Workshop8: Boulder architects’ design net-zero housing project in El Paso

BOULDER — The architects at Workshop8 in Boulder pulled out all their green pens to win a design competition that resulted in the construction of the energy-efficient Paisano Green Community in El Paso, Texas.

Paisano Green is the first net-zero, LEED platinum, affordable senior-housing project in the United States, according to those involved in the project.

Net-zero means energy produced on site will equal or exceed energy consumed on site. The five-building, 73-unit project is built on 4.2 acres, adjacent to the major border crossing between El Paso, Texas, and Juarez, Mexico.

Workshop8 LLC was founded in 2010 by green-minded Joseph Vigil, Ulla…