Originally posted by "TimWieneke":
Yeah I know I'd have some major construction costs going with it. That's why it's a dream that's "out there" in the future after I get my little green houses here in order. It's not so much the construction costs that scare me as the cost to transport the materials and the crew there. I don't know, maybe I should just buy a portapotty and a prefab shed from Lowe's and slap in together out there so I can wax a little braveheart, "Stephen is my name and this is my island!" Primo - you're welcome to the top bunk...lol
I have looked into this quite extensively in the past and what you find is the easiest thing to do now a days is actually to "go green".
You can buy prefabbed modular homes (made from a variety of materials from wood to old shipping containers). These homes run on minimal energey and reuse as much as possible for everything. There are lots of companies that specialize in making just these kinds of homes, and the cost is not nearly as much as you might expect. Now of course if you want something custom built, and all that, then yes you are going to be increasing your cost, but what I like about these modular homes is that you can "customize" it to an extent. You pick what "modules" you want, and how you want them laid out and they make it happen. Most of the modules are designed to "snap in" with each other so you can really do anything you want with any of the modules. Its pretty neat.
As for the other most important piece which is power, water, etc.. you can now buy complete "civilization systems" as I like to call them. These systems include a multitude of things. Most include solar panels as the primary power generation source, solar panels are becoming cheaper and more efficient every day. Many also employ a Wind generator as well. They all include a gas backup generator which will only be used if necessary. These systems also generally include a waste treatment facility which will clean out all the water you use, as well as clean out rain water which is collected. Now if you want to be fancy you can also get a desalination plant to pull water from the ocean, but those are still quite expensive, energy hogs, and not needed unless you have some serious water demands. They also include a unit of battery's that will store all of the energy collected from the various sources so that you can use the gas generator as little as possible. From what I have read though if you employ solar and wind power generators then you are pretty much set, because if its not sunny then its likely stormy which means more wind :)
Basically the civilization systems include everything you need to live a civilized life on an island, are completely self sufficient (you could remove the generator if you didn't mind the occasional black out), and again not as expensive as one would think, especially with the "go green" attitude really coming into play now a days, you may even start to see these kinds of systems becoming available to the rural population, and as economics dictates, the more widely available something becomes, the lower the price tends to be.
Just thought I would throw what I know about islands out there for everyone. Personally an Island would not be my choice, i have as my goal to build a castle, but a Castle on an Island would be pretty sweet :P
-Bob :groovy: