Pineapplefish Luxury Anna Maria Island Villas are ahead of the game on renewable energy and we are amongst the first properties on the Island of Anna Maria, that are investing to significantly improve the energy efficiency of our rental homes.
As committed green entreprenuers, Mike and I have recognised the local area's concern for the environment and the number of initiatives being tried state wide and we have employed ESC, Energy and Sustainability Consultants in Florida, to audit the first 2 of our luxury properties; Limefish and Cherryfish. The Energy Audits were undertaken in June 2009 and work has already started on Limefish to improve its energy efficiency.
These modifications include simple applications such as improving the seal ducts, improving the insulation on the ceilings, installing a radiant barrier to the roof, installing programmable thermostats and CFL light bulbs, through to more extensive and expensive systems such as Solar Hot Water systems and PV (Photovoltaics) Technology.
Photovoltaics is a system of using light to generate electricity. Solar PV cells can be arranged in panels on a building's roof or walls and feed electricity into the building directly. Google are currently using this technology and completed an installation of over 9,000 panels at their Mountain View, CA Headquarters in June 2007, the biggest US corporate installation at that time. View the amount of electricity Google are producing with this system.
These improvements mean that the Pineapplefish Homes will be better than the average of a 'reference' home. For example; with a reference home receiving a HERS* rating of 100 (and with a lower number being a better rating, the improvements to Limefish mean that the rating for that home will improve from 136 currently, to 82, an improvement of 54 index points and annual energy bill savings of $830.
The remaining 4 properties; Honeyfish, Chillifish, Lemonfish and Plumfish will be developed early in 2010.
Keep checking in on our progress, we will keep you up to date here with all the news on this project.
We have already invested in Solar Heating Systems for the swimming pools across all of our properties. Read more here.