Great Development

[Don1]

Ground breaks on renewable homes next week
Ross Sheil Online Co-ordinator rsheil@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 14, 2008

Groundbreaking will take place next week on a new development where homes will be provided with 85-90 per cent of their electricity needs by solar panels and domestic-size wind turbines and boosted by energy saving devices.
Walls will be insulated with foam to reduce the need for air conditioning.
Developers Dewdrop Homes Jamaica Limited took 20 months to gain requisite permission to construct Les Grande'ur Country Club, a five-townhouse four-apartment development, to be located at Patrick Heights in Red Hills, St Andrew. The site was chosen for its favourable wind and solar energy potential.
Plan of the Les Grande'ur Country Club development at Patrick Heights in Red Hills, St Andrew where groundbreaking will occur next week. "I think it will find favour with homeowners because one, their electricity bill will be significantly reduced and that reduction can help with their mortgage repayments and all these homes will have a battery back-up and it's environmentally friendly," said Dewdrop CEO and President Steven Bruce-Miller, who has the same technologies installed at his own home.
The homes will be about ten per cent more expensive than similar homes that lack the renewable energy technologies and range in price from $15.5 million for a two-bedroom apartment to 30 million for a three-bedroom townhouse, said Bruce-Miller.
One unit and has already been sold and the project is generating interest among other potential buyers, he said. He hopes that high oil prices and the knock-on affect on bills charged by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), which uses the fuel to generate electricity, will persuade home buyers.
Renewable energy will supply between 400-500 kilowatt hours per month to the two-three bedroom townhouses and 300 kWh per month to the two-bedroom apartments. Dewdrop is also in process of registering the project to earn carbon credits for the housing strata, which would reduce maintenance costs, said Bruce-Miller.
Maintenance costs will be further reduced by the use of solar lighting throughout the development.
Promaneng Company Limited (PME), the company, which he operates with his brother Andrew, is engineering the project. PME has prior experience installing renewable energy and efficient equipment in business premises.
More information: www.dewdrophomes.com



Now GOJ must mandate/incentivize such technology in all new developments.

Where is the creativity in our energy policy?

[Lazie]

Ground breaks on renewable homes next week
Ross Sheil Online Co-ordinator rsheil@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, September 14, 2008

Groundbreaking will take place next week on a new development where homes will be provided with 85-90 per cent of their electricity needs by solar panels and domestic-size wind turbines and boosted by energy saving devices.
Walls will be insulated with foam to reduce the need for air conditioning.
Developers Dewdrop Homes Jamaica Limited took 20 months to gain requisite permission to construct Les Grande'ur Country Club, a five-townhouse four-apartment development, to be located at Patrick Heights in Red Hills, St Andrew. The site was chosen for its favourable wind and solar energy potential.
Plan of the Les Grande'ur Country Club development at Patrick Heights in Red Hills, St Andrew where groundbreaking will occur next week. "I think it will find favour with homeowners because one, their electricity bill will be significantly reduced and that reduction can help with their mortgage repayments and all these homes will have a battery back-up and it's environmentally friendly," said Dewdrop CEO and President Steven Bruce-Miller, who has the same technologies installed at his own home.
The homes will be about ten per cent more expensive than similar homes that lack the renewable energy technologies and range in price from $15.5 million for a two-bedroom apartment to 30 million for a three-bedroom townhouse, said Bruce-Miller.
One unit and has already been sold and the project is generating interest among other potential buyers, he said. He hopes that high oil prices and the knock-on affect on bills charged by the Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS), which uses the fuel to generate electricity, will persuade home buyers.
Renewable energy will supply between 400-500 kilowatt hours per month to the two-three bedroom townhouses and 300 kWh per month to the two-bedroom apartments. Dewdrop is also in process of registering the project to earn carbon credits for the housing strata, which would reduce maintenance costs, said Bruce-Miller.
Maintenance costs will be further reduced by the use of solar lighting throughout the development.
Promaneng Company Limited (PME), the company, which he operates with his brother Andrew, is engineering the project. PME has prior experience installing renewable energy and efficient equipment in business premises.
More information: www.dewdrophomes.com



Now GOJ must mandate/incentivize such technology in all new developments.

Where is the creativity in our energy policy?

The Minister was on NNN last week and Emily Crooks was on his case that he is missing in action. Its when he was asked to name 5 policies he was working on he surprised everybody that they purchased 9 wind turbines the week before.

This gov't is sloppy when it comes to keeping the people informed. MAudib, what a gwaan?

[Don1]

The Minister was on NNN last week and Emily Crooks was on his case that he is missing in action. Its when he was asked to name 5 policies he was working on he surprised everybody that they purchased 9 wind turbines the week before.

This gov't is sloppy when it comes to keeping the people informed. MAudib, what a gwaan?

Purchasing 9 turbines comforts you that there is an adequate energy policy?? I guess your expectations are low.

The expansion of the Wigton Windfarm (I assume that's what the turbines are for) has been in process for a couple of years now..after the failure to get a buyer for the facility.

It's good that this seems to be proceeding ... but an aggressive policy is clearly MIA.

[Mosiah]

Great! And they beat me to it! I'm actually designing a little shack of my own, complete with wind turbine and solar panels.

Hey, the more the merrier. To hell with JPS!