YardEdge Interview With Developer Giuliano Pignataro of Treading Lightly Developments:

Giuliano: We are trying to set an example of building in a responsible way. We want TLD to be known as a reputable builder of high quality and well designed homes that take a practical approach to green construction and use of alternative energy.

We would like to build homes that embrace those qualities and exist within this community, culture, economy, etc. We have tried to do that by choosing our location with pond and mountain views just a short walk from the beach, working with Ann Hodges to help us design homes that use traditional Jamaican architectural vernacular, the use of local labor, and the use of as many local materials as is practical.

There are quite a few pieces of land and lots for sale in Treasure Beach. We see Treasure Beach as the final frontier in terms of development in Jamaica. We would like to take advantage of that and learn lessons from the rest of the island for how development shouldn’t be done.

So far we have an inventory of two lots in the Old Wharf section of Treasure Beach with the option of expanding in that immediate area. The lots have been bushed and we have begun landscaping.
We have two different models of homes planned that have been designed with Ann Hodges of Kingston 10 Architects...We are currently working to finalize pricing and specifications.

What we have are two models that we are calling the Resort Villa and Family Villa (...consult our facebook page to see the Floor Plans). The lot location is just a short walk to the secluded swimming coves in Old Wharf.

Resort Villa – This 2 Bedroom, 2.5 Bathroom home will be the more expensive of the two models and is the home that is appropriate for someone that wants to use this home as an investment as well as a vacation home.
In addition to a large open floor plan with a kitchen that you can eat or entertain in this home features two master suites with en suite bathrooms, sitting areas and connected private verandas. There is also a study/den which is large enough to double as a third bedroom for those that need it. The veranda on the front of the home is large enough for a living room set and dining room set on the other for those who- like me- want to spend as much of their time outside as possible.

Family Villa – This will be the more versatile of the two models and is probably better suited for someone that is going to spend more time in TB than the traditional vacationer.
The base model will be a 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom but will be easily expandable into a 3 or 4 bedroom by adding an additional story. Much more traditional in its layout this floor plan features a Master Bath with an en suite bathroom as well and wrap around verandas that you will surely live on.

We are partnering with Jake’s Villas for property management services.
This will be separate from the home purchase but, through Jake’s Villas a home owner, will be able to arrange to have any range of property management services from once a month housekeeping to fully serviced, staffed and marketed resort villas.

I am very encouraged by the level of response we are getting. Everyone we talk to loves the fact that we are using a traditional Jamaican vernacular for the design, that we have used Ann Hodges, and are building green.

We started trying to do a subdivision but found, through preliminary due diligence, that the approval process was going to be time and cost prohibitive.
After the first 5 months we basically had to scrap our plans and start from scratch. The bureaucracy ended up being a blessing in disguise. We found a land owner willing to sell us some lots that are already improved (the roads and utilities are already installed).
That is the greener thing to do anyway- when you can you should always utilize what already exists rather than building new.

We are announcing pricing this week. (14•2•2011)
The homes are starting from US$292,775... We are going to build these homes semi-custom so we will not start construction until we have a buyer.

We are starting with the design focused on air flow and ventilation but our plans will evolve with the influx of more and more green materials to the island and our buyers tastes.

For starters, the base price includes solar energy (with an inverter and battery bank built for ease of expansion over time) and rain water harvesting.
We will be using no VOC (no odor) paint for the majority of the home. We plan to work with the buyer and the Parrish council to take the use of grey water as far as possible. I could go on, but it might get boring.}

LINK:
www.yardedge.net/entrepreneurs/treading-lightly-yardedge-talks-to-giuliano-pigna taro-about-green-construction-in-jamaica

OFF THE GRID:
Pick up a copy of Coldwell Banker's Magazine, KUYA (Summer 2011 Edition), in their office at Kingfisher Plaza, to read more about Giuliano Pignataro's and his wife, Liz Solms' newish "green" home, Yellow Plum, up at Round Hill overlooking the Pedro Plains all the way to the sea...A glorious expanse!

Some talk a good game about sustainable building and environmentally friendly practices, but Giuliano and Liz have actually built a "breathing", wooden frame home following a checklist for energy independence, water conservation & grey water re-use, abiding by a healthy restorative agriculture on their fertile ground.

This, of course, is the same Liz Solms who has worked with St Elizabeth farmers to produce organic crops, which find their way to the tables of Jakes' restaurants and other outlets.
Perhaps you've heard of, or enjoyed the fresher-than-fresh farm dinners on tables beautifully set, alfresco, in farmer Doolie's fields, which she has helped organize.

Here are just some of the technics which Giuliano and Liz designed and employed into building their compact cottage, Yellow Plum:

• Wood Framing and Cladding using local materials (cedar/ bitterwood; guango for flooring), with "minimum impact on the natural environment and human health"...employing local labour.

• Sherwin Williams Non-toxic, Low Odour Paint (No VOC's)

• Electrical Power Supply OFF GRID:
.....Utilizing Solar PV Panels with Battery Back-up (Designed by Ryan Ebanks of Tropical Renewable Energy)

• Water Supply OFF TRHE MAIN:
....Rainwater Harvesting::All structures on the 30 Acre property are guttered to catch and funnel rainwater to a cistern by underground pipes. The stored water is pumped uphill to a tank from which the water is gravity-fed back to supply domestic requirements.

• Grey Water System using filtered sewage water to irrigate trees/crops on the property.

The home/cottage (1 BR/1 BathRm/Loft/Kitchen/Veranda) occupies a small footprint (24ft x 16ft) following principles which the architect, Sarah Susanka espouses in The Not So Big House, letting spaces serve multiple tasks and the sharing and cycling of daily relationships/activities, while still maintaining privacy.

LINK: The Not So Big House
www.notsobighouse.com

Kuya Magazine
www.cbjamaica.com/kuya

Tropical Renewable Energy: (At TRE we try to ‘Green Your Routine’)

LINK:
www.trenewable.com/index.php

Dream Homes & The Not So Big House

YOUTUBE LINK:
www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6541104n

VIDEO: Conventional Florida ("Tropical Lifestyle") Builders Go "Green"
www.builderconcepthome2011.com/videos.php?video_id=7

The Shrinking Family House: Downsizing The Dream
www.cnbc.com/id/40116004

The Growing Field of Sustainability Studies:

Students in these programs are challenging their faculty to develop creative solutions to the world's crisis in environmental sustainability. When I tell my students that I believe the current forms of consumption may evolve, and become less destructive, but will still remain central to the planet's political economy -- they question my assumptions and force me to rethink basic premises.

When we tell them that it will take a generation or more to complete a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, they tell us why they think it will happen much faster.

I confess that I remain a little skeptical of their perspective, but it is easy for me to see why they believe it is possible to complete such as paradigm shift.

• The internet, cell phones, digital music and movies have brought information and entertainment to their fingertips. There are now over five billion cell phones on the planet - a technology few of us considered a necessity even a decade ago.

• This technology is changing our society, our economy and our politics. We see a wave of web-influenced political events like Obama's election, Occupy Wall Street, the Arab Spring and even this year's Republican presidential primary season.

• The generation of students in our graduate programs, and especially those enrolled in undergraduate programs, recognize the intense challenge they will face as they come of age.
They are looking for new approaches to economic life that will permit the material comfort they have grown up with, while keeping the planet intact.
They are also dedicated and focused on learning and communicating the lessons they are learning about sustainability.

At Columbia University... students have developed a journal called Consilience, which:

...is a global online publication dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary dialogue on sustainable development. By providing a public platform for discussion, we hope to encourage a global community to think more broadly, thoroughly and analytically about sustainable development.

Throughout the 20th century the field of organizational management has evolved and the knowledge needed by CEOs has continued to grow....
Today these systems include instant communication of sales and performance data which must be factored into a myriad of management decisions.

At the turn of the 21st century we saw the development of an increasingly interconnected global economy.

Today we are adding a new factor to management's information overload: the physical dimensions of sustainability.
Organizations must understand their use of natural resources, their production of waste, and the impact of their product and its waste stream on the biosphere.

This is not a fringe issue, but is central for many organizations.

Management is no longer simply finance, labor, strategy and marketing.
In a planet growing to ten billion people, with global GDP rising, we must learn how to manage and maintain a high throughput economy that does not destroy the planet's ability to sustain life -- especially our own.

More and more students are coming into our colleges with an intuitive and profound understanding of the changing nature of the planet. They know that these challenges are not going to be wished away and will soon belong to them. This is fueling the growth of environmental and sustainability education in the United States.
Steven Cohen (Executive Director, Columbia University's Earth Institute)

LINK:
www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-cohen/the-growing-field-of-sust_b_1272831.html

ECO-Resolutions...Past-Present & Future:

The facts speak for themselves.
• 80 percent of the world’s forests are gone.

• The impact of the average US citizen on the environment is approximately three times that of the average Italian, 13 times that of the average Brazilian, 35 times that of the average Indian, 140 times that of the average Bangladeshi, and 250 times that of the average sub-Saharan African.

• The World Meteorological Organization reported that 2000-20009 was the hottest decade on record, and it is predicted that with a moderate El Niño, 2010 will likely break the record.

I Promise To Do The BASICS:

1. To change my bulbs to fluorescent.

2. To adjust my thermostat.

3. To recycle, recycle, recycle.

4. To use water efficiently.

5. To use alternative energy.

6. To slow down on the road.

7. To manage my electronics better.

8. To turn my kitchen green.

9. To take pride in my country.

10. To take responsibility for my own actions.
Living green is a conscious decision, and it’s one that must be made now, in order to protect our planet for future generations.

First we must all take responsibility for how our actions may be destroying the planet.

Take small steps, first by assessing your lifestyle, your energy consumption, and what you can do to reduce your carbon footprint.

LINK: Full Article in SkyWritings Magazine
www.skywritingsmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=159&Itemid =30

YouTube Musical Video: "Teach Your Children"...the sweetness of aging hippies lacing the global culture.(from the 1970's)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sslUup8RENo


Teach your Children
You who are on the road
Must have a code that you can live by
And so become yourself
Because the past is just a good bye.

Teach your children well,
Their father's hell did slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

And you, of tender years,
Can't know the fears that your elders grew by,
And so please help them with your youth,
They seek the truth before they can die.

Counter Melody To Above Verse:

Can you hear and do you care and
Can't you see we must be free to
Teach your children what you believe in.
Make a world that we can live in.

Teach your parents well,
Their children's hell will slowly go by,
And feed them on your dreams
The one they picked, the one you'll know by.

Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry,
So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.

How do I find out more info on the Farm dinners organized by Liz Solms? "Perhaps you've heard of, or enjoyed the fresher-than-fresh farm dinners on tables beautifully set, alfresco, in farmer Doolie's fields, which she has helped organize. "

The "Beauty" of Recycling: Glass Countertops

VIDEO LINKS:
GAIAM:
http://video.answers.com/how-recycled-glass-becomes-your-kitchen-countertop-5170 61440

Vetrazzo:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn_7F8-9f8Q

Kitchen Eco-Friendly Materials:
http://life.gaiam.com/article/redo-your-kitchen-green

Cindy...You can usually find out about the Pedro Plains farm-to-table dinners through Jakes or perhaps directly through "Contact" on Liz Solms' website.

Here are a few LINKS that might be helpful:

The "Bess" Farm Dinner
www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/food/The--Bess--Farm-Dinner_7713486

Liz Solms: Banana Tree Consulting
http://bananatreeconsulting.com/bananatree_aboutus.html

What is "traditional Jamaican vernicular for the design"? I like what I read although this pricing is too high for my station.

sentry...traditional Jamaican vernacular design, as practiced by architect Ann Hodges and others, is a celebration of those features in home-building that ordinary folks utilized, from past centuries, to address the economy, living conditions and climate of the Tropics.
In general, these are adaptations of wood-framed and clad clapboard houses with covered verandas, jalousie shutters, decorated with gingerbread fretwork.
Emphasis is placed on passive means of keeping the interiors cool by allowing air-flow to pass through transom windows above exterior-interior doorways, and sometimes gable-ends under the roof. The home breathes.

In places such as Tichfield Hill in Port Antonio, you'll still find a nice cluster of older homes, which of necessity, used these principles, and survived some of the most devastating hurricanes.
In some of the houses, the exteriors were treated with a sand finish, expressly to protect the wood, but also thought to lessen the heat-gain which would transfer into the home during the heat of the day, thus improving comfort levels.

From time immemorial (e.g.,white Greek/Spanish villages), it was proved conclusively that white or light-coloured exterior finishes resisted heat penetration through structures, and that still applies.
However, modern technological advances have come up with Radiant Barrier paints, with colour additives, which are advertised to reduce the heat accumulation in structures up to 25%.
(See page 6 of Eco-Tek's Catalog for more info: go2ecotec)

So, sentry, essentially this "vernacular ting" is the classic Caribbean cottage that good itinerant carpenters could easily put together with a team of sub-contractors for electrical & plumbing to fit a more "trimmed budget"...in fact, there are vendors around, who have come up with some modest pre-fab versions of the style...at modest prices.

For some examples of more luxury-resort versions of this style, check out LINKS to a couple of Ann Hodges Designs:

Country Country In Negril:
http://countrynegril.com/home.htm
VIDEO:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxFjXHcOJik

Strawberry Hill..."Blue Mountain Oasis":
www.islandoutpost.com/strawberry_hill

I appreciate the info Zed. Many thanks.