Located in the Winter Garden region of South Texas, the Center was engaged by the Community Services Agency of Dimmit, LaSalle and Maverick Counties to establish a caliche block production operation, with a passive solar Girl Scouts Headquarters becoming the community demonstration opportunity for these low embodied energy, locally manufactured block offering local employment and energy efficient affordable housing opportunities.  Caliche, a readily available calcium carbonate material that does not conflict with agricultural production, was complemented with bamboo, another abundant regional resource used to replace steel reinforcement in the building’s foundation, roof trusses and door and window lintels.  The building was designed and engineered with a nighttime roof re-radiation system for summer cooling and an attached solar greenhouse for winter heating to offset reliance on fossil fuels for heating and cooling.

CLIENT:
David Ojeda, Community Services Agency of Dimmit, LaSalle and Zavala Counties

FUNDING:
Community Services Agency of Dimmit, LaSalle and Zavala Counties; U. S. Department of Energy

PROJECT TEAM:
Pliny Fisk III; Steve Musick