Silver Gardens, an environmentally sustainable, affordable housing complex planned for downtown Albuquerque, is the nation's first project to receive funding from a new environmental initiative. The four-story, 119-unit rental complex, to be located on the site of the former Greyhound bus terminal, is being jointly developed by the Supportive Housing Coalition of New Mexico and Romero Rose, the Albuquerque affiliate of the New York City-based Jonathan Rose Cos., which specializes in the development of affordable, environmentally friendly urban infill. The nonprofit group Enterprise Community Partners formed the Enterprise Green Communities Offset Fund, which purchases carbon offsets, or amounts of carbon dioxide not released into the environment, of green projects. It will fund Silver Gardens based on a carbon offset of 330 tons of carbon dioxide the project would emit if it were built by traditional means. The group is funded through charitable contributions.

The complex will save residents money on their energy bills by using 15 to 20 percent less energy than conventionally constructed complexes. "The Green Communities Offset Fund is the first national opportunity for individuals and organizations to offset their carbon footprint by directly supporting green affordable homes for families in our own communities in this country," said Dana Bourland, senior director of the Green Communities initiative. "Without support from the Green Communities Offset Fund, we would not have been able to deliver as environmentally responsible and energy efficient a development for low-income families in this community," noted Romero Rose's Lynn Wehrli.  Ninety percent of the complex's units will be reserved for residents earning between $12,000 and $31,000 a year. The rest will be market rate.  Silver Gardens, bounded by Gold and Silver Avenues and 1st and 2nd Streets, should break ground in the fourth quarter of 2008. The first 66-unit phase will take about 12 months to complete.