Green development key to success
Jackson creates sustainable systems
Maura Curley
When Onaje Jackson began setting up sustainable systems back in 1993, his work took him to remote locations in Belize and Guyana. He originally called his business Caribbean Infratech, because nobody new what ‘sustainable’ meant back then.
Times have changed.
Jackson, who has degrees in architecture and engineering and applied sciences from Yale University and worked with Massachusetts’s Institute of Technology’s energy lab, is fulfilling a growing need for large and small, commercial and residential clients throughout the Caribbean and beyond.
His St. Croix based business, now called Sustainable Systems and Design International, provides comprehensive project planning for sustainable development.
SSDI’s projects have included Coral World in St. Thomas, work at Little Dix Bay in Virgin Gorda, and the eco friendly expansion project at Pelican Cove in St. Croix.
Jackson also provides training to associations and businesses, and has reached out to schools to educate young people about new green technologies. He has also consulted with the Florida energy office.
More than a decade ago, SSDI developed a Sustainable Development Master Plan (SDMP). This is an alternative to what has been traditional approaches to development, where environmental impact is considered much too late, almost as an after thought.
Jackson’s model differs from the conventional development process in crucial ways.
An interdisciplinary professional team and integrated consensus building guide the process. All plans and designs are fueled by environmental information, gathered at the site, with early input from stewards and stakeholders.
This is contrary to traditional “development,” often guarded rather than guided by a small cadre of professionals who see their desires as a fait accompli, no matter what the environmental impact.
Jackson says opposition from environmental groups and protracted permit process and corresponding costs have caused some developers to begin to approach things differently.
SSDI recently completed a sustainable plan for expansion of The Palms at Pelican Cove Resort in St. Croix.This demonstrated how an integrated approach can be a beneficial for everyone and actually reduce costs for the developer.
Jackson and his team sought community involvement and input from environmental and cultural organizations as they focused on storm water drainage and control of soil erosion, water resources and renewable energy, reforestation and protection of the rare and endangered Sea turtles in Pelican Cove.
The SDMP process was also recently utilized for another St. Croix project, Sweet Bottom Estates, a mixed-use development adjacent to Carambola Beach Resort on St. Croix’s north shore. The building site location, relationship to existing trees and vegetation, and utilization of green features were the result of priorities and guidelines established early. There was also a cultural compenent to give the project an authentic sense of place.
The time to complete the site assessment, site plans and environmental assessment report for Sweet Bottom Estates took three and a half months.This compares to a seventh month average for a conventional process – and it was considerably less expensive.
Jackson says the SMDP process must be the model for the 21st century.
He says without it, “ We’ll keep making the same mistakes over and over again.”
Onaje Jackson in St. Croix. Virginvoices.com photo by D.B. Bostdorf
Maura Curley is publisher of virginvoices.com
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