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:
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:
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
Meetings
And
International Builder’s Show
Orlando, Florida
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
Builders
February 23
Rally Day
Austin, Texas
February 22 – 26
TAB Meetings
Austin, Texas
RENEWALS
SODA SPONSOR
Baja Homes
Bank of the West
Bohannons Development
Corp.
CEA Engineering Group
Cisco Homes, LLC
Classic Granite & Marble, Inc.
Davidson Custom Homes
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Franklin Building Materials
General Electric
Grey Jansing & Associates
Lone Star Title Co.
MA Homes
MTI Ready Mix
R.C. Baeza & Associates
Builders Outlook 13JANUARY 2011
UPCOMING EVENTS
Punto Living, LLC
Contact: Jorge Mejia
5766 N. Mesa St.
El Paso, TX 79912
915-584-8011
NEW MEMBERS
Thanks to our
JANUARY
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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
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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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