History Reborn and the Future Rewritten...
The Historic Green Village is a collection of new and old buildings, compassionatey restored and powered completely by renewable energy, to create Florida's first LEED Platinum and Zero Net Energy Retail Park.
Through the Historic Green Village we aim to create a new standard for sustainability. LEED means Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is a rating system with certification for "green" buildings developed by the Green Building Environmental Council of the United States (USGBC) and provides certain environmental standards for construction. Being Zero Net Energy, means the Green Village will generate more energy on-site than it will consume in a given year.
The Green Village covers 6 lots of Pine Avenue in Anna Maria City and when completed will contain 7 commercial buildings and 2 rental units. Our goal is to showcase the best in sustainable design and state-of-the-art technologies while maintaining the unique charm of the Island's historic seaside community. Over the last 6 months we have planned and designed a wide range of strategies and technologies that demonstrate how we can foster a sustainable future while preserving the historic charm and scale of Anna Maria Island and set a new benchmark of performance in energy, water and sustainable design.
The project will feature:
- HOT Technology: 100 kilowatts of Photovoltaics (PV) panels to generate electricity on-site and solar thermal panels to produce a steady supply of hot water for the Village Cafe at Rosedale
- COOL Technology: Geothermal Cooling and Heating - using the constant temperature of the earth to reduce the energy required to cool and heat the buildings
- SMART Technology: from the simple - using cisterns to capture rainwater to irrigate the site and flush toilets, to High Performance equipment; all fixtures and appliances will be either EPA Energy Star or Water Sense certified; ensuring that only the most-efficient equipment is used
- REUSE & RECYLE on a big scale - historic buildings, recycled materials, low-emitting paints, sealants and solvents, and a range of other sustainable design choices and material selection choices that reflect the desire to have a minimum impact on our environment.
The project is the vision of my husband, Mike and I. We are 2 passionate environmental entrepreneurs who came to Anna Maria in 2005. Our vision was borne and created on paper throughout 2009/10 and building work finally began in earnest in October 2010. The first of the retail units, The Village Cafe at Rosedale is now open, and our friends Really Relish launched in the wonderful Sears Cottage on April 22nd.
We hope to show that the Anna Maria Historic Green Village demonstrates that a decentralized approach to energy, water and transportation challenges is pratical and yields significant advantages. The project uses 30% less energy, 90% less potable water and is located in an environment that offers a wide range of sustainable transportation choices - walking, electric golf carts and cars and a high level of public transit service. Electric power is locally produced, rainwater and storm water are locally harvested and local historic buildings are being restored. By also engaging with FSU and the SUNGRIN project, the Historic Green Village project supports broader statewide and national efforts to advance innovation and technologies to achieve more widespread use of solar PV. The leading edge portfolio of sustainable techonologies and designs against the historic backdrop of an Old Florida beach community provide a clear and compelling example of how we do not have to discard the past to welcome the future.
We have created a collection of short video clips to showcase the project through its development. See them on our You Tube Channel.