of number in a year,

I like to see it as an opportunity to reflect all the

challenges and opportunities that we went thru

in the previous year, try to learn from our

missed opportunities and capitalize on all of

those learning experiences either good or bad.

I know, this may sound too deep, but I just felt

like sharing this with all of you.

Going back to the topic of challenges and

opportunities as they relate to Energy

Efficiency, Green Building and Renewable

Energy, 2010 was a great year. Initially, the El

Paso Association of Builders building became

the first in the nation to have Solar Power,

secondly local homebuilders built homes with

solar power, this is was the first time for El

Paso to have new homes with Solar Energy,

additionally regarding Energy Efficiency the El

Paso area started more than 1,600 new Energy

Star Homes, this alone is a very significant

achievement because El Paso Builders are

setting an Energy Efficiency standard in a

voluntarily manner and offering their

customers the benefits of energy savings for

years to come.

As you may see, El Paso homebuilding

market has been evolving for the last few years

by embracing energy efficiency not only as a

marketing tool but as a tool to have more

satisfied customers and improve the

performance of the homes they build. Now we

are seeing that more homebuilders are going a

step further by introducing high performance

products like spray foam insulation, vinyl

windows, tankless water heaters and even solar

power into their homes. 2011 will be a very

interesting year to see how the market evolves

and further adopts more of these technologies.

As an Opportunity example, 2011 would be

a year where Solar Energy is going to have a lot

of attention in El Paso, and the main reason is

because the City of El Paso and El Paso

Electric have launched a Rebate program on

first come first server basis, where they provide

an upfront rebate reducing the cost of a Solar

Photovoltaic System by an average of 25-30%,

in addition there is a federal tax credit of 30%,

reducing the overall investment by almost

60%, which makes it a very viable option to

any homeowner or homebuyer to consider for

their home. The opportunity here is to start

considering building true Solar Ready Homes

and have solar power offered as an option for

home buyers; this will drive the market to the

introduction of renewable energy into the new

homes market and also would differentiate

builders that are thinking about the future.

The Challenge would be to try new and

different things, try to innovate and evolve

along with the market, as I have written before

the home building industry is one of the

industries that has the greatest potential to

evolve into a more efficient industry thru

economies of scale and trade education.

So for this 2011, go after innovation and the

energy efficiency opportunities that you have

access to, go pass the challenges that all

changes represent and consider that the homes

you are building today will still be here in 15-

20 years and whatever energy efficiency

measures you introduced today will be of a

greater benefit tomorrow.

If you have any questions or comments

regarding this article or with any other

Building Science, Sustainability or Renewable

Energy theme, send us an email to:

jruiz@senercon.com

www.swher.com

5400 Suncrest Dr. C-6 El Paso, Tx. 79912

Ph. (915) 613-4168

Fx. (915-833-6437

SENERCONSouthwest Energy Conservation, LLC

www.energystarelpaso.com

Change the World...

One Home at a Time...

7365 Remcon Circle El Paso, TX 79912

Builders Outlook JANUARY 2011 11

Small home builders are the mainstay of thenation’s housing industry, including a sizablenumber of self-employed mom-and-popoperations, according to a new study byeconomists at the National Association ofHome Builders.

“Small businesses have always been thepredominant force in housing and they lend thisindustry its economic vitality,” said Bob Jones,NAHB chairman and a builder fromBloomfield Hills, Mich.

“We are seeing market conditions returningto normal in many parts of the country after along, hard downturn, and these companies havethe agility to move quickly and start leading theeconomy forward,” Jones said. “But first theyneed access to financing to build, whichremains scarce during this critical phase of therecovery.”

The study notes that the small builders andtradesmen who produce the majority of thenation’s new homes “compete in a fiercemarketplace that challenges their economicsurvival. A much higher share of smallbusinesses both enter and fail in the residentialconstruction industry when compared to allU.S. firms,” according to the report.

“The residential construction industry is verydynamic, and a large number of firms enter theindustry each year and a large number exit eachyear,” the report says. “With few barriers ofentry, start-up builders can launch theirbusiness with a single new home.” Most homebuilders and remodelers are small businesses,“further facilitating movement into the industrywhen opportunities improve, and exiting eitherbecause of business failure or life-cycledecisions.”

The report concludes that housing remainsthe domain of small businesses and looks at theCensus Bureau’s Economic Census, whichprovides information on the size of businessesin various industries. Conducted every fiveyears, the most recent census is based onbusiness activity that occurred in 2007. Finaltables for the construction industry werepublished this fall, on Oct. 19.

Among the data that provides a profile of

the housing industry as of 2007:

• Slightly more than 65 percent of all homebuilding establishments had annual receiptsbelow $1 million. Almost 31 percent generatedbetween $1 million and $10 million; and 4.1percent had more than $10 million. • In 2007, 41,483 new single-family general

contractors (who build on the owner’s land) didless than $1 million in business, about a 70percent share of the 59,679 businesses in thisgroup. Although multifamily generalcontractors tend to be somewhat larger, 42percent of them also recorded less than $1million in yearly sales or receipts. About 60percent of the 35,378 “operative builders” (whoown the land upon which they build) did lessthan $1 million in business. Eighty-four percentof 73,888 residential remodelers and 61 percentof 6,462 land developers saw less than $1million. • Some 25 percent of $89.3 billion in totalconstruction value delivered by single-familygeneral contractors in 2007 was subcontractedout. Subcontracting amounted to half of $34.6billion worth of construction amongmultifamily general contractors, 22 percent of$180.1 billion for operative builders and 23percent of the $52.1 billion for residentialremodelers. • These results are consistent with findingsfrom NAHB’s monthly Builder EconomicCouncil survey. Among the single-familybuilders responding, 40 percent said theysubcontracted 100 percent of their work andanother 39 percent subcontracted 76 percent to99 percent of the work. The same builders used24 specialty trade contractors in the process ofbuilding the average single-family home.  • Seventy-four percent of a total of 477,950specialty trade contractors rang up less than $1million in business in 2007. • Under U.S. Small Business Administrationstandards, at least 96 percent of residentialbuilders and remodelers were small (defined asdoing no more than $33.5 million in annual

business). Also considered small were 94percent of land developer (less than $7.0million) and 98 percent of specialty tradecontractor (less than $14 million)establishments. Most of the home building andtrade contractor establishments were far belowthe SBA ceilings.

Looking beyond the Economic Census,which only counts establishments withemployees on the payroll, NAHB estimates thatthe ratio of the income of usually small, self-employed independent contractors to wagesand salaries generated in the constructionindustry is one to four. This is compared to aratio of one to 10 in some other industries, suchas manufacturing.

Housing is also providing moreopportunities for Hispanic businesses than U.S.industries overall, the study found.

The 2007 Survey of Business Owners (SBO)recently reported that in 8.3 percent of a total27 million businesses -- or 2.3 million -- at least51 percent of the stock or equity was Hispanic-owned. The Hispanic share for the constructionindustry (both residential and nonresidential)was higher -- at 10.0 percent, or 340,766 out of3.4 million construction firms.

Of the 2.6 million construction non-employers found in the SBO survey, 11.6percent were Hispanic-owned, as were 12.2percent of the 1.9 million non-employerspecialty trade contractors. For several trades,the Hispanic share among non-employers wasaround 20 percent  -- including structural steeland precast concrete, drywall and insulation,tile and terrazzo and poured concrete.

NAHB Report: Small Builders Mainstay of the Nation's Housing Industry

Builders Outlook12JANUARY 2011

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January 12-14

NAHB Winter Board

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January 19

Board Orientation

3:00-3:30

Board Meeting

3:30 – 4:00

January 21 – 23

Spring Home Show

El Paso Convention Center

February 1

Associates Council meeting

3:30

EPAB

February 9

Board meeting

3:30

EPAB

February 10

Speed Networking

2:00 – 4:00

El Paso Association of

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February 23

Rally Day

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February 22 – 26

TAB Meetings

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Builders Outlook 13JANUARY 2011

UPCOMING EVENTS

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Membership News

Linda TroncosoSal Masoud

The GEPAR REALTOR/Builder

Committee is starting a new program in

2011. We will be having monthly meetings

with different El Paso Builders to come and

present their homes and community to the

El Paso REALTORS. These will be 1-2

hour meetings with the Builder of the

Month speaking about their products and

policies of building new homes. We have a

great turn out for Builders who signed up to

speak at our meetings. Some of our

upcoming presenters are: Desert Agave

Homes, Carefree Homes, Vista Serena

Homes, Bella Homes, Desert View Homes,

Segovia Homes, and Tropicana Homes.

Our January meeting will be covering

“Permit to City Final – Building a New

Home.” Our speaker will be Kelly

Sorenson from Vision Consultants. We

would like to educate our REALTORS

about the complete construction process

from picking up a Permit to passing the

City Final Inspection. Many REALTORS

understand most of the building process.

However, we would like the REALTORS

to have information about the complete

building process. This would help

REALTORS better explain to their clients

why it is a good thing to take time to build

a new home and what the steps are with

City Building Requirements.

The REALTOR/Builder Committee’s

goal is to bring education to our REALTOR

members and bridge the gap of

communication that can sometimes appear

between REALTORS and Builders. We

want to encourage communication of both

groups which will provide a better

professional service for our Buyer Clients.

REALTOR/Builder Committee is very

excited for 2011, we are hoping to build a

great program that will be continued for

years to come and establish professional

relationships that will last a lifetime.

January Meeting: 1/21/11 from 12-2PM

at the Greater El Paso Association of

REALTORS.

Fostering harmony amongst home

builders, real estate professionals, and

affiliate companies

As one year ends and another begins, we

ponder the hardships that we faced and give

thanks for the many blessings that were

bestowed upon us. I have had the great honor

of serving with some of the finest individuals

in our Association. Randy O’Leary, Greg

Bowling, Hector Montoya, Kelly Sorenson

and Ray Adauto were instrumental in my

growth as an associate member this year.

Greg, Kelly and Ray, along with Frank

Arroyos and Del Huit will help continue my

growth in the coming year. We are fortunate

as an association to have such a large and

vocal group of associates supporting our

builder members. I feel that the associate

membership is an integral part in the stability

and growth of EPAB, and I encourage ALL of

our associate members to assert themselves

into the workings of this association. As I

have said before, let’s not just “do business

with a member”, let’s do business with an

ACTIVE and INVOLVED member! I

challenge our associate members to step up

and get REALLY involved in the 2011 year.

We have a lot to offer and a TON to gain as

ACTIVE ASSOCIATE MEMBERS!!! I look

forward to seeing all of you at the first

Associate’s meeting on Tuesday, January 4th

at 3:30pm. See you at the

Homebuilders’offices and have a HAPPY

NEW YEAR!

By Linda Troncoso

The start of a new year offers us a renewed

energy and opportunity to participate in local

issues affecting our industry. The City of El

Paso is currently in the process of preparing a

new Comprehensive Plan for El Paso. In

addition, studies for new policy are ongoing to

incorporate Smart Growth and Smart Code

initiatives. With the election of Veronica Cobos

as Judge of the El Paso County Commissioner’s

Court, we may also see additional coordination

between the County and City of El Paso for

both services and policies.

The election of new representatives to State

and Federal positions may also initiate new

policy making which could affect our industry.

As we sit here today, it is fair to say that 2011

offers builders and developers alike the

challenge to continue to monitor the changes

and initiatives that will continue to come our

way in the upcoming year. For that reason, we

look forward to everyone’s participation at

Land Use Council meetings in 2011. Best

wishes for a successful 2011.

REALTOR/Builder

AssociatesCouncil

Land Use

� execuTIve OffIcers

Greg bowling, President

Tropicana Homes

Del Huit, vice President

Cardel Design Group

frank Arroyos, secretary/Treasurer

Cisco Homes

eric Lowenberg, Associates council

Emser Tile & Stone

Kelly sorenson, Immediate Past President

Vision Consultants

ray Adauto, executive vice President

El Paso Association of Builders

� cOuNcIL/cOmmITTee cHAIrs

Affordable Builders Council Bobby Bowling IV

Associates Council Eric Lowenberg

Build PAC El Paso Randy Bowling

Desert Green Building Council Javier Ruiz

Government Affairs Council Pat Woods

Industry Promotions Kelly Sorenson

Land Use Council Linda Troncoso

Sal Masoud

Adams Pro AM Committee David Bogas

Young Designer Award John Chaney

Code Committee Kelly O’Leary

Home Show Sam Shallenberger

Remodelors Miguel Herrera

Membership Drive Mike Santamaria

Finance Committee Kathy Carillo

Education Committee Frank Spencer

� ADvIsOrY TO THe bOArD

J. Crawford Kerr, Attorney, Firth, Johnson

& Martinez

� bOArD Of DIrecTOrs

Danny Andrus, Trinity Homes

John Arranda, Southwest Securities Bank, FSB

Joe Bernal, Joe Bernal Insurance

David Bogas, EPT Communities

Doug Borrett, Karam Co.

Sergio Cuartas, BIC HomesEdmundo Dena, Accent Homes

Ted Escobedo, Snappy Publishing

Art Garcia, El Paso Door

Juanita Garcia, ICON Custom Home Builder,LLC

Danny Gerard, Desert Agave Builders, LLC

Miguel Herrera, Simply the Best Custom Homes

Lorraine Huit, Cardel Design Group

Walter Lujan, Dawco Home Builders

Bruce Meyer, JDW Insurance

Robert Najera, Joseph Homes

Jose Ortiz, Foxworth-Galbraith Lumber

Kathy Parry, Hunt Communities

Bob Paschich, Oeste Homes

Kathy Rose, Builders Source

Regina Sanchez, Compass Bank

Sam Shallenberger, Western Wholesale

Frank Torres, GMF Homes

Javier Veloz, Zia Homes

Paul Zacour, Zacour & Associates

� TAb sTATe DIrecTOrs ALTerNATes

Doug Borrett, Karam Co.

Randy Bowling, Tropicana Homes

2010 builder member Of The Year

Mike Santamaria

Mountain Vista Builders

2010 Pat cox Award

Randy Bowling

Tropicana Homes

2010 Associate Of The Year

Javier Ruiz

Border Solar/Senercon

John schatzman Award

Lorraine Huit

Cardel Design Group

Honorary Life members

Brad Roe

Cliff Anthes

Wayne Grinnell

Chester Lovelady

Don Henderson

Anna Gil

Past Presidents

committed to serve

ePAb mission statement:

The El Paso Association of Builders is a

federated professional organization representing

the home building industry, committed to

enhancing the quality of life in our community by

providing affordable homes of excellence and

value.

The El Paso Association of Builders is a

501C(6) trade organization.

© 2011 Builder’s Outlook

is published and distributed for the

El Paso Association of Builders

by Snappy Publishing

240 Thunderbird • Suite C

El Paso • Texas • 79912 915-820-2800

6046 Surety Dr. El Paso, TX 79905 915-778-5387 • Fax: 915-772-3038

Mark Dyer

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John Cullers

Randy Bowling

Doug Schwartz

Del Huit

Herschel Stringfield

Robert Baeza

Bobby Bowling, IV

Rudy Guel

Anna Gill

Bradley Roe

Bob Bowling, III

Pat Woods

EH Baeza

� NATIONAL DIrecTOrs

Bobby Bowling IV.

Demetrio Jimenez

NATIONAL AssOcIATION Of

HOme buILDers

(800) 368-5242

TexAs AssOcIATION Of

buILDers

(800)252-3625

www.elpasobuilders.com

Builders Outlook14 JANUARY 2011

Eric Lowenberg,

Emser Tile

Council Reports

915-778-5387

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