POWER FROM THE SUN FOR TIERRA MADRE (MOTHER EARTH) SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INCLUDING A COMMUNITY PHOTOVOLTAIC-POWERED WATER PUMPING SYSTEM (INSTALLED WITH TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE FROM SANDIA NATIONAL LABORATORIES)

摘要

Tierra Madre ("Mother Earth") is a land trust housing project located in Sunland Park, New Mexico on the US -Mexico border. After identifying housing as the single largest problem in the area, Tierra Madre was formed to assist low-income families in building their own energy efficient homes. The purpose of this paper is to describe and document some of the issues and solutions associated with building a sustainable community, including partnering with other agencies and communities to obtain and share expertise. An example of partnering is a solar-powered water-pumping project where the community worked with Sandia National Laboratories. The project uses greywater for drip irrigation, and Sandia provided design assistance and aided with the specification of components. This water use aspect was integral to the sustainable home concept practiced by the Tierra Madre community. The project addresses low-income housing needs along with border environmental sustainability issues. The Tierra Madre project has been an experimental one for both the community and the city of Sunland Park, and has broken new ground in a number of areas. The goal of the community is to create a sustainable community where all members participate in its design and continued operation. After researching various sustainable housing types, the community decided to build strawbale homes. Tierra Madre has overcome obstacles such as leasing state land and obtaining funding for the various aspects of building their community; construction, infrastructure, water pumping, solar design, and other related community projects.