We are very excited to announce that the LR6 lighting product that CDL will be using has been chosen as the 2007 Grand Prize Winner of the “Lighting for Tomorrow” SSL competition, a contest sponsored by the American Lighting Association, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Consortium of Energy Efficiency.

LLF is a global leader in general illumination solid-state lighting technology. The 6″ down lights (LR6) will be used in all rooms and the lobby of the Cayman Diving Lodge. These lights use 75% less energy that regular bulbs and do NOT contain any mercury as do the popular CFL energy saving bulbs. These new Solid State Lights have a life span of 25-50 years and will out live most of us, other than our children.

You can learn more about LED lighting at:

http://www.lightingfortomorrow.com/

http://www.llfinc.com

Wind turbines like stackable Helical fans will be installed at the Cayman Diving Lodge. The wind energy of our tropical breezes will be put to good use at the new lodge - there is something very satisfying about the act of using wind power to create energy to run air compressors to fill dive tanks. The 30 year averages for wind speed in Grand Cayman are between 7.1 to 9.7 mph, which are well suited to this particular model of turbine which has no minimum cut out speed. The model ‘SeaHawk’ shown in the photo is produced by Pacwind and is available in individual 500W modules or in a tower stack up to 5 units tall. More information is available on their website: www.pacwind.net

Loaded with noise and irregularities, everyday power creates extra electrical demand, shortens the life of equipment and is inefficient. Powergy systems condition and optimize the electrical requirements of noise generating systems like the AC motors and pumps, HVAC, refrigerators and etc. It combines proven technologies in surge suppression and reactive power mitigation. Powergy Systems increases the capacity of the power network and helps prevent brownout.Not only will this system keep the power at Cayman Diving Lodge clean, but is proven to reduce electrical loads and consumption by 10%! This is the equivalent of saving approximately 18,000 lbs of Carbon Dioxide emissions.

http://www.powergy.com/products.aspx

Sometimes being Green is easy, even if not always obvious- some of the Greenest designs are a contrast of common sense and ‘why didn’t I think of that’.

One of these designs at CDL is the intelligent use of Gray water:

In homes across the U.S., the bathroom accounts for 74 percent of water used.
About 5 percent of all domestic water consumption runs from the lavatory faucet into the sink, and eventually into the sewer. About 40 percent of all domestic water consumed is used to flush toilets. To capture and reuse lavatory water, WaterSaver Technologies developed AqusTM, which uses water from bathroom sinks to flush toilets.

For more information and to install this system in your own home, visit:

http://www.watersavertech.com/

Hurricane Dean quickly raced by the Cayman Islands on Monday as it headed on a collision course with Mexico’s resort-dotted Caribbean coast. Dean’s eye wall and other hurricane winds bypassed Grand Cayman, veering to the south enroute towards Belize and the Yucatan coastal region near Tulum, Mexico.

Dean’s eye passed some 100 miles south of the Cayman Islands, with Grand Cayman experiencing strong winds, and high seas. Fortunately, the maximum gusts on the island reached just over 60mphs, and the island receiving relatively little storm related rain. Power, water, internet and phone lines have all been restored, and clean up has already begun. Our hospitals and clinics have reopened, and no reports of of injuries have been received. The Airport is scheduled to re-open tomorrow, Tuesday, August 21st, at 7am and visitors will be allowed to resume travel to the Cayman Islands at that time.

Everyone here at Cayman Diving Lodge is safe, and unharmed. We thank you for all of the generous prayers and well wishes. Tomorrow is a bright new day on our tropical island paradise, and with a little elbow grease and some new landscaping, the island should be in top form again in no time.

Visit our blog again soon for more updates on our clean efforts, and next steps for the Cayman Diving Lodge & Residence.

The Cayman Islands are well prepared for Hurricane Dean- we learned a lot from Hurricane Ivan in 2004.  The island rebuilt with better hurricane protection standards, and new construction has been built with the latest hurricane protection products and building techniques.   Grand Cayman is currently fully operational with internet access, phone lines, power and water fully functioning.

The Cayman Islands rarely are directly hit by a hurricane.   On average, the island is indirectly brushed once every 3 years or so, and damage is generally nominal.   Once a decade, statistically, the islands experience a direct hit.  Some hits result in little or moderate damage, and some like Ivan are more destructive.  Each time, the island rebuilds stronger and better than before.  

From the latest predictions, it looks like the storm will pass to the South of Grand Cayman, and we will only get the outer bands of the storm - with strong winds and heavy rain forecasted at a Tropical Storm level (50-70mph winds).  It is projected that the closest point Dean will reach will be 60-70 miles to the South around noon on Monday.  For safety measures, the Power and Water companies may shut down early Monday AM as a temporary precaution.  At the current forward tracking speed of this storm, we hope that Dean will have completely passed the islands by Monday evening.

Everyone here at Cayman Diving Lodge appreciates your thoughts and well wishes.   We send our hopes and prayers to those in Jamaica who have experienced the strong weather and are beginning their recovery efforts.   

Once the storm has passed we will update you on news of the island, and next steps for the continued redevelopment of the Cayman Diving Lodge. 

For updates visit:
http://www.noaawatch.gov/2007/dean.php

Installing solar panels in the Cayman Islands normally will yield very good results- simply due to the 330+ days of sunshine we receive each year. But to maximize the photovoltaic output it is best to do a little homework and figure out the best direction and angle to point your new solar panels. At the Cayman Diving Lodge, one of the tools we used was a very handy web based tool at: http://www.sunposition.net

SunPosition uses an advanced mathematical algorithm to run calculations which are incredibly accurate, meaning you can be sure to know exactly where to expect the sun, wherever and whenever you need to.

Technically you should adjust your solar panel March 21, June 21, Sept 21 and Dec 21st as you go through the seasons. Or as a quick rule of thumb (Northern Hemisphere), place your solar panel on the most South facing section of your roof, and use the latitude of your location as the default upward angle/tilt- for example, in Cayman we are at 19 degrees latitude above the equator- so would tilt the panel at 19 degrees upward from horizontal.

We recommend you always use a professional when installing Solar Panels, but it is always good to know a little background on positioning and fine tuning to maximize output.

After the Cayman Diving Lodge has finished construction, make sure you ask for the behind the scenes tour so you can see how our Green Technology works.

The past eight weeks have resulted in many hours spent with our architects looking at options for a new ‘Plan A’ for CDL.  We factored in all the requests from our long standing Lodge customers and added few new ideas of our own.  The new Plans are even more exciting than we had hoped.

Here is a partial list of improvements to the CDL design:

1- 4 additional Ground floor / Beach level Condominiums
2- Elevator Access to all floors + wheelchair access to beach
3- A Rooftop Garden / Green Space patio on the 3rd floor
4- A Garden Terrace on the 2nd floor, overlooking the pool and dining area
5- Improved Entrance, Lobby, Bar and Restaurant and increased dinning area.
6- Additional public space and lounge areas.
7- More privacy for the condos with additional landscape screening in the walkways.
8- Improved green designs, addition of solar panels and ‘future proof’ design considerations built in to the Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing systems.
9- Improved building placement for maximizing shade and cooling from our fresh tropical breezes.

In every step, the essence and sense of place of the Cayman Diving Lodge is factored in and the legacy of the old lodge will be always be continued.

A sample draft of the ground floor plan is shown below:

For more information and a full set of project drawings, contact: info@divelodge.com

Purchase Products online from your favorite diving lodge in the Cayman Islands. These products make great gifts for your diving friends and family. Or perhaps you forgot to buy a few Souvenirs from your last trip. Or even you want to look the part for our Grand Re-Opening. All products are available imediately and can be purchased through our online distributor:

www.divelodge.com/retail
Shown below is our new 100% Organic Cotton T-Shirt.

Yes, changing one thing can in fact change everything. Yahoo’s new Green site is a vast resource of information on every shade of green you can image. One initiative for 2007 is the ‘18 Second’ change a light bulb challenge- to simply change a standard light bulb with a CFL bulb.

http://green.yahoo.com/18seconds/

A compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) is a light bulb that uses less energy than a standard bulb to provide the same amount of light. Those bearing the ENERGY STAR label use 1/3 the energy of a traditional bulb, can last up to 10 times longer, and save $30 or more in energy costs over their lifetime. You can find ENERGY STAR CFLs most anywhere you currently shop for light bulbs.

What kind of difference can one CFL make? Consider this: If every American swapped just ONE bulb for an ENERGY STAR labeled CFL, it would collectively save more than $8 billion in energy costs, prevent burning 30 billion pounds of coal, and remove 2 million cars worth of greenhouse gas emissions from our atmosphere. Just imagine the difference we could make if we replaced all of the lights we use most!

Simply buying a CFL makes you a part of the solution to help slow global warming!

http://green.yahoo.com/18seconds/

Cayman Diving Lodge will not and will never use any incandescent lighting throughout the property. All lighting will be provided through low energy CFL or LED bulbs.