 | “With the ever-increasing cost of living, sustainable solutions such as solar power systems can not only help reduce your emissions, but also wipe out your electricity bills.” |
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Green homes to open to the public across Australia for Sustainable House Day's 11th anniversary
By
Kathleen Belsten
Sustainable House Day is celebrating its 11th anniversary on September 9 across Australia. More than 200 sustainably built homes will be open to the public. “It provides a unique opportunity for people to meet with home owners who have ‘been there, done that’ and are able to provide unbiased advice, ideas and inspiration via their own personal experience,” says event organiser Pia Vogrin. One open house in Newington, NSW (pictured below), will show a waterless Australian native garden, trial the next generation of Sydney’s Smart Meters and provide recycling ideas like a Coke bottle bench.
Councils are also having sustainable events like the Green Family Life Festival in Richmond, in Melbourne, to inspire families towards sustainability as well as market stalls and games for kids. Each year the average Australian household contributes 13 tonnes of greenhouse gas to the atmosphere and uses an average of 73,000 buckets of water a year, the equivalent of 12 baths a day. Australian Solar Energy Society started Sustainable House Day in 2001 to show the public they can save on energy bills while helping to save the environment. “With the ever-increasing cost of living, sustainable solutions such as solar power systems can not only help reduce your emissions, but also wipe out your electricity bills,” says Nick Brass, co-owner of Energy Matters. One of Sydney's open houses uses LED lighting as the norm in the timber House of the Future (pictured below).
The United Nations has established 2012 as the Year of Sustainable Energy. The Subiaco Sustainable Demonstration House in western Perth (pictured below) was built to educate people and will be one of the leading open houses on Sustainability House Day. The house is designed for cost efficiency, passive solar principles, energy and water efficiency and adaptability for universal access. It is designed to suit diverse occupants and lifestyles.
“Sustainable House day is all about action rather than words,” says Vogrin. “You can view an open house or search ideas online.” Sustainable House Day has a competition to win one in three $1,000 Australian Ethical Managed Funds. |
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