Sustainability
Building Toward A Sustainable Future
Our islands boast precious and finite natural resources, and Castle & Cooke understands what it takes to live, grow, and thrive in this special place. That’s why our company’s environmental objectives are our top priority. We’ve invested time, research, and resources into providing quality products and services for our customers while mitigating and minimizing our impact on the environment. We aim to promote a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
RESIDENTIAL SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES
Solar Water Heating Systems & PV Ready Homes
As part of our long-term sustainability plan for Koa Ridge, we’ve built our homes and community infrastructure to accommodate today’s clean energy technologies as well as future advancements.
Currently, all Koa Ridge single-family and paired homes are delivered Photovoltaic (PV) ready for ease of future installation of solar panels by the homeowner. By reducing the cost and hurdles to installing PV, we hope to increase our homeowners' reliance on clean energy technologies and initiatives.
All Koa Ridge homes also include a solar water heating system which provides additional energy savings.
Electric Vehicle Ready Garages
All Koa Ridge homes with a garage are delivered Electric Vehicle (EV) ready which includes a conduit for ease of future installation of an electric vehicle charging station.
An EV-ready home provides consumers with safe access to a dedicated 240V power supply for faster Level 2 EV charging. Pre-wiring new homes for EV charging during construction can translate into considerable dollar savings for our homeowners later.
Community EV Charging Stations
In addition to homes with garages being EV-ready, Koa Ridge will also offer community-accessible EV charging stations.
Starting with the Malina at Koa Ridge neighborhood, two EverCharge charging stations will be available.
Sustainable Landscaping
When planning for Koa Ridge, everything down to the landscaping was designed to maximize the benefit to the community while minimizing the impact on the environment.
Trees - Koa Ridge includes approximately 70 trees per acre, well more than the requirement for planned communities. These trees provide a variety of benefits, including giving off the oxygen we need to breathe, providing shade for pedestrians and homes, cleaning the air, and saving water by slowing the evaporation of groundwater. Trees also help reduce stormwater runoff, which minimizes erosion and pollution in our waterways.
Native Hawaiian Plants – The use of both endemic (only found in Hawai‘i) and indigenous (found in a specific region such as the Pacific) native plants was not only important to us from a cultural perspective, but also a sustainability standpoint. Relying heavily on natural rainfall for nourishment, native plants reduce the amount of water needed from automated irrigation systems, and because they’re well adapted to the local environment, they’re better able to withstand Hawaii’s harsh winds, sun, and drought conditions.
Native plants also add value to our everyday lives in the form of flowers used for decorations, lei for special events and celebrations, medicinal purposes, and more.
Bike Parking
Covered and uncovered bike parking will be incorporated throughout the Koa Ridge master-planned community to encourage residents to leave their vehicles at home and engage in active, outdoor living. This zero-emission form of transporantion helps the environment by reducing overall carbon emissions and improving air quality.
Stormwater Filtration
Castle & Cooke has a history of leading the way in new areas of master-planned community development and sustainability initiatives.
We’re proud that Koa Ridge is one of the first residential communities in Hawaiʻi to have our subdivisions incorporate green infrastructure. Advanced biofiltration systems treat stormwater from the streets by separating trash, sediment, and pollutants before they enter our streams and eventually our ocean waters.
This is one example of how Castle & Cooke is taking steps to reduce our environmental impact within the communities we develop and well beyond.
Carbon Sequestered Concrete
At Koa Ridge, our sustainability efforts go beyond the obvious measures to include cutting-edge technologies such as the use of carbon sequestered, or stored, concrete. Sequestering CO2 (carbon dioxide) converts it into a mineral that is then trapped in the concrete forever. Sequestered CO2 is not released into the atmosphere which helps reduce the greenhouse gas effect and lessen the overall impact on climate change. As an added benefit, sequestered CO2 concrete also improves its compressive strength.
Ho‘āla Trail – Walk or Bike Nearly Everywhere
Ho‘āla Trail is a 7-mile interconnected pedway that will provide residents with the option to walk or bike to parks, services, and amenities located throughout Koa Ridge. It’s both convenient and healthy.
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