Green Power

The Love Shack and Beach Cottage are totally off the grid; self generating green energy by utilizing 42 voltaic solar panels that produce over 7000 watts of power hourly (during peak sunshine hours) and a 3.5 kilowatt wind turbine generator. When the sun and wind do not cooperate there is a backup 21 kilowatt diesel powered generator and a backup for the backup is a 6 kilo watt diesel generator.

True Green
We've all heard all the "in" words: recycle, reuse, repurpose, sustainable, carbon footprint and green, as in green building, green living and even green cleaning. But a home on a 120 acre island near St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands is a truly "sustainable" house, They create their own power, provide their own water and have used mostly recycled materials in the construction of the house. A flock of chickens in the "Pecker Palace" even supplies eggs; a garden puts forth greens; and the sea provides a variety of protein - supplemented by occasional trips to the grocery store.

Lovango Cay, an off the grid island (no public utilities), is about a mile and a half north of Cruz Bay, the largest town on St. John. There are only six persons residing full time, in three houses, on the island and one of them belongs to Toni and Wally Leopold. Their dream house was Wally's brainchild and developed into the greenest house in the Virgin Islands due to necessity.

The house itself - not all that large at 2100 square feet - was built from stone and shells found on the property - not really a mountain, but plenty hilly and plenty rocky.

The frame of the house and the beams that support the 27-foot ceiling are reclaimed fir from the pilings of an old 1800s railroad trestle that spanned the Great Salt Lake.

The wood, having been under water for over 100 years is highly impregnated with salt and thus termite proof. The floors inside are from old Chicago brick and reclaimed old growth New Hampshire pine. All the exterior decking is made from combined recycled plastics and wood fibers.

A team of workers from Illinois, who cut the timber frame, spent a week on Lovango Cay hand-raising the massive beams for the framework of the house. A local architect and contractor completed the rest of the work - with a lot of design and physical help from Wally and Toni.

Most interesting is the use of solar and wind to power the house, and rain catchment cisterns and a reverse osmosis, R/O, system to provide potable water. In case the water level in the cisterns falls too low the R/O system can desalinate up to 75 gallons of sea water an hour. The R/O system is seldom needed because there is an 18,000 gallon rain catchhment cistern beneath the main house and a 2,000 gallon one beneath the tiny stone guest cottage that was the original building on the property. If its hot water you want, a solar hot water system makes all that is needed.

The electric for the house and cottage comes from a wind generator that provides about fifteen percent of the energy, and a good-sized array, over 7000-watts, of solar panels that provide direct current to a 3,200 amp hour, 24 volt bank of storage batteries. Two four kilowatt inverters then invert the stored direct current into alternating current for use in the house for lighting, refrigeration, ceiling fans and whatever else is needed.

A large diesel back-up generator is automatically started by the inverters to recharge the batteries if two or three consecutive sunless, windless days cause the batteries to drop below 22 volts. When the batteries are fully recharged the inverters turn off the generator.

Propane gas for the stove and laundry dryer, satellite dishes for TV and internet and the use of cell phones round out all the necessities needed for complete off grid living.

The house itself, 20 feet above sea level, is on 2 series of levels to keep its footprint small. Steps from the dock lead to a covered veranda, with steps leading to the great room and kitchen. A bedroom, bath and loft are up another level that wraps around the great room. Only screens cover the windows, but electric shades can protect from rain while continuing to allow a view of the water and St. John.