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An Eco-Friendly Development

Ocean Star Estates is being developed as an eco-friendly residential development. The ways in which we will accomplish this eco-friendly status is through the following:

• Use of existing materials: During construction, our team has reused or recycled 100% of the usable materials that were existing at our site. This has helped in reducing the amount of waste leaving our property and also has kept our construction costs down in the materials section of our budget.
  
  
• Expected use of alternative energies: OSE is currently working with a company in the Dominican Republic who supplies and installs wind and solar energies for electricity to developments. They have been to the site and are currently defining how the utilities will be layed out on the land and which combination of wind and solar powers are necessary.
  
  
• Balanced areas of green space: A percentage of the development was set aside strictly as green space. The use of this area is not for the construction of buildings. It is solely preserved for parks, walking trails, native plants and simply lounging in the sun in a nice open area.
  
  These green spaces are located throughout the development. Locations include: the areas in front of Blocks D, H, and J; the area beside Block L, and the area behind Block R. There is also a space with an existing pond located in Block N, and a small island located between Blocks M and L.
  
  
• Preservation and planting of native landscaping All public areas that are not being constructed will be filled with native DR plants. Preserving and planting native plants result in low maintenance landscaping. Native plants require low to no maintenance, which helps the environment by allowing minimal use of the natural resources such as water.
  
  We will also be preserving the pond that is located in Block N. This pond is home to many types of aquatic and plant life. We wanted to preserve as much of that as possible. The preservation of the plant life also contributes to better air quality throughout the development.
  
  
• Preservation of palm trees: Palm trees are protected by Dominican law, and in compliance with the law we are not destroying the palm trees on our site. Any palm tree that needs to be taken down for building purposes will be replanted in another location on our site.
  
  
• Use of existing water supply: We currently have two wells located on our development. We have tested these wells and have determined that they do have the capacity to supply our development with the water it needs. This reduces the amount of materials that will be needed to supply our development since we do not have to run lines from the town of Luperon, or from another source. This will keep our water costs down as well. As our development grows, we do have the opportunity to dig other wells on the land.
  
  
• Use of rain barrels: OSE encourages all its residences to use rain barrels to help conserve water. Rainwater can be used for laundry, dishes, flushing of toilets,watering the lawn or plants and other outdoor uses.
  
  The use of rain barrels can reduce a household's water usage by nearly 70%. Collecting rainwater in rain barrels is also beneficial for the environment by reducing the impact on stormwater drainage systems, such as reducing stormwater pollution, erosion, flooding and stormwater infrastructure maintenance.
  
  
• Compost area: The development will have a community compost pile for all residents to use. Composts are great for use in the garden, the compost reduces the need for fertilizer, water and pesticides, reducing these are great ways of helping the environment! Composts are also great for improving drainage in soil and reducing toxic runoffs which may be in the soil.
  
  The compost will help to reduce the amount of trash coming out of our development.
  
  
• Anticipated LEED certification for clubhouse: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification is a worldly recognized rating system in green building and sustainability. The program offers an objective, third party opinion that follows strict guidelines to show a property or building is truly sustainable. Benefits for achieving LEED certification are knowing that we are truly a doing what we can to preserve our development for the future, and also increased press attention, which will undoubtedly increase the development's value due to demand and knowledge of the project. Upon receipt of the LEED certification, Ocean Star Estates would be one of the first to achieve this status in the Dominican Republic.
  
  The clubhouse features an open design, which will help in reducing the need for heating and cooling systems. The clubhouse will also include a swimming pool, bar area, internet cafe, locker/changing rooms, game room, parking, and bicycle racks. All of these amenities at the clubhouse will be accessible to all of our residents, and we encourage all of them to use them as to reduce the amount of energy being used throughout the development. For example, if all the residents use the swimming pool and internet cafe at the clubhouse, instead of all residences having a pool and internet at their individual places, we can cut down the development's energy consumption immensely. We also encourage residents to use bicycles as a means of transportation around the development. This is a cleaner, healthier and quieter way of traveling around the property.
  
  
• Encourage owners to build eco-friendly: Ocean Star Estates is providing our residences with a simple Guide to Building Eco-Friendly, along with links for further research. These references will be sent via our Ocean Star Estates newsletter. We feel it is important to educate our residents on the benefits of having a sustainable development.
  
  
• Combination of building types: Ocean Star Estates has areas zoned for building single-family residences, duplexes and condominiums. Each area has been strategically chosen as to avoid interferences with views and density. Allowing duplexes and condominiums is environmentally friendly since it allows a larger number of people to reside in less space, leaving extra room for green space.
  
  

  Updated: 7/8/2009