Business View Caribbean | Volume 8, Issue 12

50 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12 Since Hurricane Dorian, there has been a review of the building code in the Bahamas, which is designed for 180 mph winds (Dorian was abnormal with gusts up to 220 mph). “Over the course of history, 180 is really reasonable,” says Wallace, “but is everyone following those guidelines to build in accordance with the building codes? That’s the most important thing. In a lot of instances, it’s not the code at fault, it’s people not following it when they’re building.” Much of the company’s work is reinforced concrete walls – in some cases they do a pour and plate concrete wall and in other instances they use a concrete block with reinforcement and then pour the block cells with a grout. Oftentimes, clients request ‘smart technology’ solutions – where they want to be able to see around the exterior of the home, to turn on lights, to adjust the room temperature, to set their sprinklers on timers, etc. All things that they can control from their smart phone. According to Wallace, “There are a lot of systems out there – they are even now eliminating having multiple switches within the building because one switch at a specific location can control pretty much the whole house. A lot of people want that ability to control the electronics of the home while they’re away. We hire specialty contractor companies to deal specifically with the different types of technology. They work in conjunction with our electricians.” On the environmental ‘green’ front, Talcove is formalizing a project right now where they want to be completely off the grid. They also have several other projects which involve incorporating a means to feed back into the grid, if you generate excess power off your solar system. There are incentives from the power company to the consumer, if you’re putting energy back onto the grid. Talcove has a great complement of skilled staff and extra employees are hired if a project requires additional workers. Alternatively, the