By Maria Leon

TUCSON, Arizona – High school students and budding architects from the University of Arizona are taking part in a project to build energy-efficient, environmentally sensible homes for low-income families en Tucson.

“One thing is to build high-tech houses to save energy and water, and another is to build them for families without all that much money,” the director of the project, UA architecture Professor Mary Hardin, told Efe.

As part of the project, the students have designed the homes taking into account such details as where the sun rises and sets, and have experimented with materials that keep the houses warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

A special cement is also used to make the outside more waterproof and to protect the buildings from termites.

The houses also have a giant cylinder that accumulates rainwater so it can be used to water the garden or wash the car.

“This is a system commonly used in other countries like Mexico, an intelligent way to save water and use natural resources,” the professor said.

Hardin said that all the construction work is done entirely by the students, supervised by the professors.

“Only work that requires experts like electricians and plumbers is done by professionals.”

Once the two-bedroom, two-bath home is finished, it costs about $100,000.

The professor said that the cost is kept low largely because the property in the neighborhood where the third green home is currently being built was donated by the city of Tucson. Low-cost loans were also obtained to buy the building materials, and the labor was provided by 19 college students and six from high school.

Hardin said that the city government, with the aid of organizations like Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc., helps find families that meet the requirements to buy these homes.

The project began in 2006 and the contruction of two more homes in the next two years if planned for the San Antonio neighborhood.

“Our goal is to build green houses for families with a very limited amount of money – that ‘s why we design the houses so that all the windows face north and south, to control the natural light the house receives,” Hardin said.

Paloma Morales, 18, said that for her it is very important to take part in this project since it not only helps low-income families but also the environment and the local economy.

Other students like Steven Gonzalez, 21, said he hopes that the construction techniques he is learning will help him get a job in the future.

“I’ll also be competing with other students and the experience I’m getting will help me with that,” said Gonzalez, who plans to go to college and graduate as a construction administrator.

For her part, Hardin said that the project is very important for all the students since it enables them to put into practice what they learn in class.

“They also learn about using energy-saving techniques without spending much money on housing construction,” the professor said. EFE