Hawaii Island’s efforts towards renewable energy and off grid living took a giant leap with the inception of Ainamalu, a new Waikoloa community, which begins construction this week. The development will be a model of cutting edge renewable technology.
Situated on 252 acres in South Kohala on the north side of Waikoloa Beach Resort and just Makai of Queen Kaahumanu Highway, each home will have their own 25 panel photovoltaic system on their roof and a Sony Blue Ion battery storage system.
When Brian Anderson purchased the land in 2014 he was thinking of creating a golf course community, the original plan of the previous owners, not green technology. But when he asked Waikoloa Land Company if they needed another golf course, the answer was no, not really.
With that, the plan began to shift. “So instead of a 21 acre golf course, there will be walking and jogging paths throughout the community,” said sales manager Lisa Barry. “Looking at alternatives we kind of went with the model of the ahupuaa, which is a self-contained community. Our goal now is to have a zero carbon footprint and be totally green,” said Anderson.
In search of a way to fulfill that goal Anderson, “Walked into Blue Planet Research about a year and a half ago and it's kind of evolved on the energy side. The technology's there. It's just a matter of having the right project for it. We're the perfect locale. We have more sunlight per year than probably any place else in the U.S.,” said Anderson.
Blue Planet Research, located at Henk Roger’s Pu’u Wa’awa’a Ranch, has developed energy technology that has not only taken the ranch off the grid, but has demonstrated the efficacy of creating and storing hydrogen as a fuel using an electrolyzer and fuel cells. It can also replace propane.
Vincent Paul Ponthieux, director of Blue Planet Research worked with Anderson to provide engineering consultation, storage technology and monitoring software to create a self-contained hybrid energy system. Each house will be connected to a central PV farm and battery storage facility. This will be monitored by EMCC (Environment Monitoring and Control Center), a specialized software program that will insure seamless power delivery.
“If any of the home systems either go down or gets below a particular power level the PV panel inverters, which are programed with EMCC, can pull from the community PV storage facility. The houses are all wired underground to the community PV storage facility, which will be behind a 10 foot high berm,” said Ponthieux.
Also, if there are any unoccupied homes, the unused energy can be accessed by the rest of the community. “The community will be a micro-grid and each house is an island within the micro-grid,” said Ponthieux.
For a time, the community will have some back-up for the back-up. “Each home is independent but to be safe, we have 2 megawatt hours of batteries that are back-up to the community. Just because we're the first ones doing this and I want my buyers to be comfortable that their Christmas lights are going to be turned on, we're going to hook the 2 megawatt community battery to HELCO,” said Anderson. Hawaii Unified Services will be installing the PV and storage systems.
Waste water and sewage treatment are two other important elements in creating a self-contained community. “The energy was one aspect and we're working on waste water and irrigation now. We have to make something that Waikoloa Land is very comfortable with aesthetically as well as being operational,” said Anderson.
Part of the plan for wastewater treatment is to create a constructed wetland using grey water. “We're going to have our own waste water treatment plant. We're looking at different technologies now. Constructed wetlands are beautiful and it shows people what can be done with proper planning. It would have ponds and native plants,” said Anderson.
Sewage treatment is another hurtle to clear. “We’ve been looking at some different systems. There’s an anaerobic sealed tank and we’ve also been looking at an aerobic system,” said Anderson.
The Ainamalu sales office, located just off the highway, is a miniature model of the home designs. “We opened the sales office informally. It's a mini house. The colors, everything are identical to a normal house. Somebody can walk in and get a pretty good idea of the kitchen, color schemes and the selection of stone for the flooring,” said Anderson. Priced around $750, 000 and situated on 15,000 square foot lots, the homes will be constructed by HHB Builders in Kona.
Just as it takes the contributions of an entire crew working together to sail a canoe, it will take the combined cooperative efforts of many to sail our island canoe into a future of energy independence and green living. “This is a first effort. There's a lot of entities that want to be involved with us. HELCO, Hawaii Water. We just need to prove the technology. We're not trying to do anything exclusive here. We want to work with everyone to find long term solutions,” concluded Anderson.
Situated on 252 acres in South Kohala on the north side of Waikoloa Beach Resort and just Makai of Queen Kaahumanu Highway, each home will have their own 25 panel photovoltaic system on their roof and a Sony Blue Ion battery storage system.
When Brian Anderson purchased the land in 2014 he was thinking of creating a golf course community, the original plan of the previous owners, not green technology. But when he asked Waikoloa Land Company if they needed another golf course, the answer was no, not really.
With that, the plan began to shift. “So instead of a 21 acre golf course, there will be walking and jogging paths throughout the community,” said sales manager Lisa Barry. “Looking at alternatives we kind of went with the model of the ahupuaa, which is a self-contained community. Our goal now is to have a zero carbon footprint and be totally green,” said Anderson.
In search of a way to fulfill that goal Anderson, “Walked into Blue Planet Research about a year and a half ago and it's kind of evolved on the energy side. The technology's there. It's just a matter of having the right project for it. We're the perfect locale. We have more sunlight per year than probably any place else in the U.S.,” said Anderson.
Blue Planet Research, located at Henk Roger’s Pu’u Wa’awa’a Ranch, has developed energy technology that has not only taken the ranch off the grid, but has demonstrated the efficacy of creating and storing hydrogen as a fuel using an electrolyzer and fuel cells. It can also replace propane.
Vincent Paul Ponthieux, director of Blue Planet Research worked with Anderson to provide engineering consultation, storage technology and monitoring software to create a self-contained hybrid energy system. Each house will be connected to a central PV farm and battery storage facility. This will be monitored by EMCC (Environment Monitoring and Control Center), a specialized software program that will insure seamless power delivery.
“If any of the home systems either go down or gets below a particular power level the PV panel inverters, which are programed with EMCC, can pull from the community PV storage facility. The houses are all wired underground to the community PV storage facility, which will be behind a 10 foot high berm,” said Ponthieux.
Also, if there are any unoccupied homes, the unused energy can be accessed by the rest of the community. “The community will be a micro-grid and each house is an island within the micro-grid,” said Ponthieux.
For a time, the community will have some back-up for the back-up. “Each home is independent but to be safe, we have 2 megawatt hours of batteries that are back-up to the community. Just because we're the first ones doing this and I want my buyers to be comfortable that their Christmas lights are going to be turned on, we're going to hook the 2 megawatt community battery to HELCO,” said Anderson. Hawaii Unified Services will be installing the PV and storage systems.
Waste water and sewage treatment are two other important elements in creating a self-contained community. “The energy was one aspect and we're working on waste water and irrigation now. We have to make something that Waikoloa Land is very comfortable with aesthetically as well as being operational,” said Anderson.
Part of the plan for wastewater treatment is to create a constructed wetland using grey water. “We're going to have our own waste water treatment plant. We're looking at different technologies now. Constructed wetlands are beautiful and it shows people what can be done with proper planning. It would have ponds and native plants,” said Anderson.
Sewage treatment is another hurtle to clear. “We’ve been looking at some different systems. There’s an anaerobic sealed tank and we’ve also been looking at an aerobic system,” said Anderson.
The Ainamalu sales office, located just off the highway, is a miniature model of the home designs. “We opened the sales office informally. It's a mini house. The colors, everything are identical to a normal house. Somebody can walk in and get a pretty good idea of the kitchen, color schemes and the selection of stone for the flooring,” said Anderson. Priced around $750, 000 and situated on 15,000 square foot lots, the homes will be constructed by HHB Builders in Kona.
Just as it takes the contributions of an entire crew working together to sail a canoe, it will take the combined cooperative efforts of many to sail our island canoe into a future of energy independence and green living. “This is a first effort. There's a lot of entities that want to be involved with us. HELCO, Hawaii Water. We just need to prove the technology. We're not trying to do anything exclusive here. We want to work with everyone to find long term solutions,” concluded Anderson.
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