Last week I attended Lee County Days in Tallahassee as part of the Sanibel – Captiva Chamber of Commerce delegation.These are days set aside so that community leaders and interested citizens from Lee County can meet with elected officials and heads of different state government departments.
A couple of things I learned were:1.Lee County leads the state in Waste to Energy.Almost all of our trash is converted, cleanly, to electricity.Covanta Energy – a nationwide company – has a plant in Lee County and generates enough electricity to power 29,000 homes. Pretty neat!
2.Lee County has a major initiative to create an Innovation Hub – not far from the airport.The intention here is to attract green businesses into a campus setting – think Research Triangle in North Carolina.This initiative is in conjunction with FGCU and the R&D will focus on renewable energy research.Again – pretty neat.
Both these initiatives have the potential to really diversify the economy of Lee County as well as to bring more middle and upper income individuals to the area.This can only be good for home values!
Sanibel and Captiva Islands Remodeling:Cost vs Value
Are you thinking of making some improvements to your Sanibel Island or Captiva Island home in 2010?You might be interested to know that replacing your Front Door leads the way when it comes to return on investment.Replacing your entry door with a high efficiency door will cost roughly $1100 to purchase and have installed.The National Association of Realtor’s 2009 – 2010 report on Cost vs Value reports that the recouped value of that project will be about $1,470 or 129.9% of the cost! (Realtor Magazine, January 2010, pg. 22)
Not only does it speak volumes about the value of Curb Appeal, it also can save you $$ with a more energy efficient door.
Sanibel Island is known for sun, shells, lots of conservation property, bobcats and alligators. A group of interested citizens are now working to make it known for something else - being leaders in the uses of renewable resources.
I am chairing Sanibel Alliance for Renewable Resources (S.A.R.R.) and hoping that as many Sanibel residents and interested parties will join us as possible. This make sense not only for the environment but also for the value of our property and the island. It is totally in keeping with what makes the island special.
The first initiative of the group is to educate and encourage the use of Solar Hot Water heating systems. We feel that with all the sun energy available for free - this makes sense for the island. Providers of these systems, including Advance Solar - are working with us to make this as affordable as possible, likely under $2,000 per system! There are State grants and Federal Tax Credits available at this time to help the equation. If you would like more information about the Alliance or would like to join us, please visit www.sanibelenergy.com. To see our press release see Page 5 of the Island Sun
On Tuesday night I moderated a meeting of interested Sanibel citizens about installing Solar Hot water heating systems on Sanibel homes, condos and commercial buildings. At this time there are a number of State and Federal incentives to assist with the payment of these systems. The State of Florida is offering a $500 rebate and the Federal Government is offering a 30% tax credit (not deduction) toward the expense of installing such a system.
Aaron Fields of Advance Solar in Ft. Myers presented a proposal that would install these systems for under $2000 after all the rebates and tax credits. The payback period for the investment is 2 to 4 years depending on your water use. After that, the hot water is free of energy expense! The intention of this initiative is to get as many buildings on Sanibel Island using the energy of the sun to heat their hot water.
Sanibel Island is the perfect place! From a personal perspective, I have a solar hot water system on my pool and it is great. Aaron will be visiting my home very soon to see if Solar Hot Water is in my future! If you call Aaron, reference the Sanibel Solar Initiative for all the details.
It is definately Summer on Sanibel Island! The temperatures are climbing and the buzz is all about July 4th. As many know - Sanibel Island hosts a real July 4th Parade filled with great floats and the streets lined with kids picking up candy thrown from the floats. It is a real treat and something quite unique. The entire community comes out. This year's theme of the parade is "Going Green" It will be very interesting to see what the parade entrants come up with.
What is new is that after the parade, in Bailey's Plaza, they are hosting "Bailey's Backyard Bar-B-Q" from 10 - 2 on Saturday the 4th. This I am sure will prove to be a real hoot!. There will be lots of fun for everyone and the food and beverage will be outstanding. So - if you are in the area and looking for something to do - come see the parade and stop by Baileys.
Hi - I would like to introduce you to a new section of my website - SanibelGreen. Having just received my National Association of Realtors (NAR) Green Designation, I wanted to share some of the extremely useful resources that were shared with me. What the site pages attempt to do is to be a source for the resources.
Most of Sanibel and Captiva Island homes and condos were built before any discussion of Green. That does not, by any means mean that they don't possess elements that conserve electricity and water - key elements of being Green. It also doesn't mean that there couldn't be cost effective modifications to the property that would make it less expensive to operate and be beneficial to the enviromnent.
I am by no means an expert on Green Building, I am however more aware of what makes a property more friendly to the environment and usually, less expensive to operate. I will be using this blog space and my other ways of reaching out to my colleagues and clients to bring greater awareness of things we can all do to conserve our resources.
If you while visiting the site have suggestions for additional resources, let me know. Over time, I will be adding sections and new links to bring even more helpful information on making your house or condo more Green! In the mean time - click on the Sanibel Green button on my home page or go directly to www.SanibelGreen.com!
