It is indisputable that a spirit of Independence and creative self-sufficiency and frugality exists in the folks of Treasure Beach/Ft Charles and the surrounding countryside.

In farming, fishing, small business, by any means necessary, relationships of trade, barter, persuasiveness have been some of the hallmarks of our people.
Whether it was procuring engine parts for fishing boats and trucks, or harnessing the wind to pump well water, as Hoadaniels did out at Ft. Charles, before the electrical power lines arrived.

Are we ready here on the Southcoast, where weather conditions are favourable, and especially in the Treasure Beach community to establish a ClearinHouse/Studio/Library/Laboratory/Business to educate and showcase Renewable Energy Sources for the community...
a place where samples of Solar-Wind-Construction Related Materials and Methods (Windows/ Roofing etc) might be displayed and their effectiveness demonstrated?

Such a Demonstration Project, perhaps under the auspices of Breds and other local associations should be able to attract the talents of Engineers, Architects, Educators (especially Tech Schools), Peace Corps and Business people.

Part of the problem of the brain drain of talented youth of the area is the perception that there are few high skilled, technical occupations in which to invest their efforts.
Might such a project foster educational and entrepreneural
pursuits in the youth?

SCOPE OF THE PROBLEM: During the recent oil price hikes(above $140US/barrel), Solar and Wind Energy advocates, along with promoters of hybrid/electric and alternative fuel vehicles saw the potential impetus for manufacturers to start cranking out competing renewable technologies for electrifying residences/businesses, and to address the soon to be irreversible global warming issues.
Then oil prices tanked, during this harsh recession, to almost historic lows, and old profligate thinking resurfaced...
"Don't worry, Be happy...I can drive more for less than yesterday, leave the lights, and TV and air conditioner on longer than prudent.

Invariably, the up-front costs of Alternative Energy Equipment
and strategies look prohibitive, but only in the short run.

A Clearing House, such as suggested, could institute a Charter to address the pressing local energy concerns and intermittent
electrical service (JPS), and track what our Government, Foundations,Licensees, Investors are providing in the way of tax credits, subsidies, rebates and incentives.

Monitoring prices of new photovoltaic devices, which convert sunlight to electricity, may soon find the fulfillment of the
promise of the "holy grail" of Solar Economics,i.e,
the capability of roof-top photovoltaics to provide 1 Watt of
electricity for $1US, or less, to compete with carbon-based fueled power plants. The current average for silicon-based PV cells is approximately $3US/Watt.
The silicon technology of current PVs require dust-free, clean laboratory conditions for assembling the panels and their intricate soldered connections are being superceded by a non-silicon, spray-on technology similar to rolls of newsprint.
A California company, NanoSolar has reduced the cost of these solar coatings to 30centsUS, and in a very short span of time is capable of packaging 430Megawatts of photovoltaic capacity, more than the combined total of every other solar manufacturer in the US.

Can you imagine a coil of PV material, shaped in the form of roof tiles, wired up to a typical PV display of inverters, meters, batteries etc supplying a steady stream of electricity and
resistant to hurricane forces.


www.nanosolar.com/about.htm

http://stonebrookgroup.brighterplanet.org/environment/spray-on-solar-power-cells -are-true-breakthrough

(Click on "Recent Post" (NanoSolar 1 G Solar")

Costs, durability, maintenance, reliability on prolonged cloudy days (solar) or listless days (home wind turbines) will always be factored when judging Alternative Energy sources.
Keep in mind that costs should always be viewed in terms of long term or "life-cycle" payback.

QUESTION: If I install this equipment today (whenever the price is right), at current and increasing energy/utility prices, when will I be receiving "free" (less maintenance) electricity and hot water?

A LOOK AT SOME US BUILDING TRENDS (WITHOUT NANO-SOLAR
PV): "Seeing A Smaller Footprint: Builders Scale Back House Sizes As Buyers Commit to Energy Efficiency"

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012301883.html

In concluding, any such Clearing House endeavour should look at these energy practicalities in a holistic manner that offers sustainable solutions to our coast, our Island...our world.

Therefore, we offer several simple Web References, within this thread which are suggestive of some of these issues of habitation...
BUILDING (Active & Passive Solar/ Wind Power; Impact Resistant Windows; Roofing etc)
LANDSCAPE (Siting; Rainwater Harvesting; Waste Management etc)
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY TUTORIALS; GOVERNMENT POLICY;
SOLAR BUSINESS & FRUGAL INDEPENDENCE

If we may leave you with a little low tech project that the local youth might draw inspiration... from the pages of Better Homes & Garbage..

www.temasactuales.com/temasblog/environment-protection/waste-recycling/a-solar-w at

Thanks Zed.

It is encouraging to read your proposals.

Notice where the $ Trillions go, thin air, data banks and bling.

You're right, the conditions of frugality and creativity is a respected St Elizabeth tradition.

With a little encouragement (sorry if I wear that word thin) and juggling (the posi kind), wonderfull model situations can be assembled and maintained (the key) in our communities. The White House is ready. Hail up President Obama and Mr Gore.

I hope those that should be paying attention are awake and ready.

Look forward to hear more on what's up in this direction ZED and all.

The snow is melting here and everyone has a touch of cabin fever, look forward to the deep, deep south.

Later will be greater, turey.

RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES & REFERENCES:

PROMOTING SOLAR (GENERAL):
www.solar-and-windpower-info.com/index.html

SOLAR POWER (PROS & CONS):
http://environment.about.com/od/renewableenergy/a/solar_power.htm?p=1

TEACHING SOLAR:
www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080531/news/news1.html



JAMAICA GOVERNMENT POLICY:
www.mct.gov.jm/energy_5.htm
.

RESOURCES/ REFERENCES (CONT'D)

CARIBBEAN RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSULTANT:
Onaje Jackson: Sustainable Systems & Design International

http://new.onepaper.com/virginvoices/?v=d&i=&s=Contents:Durable+Trop.+Living&p=1 206158806

EQUIPMENT:
www.sxmwindpower.com/solar.html

ROOFING:
www.solarMetalRoofingInfo.com

WINDOWS:High Wind Impact Glass
http://alcorwindows.com/advtupvc.htm

CARIBBEAN REGIONAL TRAINING MANUAL:
Environmentally Sound Tourist Facility Design & Development for Tourist Industry
www.cep.unep.org/issues/design%20manual/DESIGN%20&%20SITING%20COVER%201.pdf

SOLAR ENERGY BUSINESSES: JAMAICA/ CARIBBEAN:
www.energysolutionsjamaica.com/

http://energy.sourceguides.com/businesse/byP/solar/byGeo/byc/jamaica/jamaica.sht ml

www.caribbeansolarenergyltd.com/products.htm

can this solar panels stand the winds of a hurricane

RESOURCES & REFERENCES (CON'T)

RAINWATER HARVESTING:
www.ermjamaica.com/rainwaterharvesting.html

RECYCLING & WASTE MANAGEMENT:
www.inter-disciplinary.net/ptb/ejgc/ejgc2/ejgc2pap.pdf

FRUGAL SOLUTIONS (PERSONAL TESTIMONIAL):
www.off-grid-living.com/?hop=zandyne

PHILOSOPHY: ECO-FRIENDLY/ LIVING LIGHTLY:
www.weearth.com/earthship

SELF-HELP APPROACHES TO SOLAR INSTALLATIONS:
(NOT An Endorsement, but for Do-It-Yourselfers & Experimenters
with time on their hands)

www.homemadeenergy.org/?hop=safeplay123

ECO-RESORT IN ZIHUATANEJO, MEXICO W/ A TREASURE BEACH VIBEWILDER !!)

www.playaviva.com/sustainable-by-design/design-and-architecture

www.playaviva.com/pdf/OrganicSpaMagWinter2008PlayaViva.pdf

CITIZEN ACTIVISM FOR CLEAN ELECTRICITY:

www.wecansolveit.org/

SCIENCE/ENGINEERING RE: ENERGY CHOICES

www.lohas.com/articles/101766.html

LISTING TOUR TB PROPERTY ON "GREEN TRAVEL" DESTINATIONS:

www.itsagreengreenworld.com/public/countryJM.html

ECO-ARCHITECT: MICHEL LEWIS

www.CasaVivaTroncones.com
(A Mexican Resort in a Whisper Dialog with JAKES(?)

TROPICAL "GREEN" BUILDING/CONSTRUCTION: A PRIMER
(COSTA RICA MODELING)

www.puravidasunsets.com/green-building-tour.html

www.solar-vistas.com/costa-rica-houses.html

"GREEN' BUILDING ALTERNATIVES:

www.greenhomebuilding.com/index.htm

GREEN LIVING: CONSTRUCTION ETC (FROM A U.K. PERSPECTIVE)

http://articles.directorym.co.uk/Green_Living-a937503.html

VERNACULAR BUILDING TECHNIQUES:
(Although "Wattle & Daub" Construction has a 6000 year old
history, and long term success in the British Isles, and was common in Jamaica for eons, there is some suspicion as to how Building Codes in the Tropics would cover their erection...WATTLE (Weaving thin branches through upright stakes) & DAUB (Binder-clay/lime...)//Aggregates- sand/gravel..)//Reinforcement-fibrous material/ straw etc)

Wattle is still seen as fencing material, examples along the beach at Calabash Bay.

For a sexy, Zen-like, self- build construction material/ method, even being used in Florida, check out COB:

www.barefootbuilder.com

www.cobcottage.com/taxonomy_menu/13/16/27

www.innerexplorations.com/simpletext/acob.htm

One of my favourite interior finishes, which I discovered in
Albuquerque, New Mexico , recently, is a non toxic, mold & fade resistant plaster, which also controls moisture.
Unfortunately, its closest Distributor to TB is Insights Inc in
Antigua.

www.AmericanClay.com/

Thank you ZED for all these useful links. We will be building in TB soon , and are interested in using alternatives whenever possible. Even Pelican bar has a windmill {Canadian technology}. Here on the west coast of Canada, there are cob house building workshops, straw bail building workshops. perma culture workshops, and a whole heap of counter-culture thinking. It is wonderful that it is reaching Jamaica..

Hail dj: FYI: Larry Santoyo of Earth Flow in California just completed a "Tropical Permaculture Design Course" in Ochie. (Jan 18th thru 30th) featuring Cob, Bamboo and Wattle & Daub Construction techniques.

EarthFlow will be doing another workshop on similar issues at Durga's Den in the St Ann's hills soon (April 19th thru May 2nd)

www.earthflow.com

www.durgasden.com

www.naturalbuildingnetwork.org/

SUSTAINABLE "GREEN" DESIGN IN TROPICAL CLIMATES
(Model Developed in Jamaica)
www.gleearchitects.com/sustainablefaqtropic2.htm

dj; When & Where exactly will you be building in TB; and if you are using "Alternatives" & a "Green Team", are you open to having your Building Site be a "teaching tool" for any local
scools (primary/secondary) & foundations?

Hi ZED. We will be building in a year or so, in the Sandy Bank area.Plans and ideas are currently in the making. Will know more closer to that time.

Thanks again for all the links..

SUSTAINABLE SOUTHCOAST LANDSCAPE & GARDEN DESIGN:

Last, but not least of the Observations & Offerings in this thread, we scan our Treasure Beach environment from mountainside to seashore and towards distant horizons.

The farmers and gardeners of St Bess have dealt with local conditions of an exacting topography, salt spray, difficult soils, and have risen to the occasion to become, within these limitations, the most successful farmers on the Island. Local ingenuity is even using nursery-method, intensive "hydroponic" schemes to supply fresh vegetables, even after the scourge of hurricanes have wiped out open farm fields.

With Jamaica's "Out of Many" traditions of Taino, African, Spanish (Moor), British, Middle East & Asian come many gardening concepts & practices which have fused into a practical and adaptable botanical mosaic.

To watch a lone farmer, in a field, kick off his shoes, prepare the earth with natural fertilizers, open a hole with his machete point and drop in a melon or pumpkin seed, mulch it with guinea grass to preserve moisture, is to be a part of the learning of the "natural order" and to be attuned with our ancestors.

To cast our eyes across southcoast grass plains and take in the hardy tees and plants that have migrated here and taken root, adapted and survived adverse conditions, but enrapt in Beauty,
is almost an allegory of the deep, loving, and survivalist folks of
Treasure Beach.
...Seagrape sprouting as whimsical vines in the sand, and, at times growing into the most phantasmagoric, twisting duppy shapes; the buttonwood tree growing out of limestone reef (the iconic image out by Frenchman's Bay); sea mahoe ("tulip tree") flowering in fuchsias & yellows and spilling petal trails along our beaches.

...The thorny acacia ("casha"), loved or despised, filtering its filigree light on myriad surfaces and streaming cooling breezes around our fields and homes...thatch palms (sabal) seen prominently at the Treasure Beach Hotel, known to be here, at the time of Columbus, which will bend toward the horizontal in hurricane winds and spring back up...a survivor and a "god".
...our national tree, the lignum vitae, the densest of woods, self-lubricating, with its delicate purple flowers, is well established here, exuding its intoxicating aroma, even as we pound garlic with the mortar & pestles made from its wood.

Treasure Beach gardeners, like other Jamaican gardeners, have filled in the landscape palette with our habit of "tiefing" a cutting from the "wild" or from the gardens of friends and family. Of course, in such circumstances, we are all Nature's Family...

This profusion of single and hybrid colours abound in plants/vines of bougainvillaea, oleander, alamanda, clitoria, morning glory, hibiscus, passion flower... in trees, the red-orange flamboyants, the yellow clouds of logwood with its yield
of heavenly honey, the stick-sculpted branches of the frangipani, its flower relating to Hawaiian "lei" necklaces and its
perfumed welcoming.

Add to these the fragrant fruit trees, citrus (limes plucked for our rum drinks or rubbed on our red snapper), some mango, including the purple Hayden at the Blue Marlin villa property, passion fruit... ackee & breadfruit, growing without care, or a care in the world, at Godfrey beach at Ft Charles...the random scatterings of cacti and aloe, some of us vigilantly awaiting the hundred year blooming of the Century Plant...If we chose to be ascetics, could we deny the sensuality of our surroundings?

The Ideal of Landscaping in our Climate is the use of low-maintenance, water-conserving ("Xeriscaping"), salt-spray tolerant trees, plants & vines.

First Principles induce us to be mindful of the "Nature versus Human" issue, which means working with the natural surroundings, and encouraging native species which were here long before humans walked these shores.

Trees also offer a place in the hierarchy of a primary Passive Solar Technique of shading the East-South-West sides of our homes, as the sun daily arcs across the sky, blocking heat
build-up, but filtering through healthy sunlight (palms,
horsetail("casuarina")...

One of the most "mature" examples of a diverse landscape design, in our area, originating from the 1930s, and later abandoned for years, with only the care of providential rains, propagating birds & bees & goat droppings is the Treasure Beach Hotel.
You can still observe, there, such creative/frugal techniques as
using old plastic water bottles for slow-drip irrigation.

Without offending any of the proud and wonderful gardeners in our midst, good contemporary examples of evolving landscape/garden culture are JAKES, and many of the Villas &
Guest Houses along with their custodial gardeners:
(Blue Marlin at Great Bay; Lyric at Calabash Bay; Rainbow Tree, Hikaru, Buccaneer at Billy's Bay; Button Bay at Ft Charles are but a few examples)
Big Ups to all the garden patrons who cultivate the visual mastery of botany, which, with meticulous planning, attract the lively pleasures of hummingbirds and butterflies.

In parting, with a song in our hearts, from the musical "Candide" (lyrics by Richard Wilbur), which chronicles the ups & downs of Life's Journey:

...let us try before we die
to make some sense of life.

I thought our world was sugarcake,
For so our master said;
But now I'll teach my hands to bake
Our loaf of daily bread.

Let dreamers dream what worlds they please;
Those Edens can't be found.
The sweetest flowers, the fairest trees
Are grown in solid ground.

We're neither pure nor wise nor good;
We'll do the best we know.
We'll build our house and chop our wood,
And make our garden grow.

PRINCIPLES OF XERISCAPING FOR THE SOUTHCOAST:

http://cfyn.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/pubs/SJRWMD_Waterwise.pdf

LANDSCAPE DESIGN & PLANT MATERIAL:
(Florida shares some of the climatic and "hardiness zone" similarities with Southcoast, Jamaica. These Florida- derived Resources are relatively well organized, including such pertinent
issues as "growth rate" of trees & plants.
Unfortunately, these WEB Sources don't match up photo-images of the specimens, with the descriptions, as published Botanicas do.
I WOULD RECOMMEND that anyone improving this Data add Columns that would indicate the Colours (Warm/ Cool Range) &
their Flowering Season on the Southcoast.
Thereby, the Landscape Designer could be his own Painter, a Monet,
spreading an evolving and successive patern of colour in her garden throughout the year.

XERISCAPING & LOW MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPING:

www.flplantwarehouse.com/Xeriscape.html

http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/pdfs/fyn/ENH854.pdf

"INDIRECT" SOLAR SKYLIGHT

www.solartube.com/en
(Click on "What is Daylighting")

NOTE: Any mention of Jamaican WEB links, which are an Improvement on this Site would be greatly appreciated.

SUSTAINABLE CARIBBEAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN (CONT'D):

NICOLE'S BLOG: " A Caribbean Garden"
Very intimate & personal. She describes herself as an
"Island girl", born & living in the Caribbean.

http://caribbeangarden.blogspot.com
(Click also on "Xeriscape" under "Labels" on the right-hand
column)

"NEW" HOTEL CARIBBEAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN (AGUILLA):
(Incorporating Xeriscaping Principles)

www.cuisinartresort.com/pdfs/landscape_gardens.pdf

SUSTAINABLE CARIBBEAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN (CONT'D):

GREEN ROOFS & GREEN WALLS:

www.greenroofs.org/
(Click on "About Green Roofs" in the left-side column)

http://greenroofs.wordpress.com
(Scroll down to the YouTube : Patrick Blanc: Vertical Garden
Interview in Paris for a fantastic "green wall" sheathing part
of the relatively new Ethnographic Museum designed by
the French architect, Jean Nouvel and his Landscape
Architect, Patrick Blanc, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.)

GREEN ROOF: IMAGES/AESTHETICS:

www.beyondaesthetics.conz/verticalplantscape.html

TECHNICAL MANUAL: GREEN ROOFS & WALLS:

www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs513.html

This Thread on Renewable Energy Strategies ends with GARBAGE:
It is a huge problem in the world as population increases, packaging of consumer goods, if untreated, become less bio-degradable, and landfills become so taxed to the limits that cities and municipalities are contracting to ship their compacted
trash to willing countries.

Engineers & Idealists of Waste Management have long worked on
schemes to convert Garbage to Energy, i.e, generation of electricity from wast,, with most of the practical issues having to do with proper recycling and separation of material, especially
toxic elements.

www.chamco.net/G2EArticle.html

Some programs are more advanced than others. We are watching
India to observe the difficulties they are experiencing.

www.bchydro.com/news/articles/conservation/residents_of_india.html

Also, as we endure the deleterious effects of burning trash, on a
small domestic scale, but large in aggregate island-wide, we look to such prototypes, as the TGER (Tactical Garbage to Energy Refinery), developed by the US Army during the Iraq War.
If such a system could be made reliable & the technology & cost friendly, one can imagine its use at community or village level.

www.greenlaunches.com/alternative-energy/tger-turning-trash-into-precious-fuel.p hp
(This Site is dubbed "Cool Stuff to Heal Earth". such as Solar-
powered Air Conditioning; a U.K. garbage truck getting its
fuel by converting the trash it collects)

RECYCLING: A SMALL ISLAND (HAWAII EXAMPLE)

www.rrrhi5.com/Curbside_Recycling.html

Thanks but this is enough said.
Getting dizzy reading.

LAST ENTRY FOR THE "VIRTUAL" CLEARING HOUSE ON
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY RESOURCES!!!

Better Homes & Garbage (Cont'd)
BIODIGESTER TECHNOLOGY:

www.src-jamaica.org/products/biodigester.htm

www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040502T030000-0500_59286_OBS_DISPOSE_OF_YOUR _WASTE_WATER_AND_SAVE_MONEY_DOING_IT_.asp.

www.ruralcostarica.com/biodigester.html?gclid+Cjqy6-XcxZgCFQO5Ggod5wXi0Q

SOLID WASTE TO ENERGY : PROPOSALS : JAMAICA

www.pcj.com/information%20Doc%20RFPWTE.pdf

BYE BYE. Sorry, if we hogged the space, or wasted your attention.

To tb resident, If you can`t handle it, You don`t have to read it.The rest of us may be interested in learning about new and better ways. The never ending practice of burning styrofoam, plastic ,rubber and other "garbage" in TB , is detrimental to the health of everyone, not to mention the disgusting stench..maybe that is what is making you "dizzy"!

OK, time to step back and take a deep breathe everybody.

Let's all play nice together and respect what's out there.

THANKS turey and dj for your comments on this Virtual Clearing House for Renewable Energy Resources/Development;
Sustainable Building-Landscaping; Sewage-Garbage Practices.
Turey, from your past jottings, I have "judged" you to be somewhat
of an unofficial cultural, social, political anthropologist, with St Bess
roots, living a true, wandering "diaspora" experience in some foreign post, mostly called home. It is a blended life, nuh?

You are reflective of the layers and cells and veins and heart and nerves and brain that keeps the community "body" vital.
When you say that "wonderful model situations can be assembled and maintained (the key) in our communities", you override a native scepticism with hope.

But in all honesty, some of the Resources suggested here already have prototypes in the Treasure Beach sinew and would merely require energy (with "dunny"), synergy, and dogged attention to thrive.

EXAMPLES:
The Breds Computer Word Processing/ "Learning Center", which operated at Kingfisher Plaza by tech-savvy youth included
a small, random library, conspicuous was a copy of an Environmental Study (Thesis) of Treasure Beach concerns.

Also, when we observe the dedication, interest that, for example, a Billy's Bay youth places into beautifully souping-up
and detailing his car, or the curiosity about "mechanics" and
capabilities evident around Wino's garage, we can imagine channelling such focus to the issues and business of Renewables and Sustainability.

One of the wonders of TB.Net is that it is really a bit like a seine, a net catching many little sprats and surprises, which hang together.
Questions about Elizabeth Seltzer's little, complete wooden cottages at Calabash Bay, details of their foundations, reinforcement, and hurricane strapping, challenge us all to conceptualize a "small is beautiful" philosophy.
With all the talk of of reducing our "dutty" fossil fuel usage, heating up the planet and rising sea levels, which threaten to
wash over our existing beaches, can you imagine a smaller
"carbon footprint" than Elizabeth's cabins?? Sail-A-Way, matey.
Elizabeth's "Bamboo House", past Robbin's Bay, in St Mary's
Parish further indicates an enduring commitment and thought to proportional living spaces, not just for dolls.

When scrolling through Karen Kennedy's newly independent
Treasure Beach Foundation site, witnessing such past scholarship recipients to St Elizabeth Technical High School : Saran Genus,Donald Abrahams, Kamella Lyons, we can envision provisions of a scholarship that might include submitting an Essay, or better still, a Demonstration Project on Solar photovoltaics, residential wind tubines, for example, their data &
engineering drawings, for which the student might solicit funding, defend before a panel, and even perhaps market either conceptually or "in the real world"
How does "Made Under Jamaican Sun" sound?

To dj, in your comment about the unhealthy and "disgusting" malodorous practice of burning garbage (styrofoam, rubber...)
all around us, I sense your Outrage, which is the first Call to Arms (& legs). In my own case, drive-by Dumpers were ejecting
refrigerators, batteries, cans, plastic crates over wire fencing onto my beach property, rather than deal with the recycling/disposal establishment fees & inconvenience.
So, Garbage to Fuel & Reuse are personal issues.

Also dj, the fact that you will shortly be building at Sandy Bank, possibly using Renewables, suggests that your Building Site could provide"workshop" lessons to interested youth, local builders and homeowners. (EXAMPLE, if you planned to install a
bio-gester for sewage/ biogas yields versus the typical septic tank/field.)

Behind this Thread is the awareness of Jamaica as a developing country, with appropriate technology for its wealth or lack of wealth as primary importance, including the use and reuse of materials. ("Garbage" as possible "building blocks", as in tyres within walls.)

We posit a way of imagining that shares a Zen Buddhist point of view, wabi-sabi, developed in Japan, an Island with a sacred mountain, like us, which reveres Nature, as we should (being in the eyes of the first Europeans, "Land of Wood & Water").
We think of "wabi-sabi" as an "enriched poverty" which values
simplicity, beauty in imperfection; impermanence, modest authenticity; an esthetic of the beauty of aging in our objects and our lives...the world-within-whorls of wood grains or the gesture of the hand & chance & accident seen in ceramic surfaces and glazings, yielding to natural processes.

If there were a Credo to wabi-sabi, it would be: "Nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect..."

Ironically, I will tag on Images, here, of a Show Home, near Las Vegas,the most recent New American Home.
At first glance, it would seem to be pure "architectural bling", with a US$3 to 5 million price tag, and 8000SqFt (?) volumes, as a "Desert Contemporary" (Arid climate), it offers a luxury glimpse of "sustainable" materials, systems and landscaping, if one had a bottomless money well.
It's certainly "eye candy", which can be gleaned for more modest applications, here, where it also gets pretty hot.

www.tnah.com

www.builderonline.com/show-homes/the-new-american.aspx

www.danielian.com/pdfbrochure.pdf
(Danielian & Assoc Architects)

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/06/AR2009020601731.html

Thanks ZED, I look forward to walking the talk.

Please keep up your flow of appropriate information. I have a feeling it is opening many eyes to what is possible.

Yes dj, the 'bun dem ting deh' has almost become a ritual in some places. We keep our floors and food spotless and dirty the most essential; clean, sweet air.

Paper, cardboard and other organic materials can be composted. Plastics are a challenge.

Later.

RENEWABLE ENERGY VIDEOS

Visionary/ Overview
Clean Solar Power Alternative Energy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DboEhc5D9aE&feature=related
(Cost Info somewhat dated)

Solar Hydro House
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFKoaGgRPHA&feature=related

BASICS: Solar Energy Photovoltaic Systems
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITDh4aKXd80&NR=1

RENEWABLE ENERGY VIDEOS (CONT'D)

WORKSHOP/ DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECTS:

SOLAR:

Students Use Car Parts for Solar Power
www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK3XYJLQsZ4&NR=1

Generate Free Electricity: DIY/Affordable
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhgkDK2825A&feature=related

Homemade Solar Power
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVadhtYM2rE&feature=related

How to Make Solar Panels
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p58gVArinT8&feature=related

RENEWABLE ENERGY VIDEOS (CON'T)

Sunlight Turn Into Solar Power by Brother Wisdom
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDkx3ZEz2Bw&feature=related

Thin Film Photovoltaics:

Solar Shingle
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXNTKGhbqKw&NR=1

Thin Film Solar Flat Roof-5KW in 2.5 Hours
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKsOpDSRl50&NR=1

Thin Film PV...Home
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhaNh9kxzLk&NR=1

Thanks again, Zed. This is a wealth of information..

RENEWABLE ENERGY VIDEOS (CONT'D)

WORKSHOP: DO-IT-YOURSELF PROJECTS:

WIND POWER:

Homemade Wind Generator
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHB4zxWd3Ls&feature=related
(FIND LINKS for Part 2: "autolayne')

How to Make Inexpensive Vertical Wind Turbine: Savonius Type
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPe6A_UVPc&feature=related
(FIND LINKS for Part 2: The generator)

COOL RUNNINGS: AIR CONDITIONING IN THE TROPICS

A convenient wrap-up to these issues of sustainable, energy-conserving & conscious Design/Building is the comfort level of one's abode.

If we are to utilize all the passive solar design/build techniques
discussed here, such as SITING the building/home to minimize heat build-up from the sun, and utilizing best practices for inviting in the prevailing breezes through cross ventilation by including windows on at least two sides of each room... landscaping with appropriate trees/vegetation, especially on the heat-intensive southern & western exposures, while retaining views and healthy natural light... the employing of veranda depths and shading devices/overhangs for windows... windows with UV-filtering glass or strategically placed louvers...heat-reflective paints (Example: Hy-Tech/ Web:hy-techceramics.com) on plastered walls constructed with heat-absorbing material mass (masonry, "faux adobe"etc.)...
cool roof stratagems (e.g., plants or vine-covered pergolas on flat roofs; heat- reflective roof surfaces), as previously referenced.


While in the Interior, the design calls for overhead fans creating a "wind-chill" effect & helping to circulate the air to be vented to elevated louvers or rotating vents, and especially thermal air chimneys, as the hot air rises & the cool air descends .

Many of these methods can be summarized on an Australian Web Site, which, even though it covers wider climactic zones than South Coast Jamaica, serves well as a Design Manual:
(Scroll especially to the Section on 4.4: Shading & 4.6:Passive Cooling.)

www.yourhome.gov.au/technical/fs44.html

We would like here to investigate and solicit responses to a type of cooling generally referred to as geo-thermal ground source, whereby the relatively constant temperature below the earth's surface is captured, with perhaps low-energy fans to circulate cool air to the interiors.

Some traditional builders, in arid climates, have employed earth tunneling, evaporative cool water air flows and air scoops at above roof level to improve cooling comfort.

In a modern, but still appropriate incarnation, we can look at such examples:

www.energybulletin.net/node/22792

Also, take notice of a Diagram of passive air conditioning by means of a thermal chimney in a Sustainable Home in Brisbane Australia.

www.lbpost.com/newsdesk.php?id=200&item=974

Lastly, the most advanced technological applications of geo-thermal cooling, at the domestic level, is the
geothermal heat pump which is more energy-conserving than typical wall mount air conditioners, but involves earth drilling and proper yard space...5 feet deep and spread out for horizontal loops, and 150 to 250feet deep U-Bend assemblies for vertical loops, which depending on he geology & other factors of the site would seem to be prohibitive
factors.
Additional costs involve metal ducting, which takes up space in the interior requires good layout planning for new construction and robs space, when retrofitting older homes.
However, the systems have been comparative, in new construction, to "first costs" of a complete evaporator/condenser "split" layout, but would be "unique" locally in both materials and labour pricing.

The geothermal heat pump, itself, is installed inside the house, unlike the air conditioner condenser, which is exposed to the weather and susceptible to maintenance...This technology has not been readily used in Jamaica, although Geo-Smart Energy, a Canadian manufacturer of geo thermal pumps, held a Tropical Training event at Negril a few years ago to tout the high cooling efficiency and the eco-friendliness of its equipment for the local scene.

www.climatemaster.com
(Click on "Residential Units" to "Typical Installation" to "Geothermal Loop Systems")

When all is said and done, with all these Passive methods and techniques considered or applied, come the sizzling hot months of July and August in Treasure Beach, will we be able to avoid those Mitsubishi mini-split (evaporator/condenser) air conditioners, which are relatively easy to install, but do draw costly energy and throws off an artificial "chilly comfort".
Time and thoughtful design/implementation will tell!

NOTE: SUN'S PATH

Be aware that when applying the Principles of Passive Solar Design from the Australian Design Manual, referenced above, that being in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun's path relating to North-South are converse to Jamaica (Northern).

However, the sun rises in the East and sets toward the West, regardless of which hemisphere you are located.

REFERENCE: Wikipedia: Passive Solar Building Design

SOLAR ENERGY: FINANCIAL FEASIBILITY

When this thread on Renewable Energy & Sustainable Design began, its intent was to engage the Treasure Beach community in some exposure to the wide range of methods to conserve fossil fuel usage from the electrical grid (JPS); lower energy costs; explore active and passive techniques to aid cooling comfort in our Interiors; to indicate the benefits of "xeriscaping" (low watering plants) and landscaping that can be a primary tool in shading; to address some issues of waste & sewage, and prospects for improvements.

The original focus was on, perhaps, creating a Clearing House/Lab at which neighbourhood youth/students, builders/clients, architects/designers/engineers and foundations could explore these issues and have hands-on experience with construction samples and literature.

Looking back at the entries on this topic, I realize that the majority of the strategies are very doable and cost-effective.

EXAMPLE: Solar Water Heaters (SWH) are zero rated for GCT and import duties, as the Jamaica government intensifies its encouragement of renewable energy.
It is generally estimated that using electricity to heat water could consume up to two thirds of the light bill and substituting a SWH could provide a payback in 2 to 3 years, depending on manufacturer & installer.

In fact, the "Draft" National Building Code (Jamaica) proposed that SWHs be mandatory for all new construction.
The National Housing Trust (NHT) and some credit unions are offering $100,000 loans, at favourable rates, repayable in 5 years for installation of SWHs.
The state of Hawaii has required 100% compliance to SWHs in the next few years.

But the really dramatic presentation, in this thread, has been an introduction to topic of Photovoltaic (PV) cells, which with auxiliary battery banks, inverters, meters etc. converts sunlight to electricity.
We have hinted at the latest innovations, current state of efficiency, reliability and cost.
As far as local availability, folks want straight talk..."do the math", not some "pie-in-the-sky" scheme.

wot mi ah pay fi dem ting deh?

Let's examine some experiences and testimonials of some "better off" Jamaicans, and see if photovoltaic panels are a "hobby" or practical.

www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20080119T140000-0500_131589_OBS_SOME_JAMAICANS _BASKING_IN_SOLAR_ENERGY_.asp

www.seads.com/http/survival/out10.html

A name that pops up repeatedly in the field of Photovoltaics is
Damian Lyn with Alternative Power Services (APS)

www.apsja.com/main/index.php
(Scroll through sections)

APS: Solar Townhouse Complex

www.jamaicaobserver.com/magazines/Business/html/20070605T200000-0500_123957_OBS_ SOLAR_FULLY_POWERS_NEW_TOWNHOUSE_COMPLEX.asp

Other local names in the field:

Michael Oerbekke, president of Jamaica Solar Energy Assoc., and the owner of Bluefields-based Eco-Tec. who has been pushing tax incentives for the installation of PVs, as
regionally, Barbados has executed.
He is also investigating solar cooling, using solar panels & heat exchangers as alternatives to conventional air conditioning.

Caribbean Solar Energy Ltd

Back to ground level, in Treasure Beach, one can conceive of income-producing properties...villas/hotels/guesthouses forming a consortium to introduce Photovoltaics here.

Architect/Hotelier/Chef, Axel at MarBlue, and other villa owners at Great Bay, Calabash, Frenchman's, Billy's Bays and
Ft Charles, could conceivably calculate their individual kilo watt hours (kwh) usage daily/monthly and the number and cost of PV panels required on south-facing roof surfaces to satisfy those loads (electrical consumption audit). Then a comparison to JPS pricing and the inconvenience of intermittent service for the next several years would be factored.

A practical benefit in calculating electrical usage often leads to a "conservation ethic", whereby many of the appliances in our homes, which use "stand-by power" when not actively being operated (microwave clocks etc) can be placed on separate power strips, "unplugging" when not in use.

Facilitating the calculation effort would involve enlisting the design services of enterprising, reputable companies which import or manufacture the most appropriate equipment,
including "thin film PVs", when ready and available.

"Creative contracting" could possible elicit "economies of scale",
whereby one villa might be priced as a "one-of", but 20 orders
might produce discount savings, perhaps even bundling loans & rebates.

Fat chance, you say...waiting until the cows come home.

Finally, regarding the aesthetics of "solar", we share with many that the "looks" of solar PV panels on sloping roofs are not that attractive.
With attentive design, on flat roofs, they can be blended in. Someday, conductive elements, other than silicon,"printed" on thin film coils will be widely available and cheaper. As of now,
their efficiencies are lower than standard silicon panels and require more roof coverage.

The visual of JAKES' south-facing roofs covered with black panels, to many observers, might supress their cohesive village charm.

On the other hand, if panels and batteries and feed lines could be located on separate dual-purpose "towers", with sufficient surface coverage & steps taken to minimize transmission losses from the PV panel to the end use. That could be a different story...a design challenge!

We little but wi tallawah

REAL GOODS: SOLAR LIVING SOURCEBOOK

My personal favourite Treasure Trove for the nitty gritty of getting off the electrical grid & Independent Living.
Although, it is oriented for the Western US, the equipment and the prices are REAL, and have been cataloged and field tested for long time.

Especially useful, from the Sourcebook, if it comes on line, is the Power Consumption Table, which lists, and shocks us, as to the watts usage of all the equipment in the home.
This information could be useful, for example, for intelligent
discussions & comparisons with Jamaican solar providers
....Damian Lyn of Alternative Power Services has been mentioned in a previous link.

www.realgoods.com

www.realgoodssolar.com/solar/ecs/main/SolarLiving_landing.html

Solar Water Heater (SWH): SunCache, Voted one of the top 10 Green Building Products of 2008 (Building Green).
Mimics the look of a skylight

www.harpiris.com

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