Expo offers ‘nifty’ concepts for green building

Flashing a wide smile and mouth full of silvery braces, Jose Aguilar used one word to describe Friday’s green expo: Nifty.

The Los Fresnos resident attended the expo in search of money saving “green” techniques, which might prove useful when he builds his house later this year.

He perused the display tables, picking up brochures on solar panels and alternatives to venting attics.

“You see that,” he said, pointing to Styrofoam panels. “The Styrofoam is separated by braces. You just pour in the concrete for your foundation and the Styrofoam acts as insulation. Easy, and it eliminates a lot of cost.”

The Second Annual Energy Efficiency and Green Building Conference and EXPO got off to a slow start, attracting mostly visitors who are seriously interested in energy efficiency and green building, according to Hilaro Diaz, program specialist at Cameron Works.

The event hosted by Cameron Works and South Texas Energy Partners, among others, was originally scheduled for late August, but was moved to September due to the threat of hurricanes brewing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Despite the sparse attendance at the University of Texas Brownsville and Texas Southmost College ITEC, Diaz was undeniably up beat.

“We’re trying to foster interest in energy conservation here, not rocket science,” he said. “We have businesses are saying ‘hey, this is what we’re doing, you can too.’”

Although green businesses are slowly gaining momentum in South Texas, Diaz pointed to recent start-ups like Sol Technologies LLC, as evidence that the industry is making inroads.

Sol Technologies, based out of Weslaco, sells and installs solar panels that heat homes, power streetlights and pump water for livestock.

One photovoltaic system used on homes runs $1,000. A typical home consumes 800 kilowatt-hours, and to match that output a homeowner would have to buy 46 panels, according to Vicky Ortiz, an engineer for Sol Technologies.

“You could use half that number,” Ortiz said. “It’s just a matter of doing your part to cut down on (conventional) energy.”

Ortiz and her colleagues also took the opportunity to attend the conference’s many workshops, including creating new industries with solar and biodiesel.

There is enough solar power in a parking space in San Antonio to power a car for 40 minutes. Not everybody is blessed with so much sun, explained Bill Barker, a presenter on solar power, but Texas is not taking full advantage of its renewable resources.

According to Barker, 123,000 jobs could be created by 2020 if Texas delved headfirst into solar power.

Texas is first in potential in the country and eighth in actual production, he said.

“We have a lot of potential, but from my perspective we’re falling behind.”

The free conference and expo will return today, featuring more exhibits on energy efficient building, green building techniques and home mortgage financing.

“Change doesn’t come easily,” Diaz said. “It takes people slugging it out to make it happen.”