POTENTIAL home owners in search of environmentally friendly surroundings have just got lucky.

Developers of what is being touted as Jamaica’s “first green residential community” last week broke ground for the construction of 114 energy-efficient homes in Greendale, St Catherine, called Green Village.

Project manager Paul Soegaard told the Jamaica Observer that the phased development will begin later this month and is expected to cost roughly $1 billion. He added that the developers are looking to employ up to 200 individuals to complete the project.

The gated community features 48 two-bedroom single-family homes, 24 two-bedroom apartments and 42 super studio apartments, spanning roughly 930, 717 and 475 square feet respectively.

Starting at $7.9 million, the complex is located a few metres before entering Spanish Town and is overlooked by the well established residential community, St Jago Heights. Amenities of the community include a swimming pool, clubhouse, BBQ and green area and a play area.

The development is a joint financing project with the National Housing Trust and the Green Village Country Club developers.

“Under a short- to medium-term housing programme developed by the NHT, some 9,000 housing solutions will be funded by the Trust over the next two years to enable thousands of families to realise their dream of owning a home,” the NHT stated in a release to the public.

The government agency hopes to boost the housing solutions available to contributors and noted that some 42 housing solutions are currently buimg built across the island. Of that number, St Catherine has a total of 11 developments including the Green Village, followed by Clarendon and Kingston and St Andrew, which each have seven developments.

“It’s driven by fundamentals,” Soegaard told the Sunday Finance. “First of all, attainable lands are not easy to find these days and this development is really the closest to Kingston. That’s the main driver.

“We were lucky enough to own these lands for a number of years, and with the demand for housing we just decided to build the first green housing development in Jamaica. There is great demand for housing coming out of the Kingston area, spilling all the way over to Old Harbour as annual surveys by the NHT indicates.

“The connection to the Green Village in Greendale, St Catherine, is by coincidence, our name is driven by best practices and building strategies, but I think they complement each other,” the project manager stated.

Green Village is designed to be energy-efficient and includes features such as solar water heaters, water and energy-reducing features for faucets and toilets. The development is also designed to take advantage of passive energy and natural light instead of purchased electricity or natural gas.

“It means that the houses are built of aerated concrete to foster cooler homes than the traditional ones and designed so that you can get a lot of sunlight without the rays passing through,” Soegaard explained.

The architectural design of the complex also provides for renewable energy-powered street lighting, Bahamas sun shades which also function as hurricane shutters and burglar bars, biodigester and reed bed sewage treatment plants which give a much higher level of treatment than septic tanks, storm water retention, grey water recycling, and xeriscaping — the practice of landscaping the common area with plants that use little to no water.

With regards to further expansion, Soegaard says there are plans underway for the development of a second phase based on sales demand.

“It’s dependent on a number of factors, but we have the option to do a phase two — though nothing is confirmed at this point,” he said.