Sustainable house day coming up
August 16th, 2009 by trinatuneSustainable House Day is happening again on September 13. It happens all around Australia so if you are keen to check out some great, green homes this is the day to start.
In the past I’ve visited houses in Sydney and Canberra, which have been really inspirational. This year I am sticking to Sydney – probably closer to my own house.
Interested? Find a house near you on the Sustainable House Day website
We just moved into our new home in Brisbane that was built 7 years ago, before eco mania took hold - needless to say it scares me how much retroftting is required.
Now hunting for the best possible solutions to get us started:
1. As of 1st July 2009 you can get a green loan up to $10,000 interest free for 4 years:
http://www.environment.gov.au/greenloans/
An assessor will come to your house and give advice on best solution and plan of action.
2. Some banks (luckily ours) provide new borrowers with green discounts on environmentally freindly solutions i.e. solar hot water, etc
3. Rebates Rebates - they seem to be everywhere!!
4. Ceiling Insulation - free thanks to the war on climate change, the war on recesssion, the war on…
5. Wall insulation - Just found a firm that does injected foam insulation on existing houses - Ecofoam
6. Plant trees and build a water feature for passive cooling.
7. Tint the north/west facing windows
Just waiting for the govt to figure out their stuff so we can source a cost effective solar option.
Visit http://www.australianliving.info and follow the progress of four sustainable homes being developed in Rose Bay NSW. Australian Living exists to promote the sustainable residential building industry and challenge homeowners to build the most sustainable home they can afford. We are also here to help you build your sustainable dream.