New eco-home research makes a financial statement.
LAST year, the Cape Paterson Ecovillage broke new ground when its high eco-standards were written into the local planning scheme.
The development will border on the existing town of Cape Paterson, on the Bass Coast, about two hours south-east of Melbourne. Each of the 220 new houses must be oriented for passive solar gain and have a minimum energy rating of 7.5 stars, as well as efficient appliances, at least 2.5 kilowatts of solar energy and 10,000 litres in rainwater tanks.
Now, the project’s developers have released research showing that all these features will save homeowners money over the long term.
“When we started, we wanted to pull together all the proven sustainable housing solutions in one place, and to attempt to deliver a carbon neutral project,” says the ecovillage’s director, Brendan Condon.
That was eight years ago, and back then, he thought they’d need to offer incentives to help buyers pay the extra upfront costs. But because of the steep rise in utility bills in recent years, and the price hikes still to come, it’s no longer necessary.
“We’ve hit a clear tipping point now where the uptake of these sustainability features makes absolute economic sense,” Mr Condon says.
He says that if homeowners re-invest savings into their repayments, they could cut years from their mortgages. And once an electric vehicle (powered by extra solar panels) is in the driveway, “the economic benefits expand rapidly”.
“If we hit high predicted energy and water cost futures, you could pay your mortgage off between seven and eight years early. The benefits accrue to about $300,000 over a 25-year mortgage.”
Independently reviewed research, funded by Sustainability Victoria, compared a Cape Paterson home against three benchmarks – an existing 4-star dwelling, and both a larger and smaller new 6-star home. Consumption was assumed to remain constant in each house, no matter the price rises.
The report’s author, consultant Anthony Szatow, says that in all the scenarios modelled, the greener homes came out in front. “Solar power, efficient appliances and water tanks all return in excess of 10 per cent, after tax. Most sustainability features provide very attractive return on investment, purely on a financial basis,” he says.
“And that financial proposition is just going to get better and better as the cost of centralised energy and water goes up.”
With the strict guidelines for the Cape Paterson homes in mind, Mr Szatow says householders should shop around for plans. “Experienced, skilled designers and architects should be able to get a new home to a 7.5-star rating with very little premium,” he says.
He adds that another financial benefit will come at the point of sale. “It’s early days in the market for sustainable homes, but the indication so far is that homes with the highest star ratings and solar power do have a resale premium.”
For Mr Condon, it’s not enough that the ecovillage has gone green alone. He wants the mainstream building market to change its ways too.
“Rising energy, fuel and water costs are going to become intractable problems for our community,” he says.
“You have a choice now to build conventionally and lock in rising costs, or build sustainably and protect your wallet and the environment – and to do it in a comfortable house.”
Sir,
I read your article in the Sunday Age and found it disappointing. A visit to the Cape Patterson eco village web site confirmed that it is a commercial enterprise using minimal eco values to excite and attract people who do not know much about sustainable design or building.
1. The houses appear to be wooden despite which nothing is said about insulation. Wooden houses are notorousely cold in winter and hot in summer unless very well insulated, no matter how they are sited. They are also almost impossible to save in bushfire conditions, so, far from sustainable.
Breezeblock and render would be much better but still require careful insulation, including double if not triple glazing, also not mentioned. Mediterannean vernacular housing still offers very good energy values, thanks to small windows combined with internal vorlage and external shutters, the windows themselves opening inward. They can also be combined with pole hung curtains, thin linen for summer and thick wool for winter if desired.
In my experience during the last drought in Victoria, a 10,000 litre water tank is insufficient for a garden plus family needs, plus fire-fighting equipment or even under-gutter sprinklers (roof top sprinklers are useless due to wind associated with fire) – 25,000 loitres in an underground concrete tank is the minimum to even consider fighting to save a weatherboard house, and another 25,000 for garden and household use would be realistic, allowing for global warming.
People who I know who have spent more than $20,000 on setting up huge roof top solar panels in order to supply electricity to the grid have found the system complex and difficulat to use and have not saved one iota financially and would certainly not recommend being an early adaptor!.
Passive heating and cooling is another under developed concept, which may work reasonably well in summer tempertures up to about 28 to 30 degrees but does not cope with 30 degrees plus or a run of hot days where the temperature is sustained and builds up further each day, even in the country where nights cool down more than they do in the city. Passive heating and solar under-floor heating likewise does not cope with very low temperatures below about 8 degrees and down to minus temperatures.
Star rated appliances do help contain water and energy use and therefore marginally reduce costs, but of course, this year’s star appliance is next year’s less economic option and unless people are going to keep re-cycling their appliances at considerable cost, they will be outdated well within five years.
I summary, I do not think your eco efforts set a high enough bar and I presume that is because you wish to make money in the short term offering minimal eco advantages (at attractively low housing prices in a rural situation,)which will be inadequate and soon completely out-dated as new and better technology and consumer education arrives. Moreover, there will be a dearth of amenities for families and children to offset the 10% saving which will be spent on petrol I suspect going to schools, libraries and other amenities as is necessary in the country.
Sincerely
A. Noel.
Hi A.Noel,
I’m sorry you feel this way after looking at the website and would be happy to discuss some of your concerns directly.
Let me try to clarify a few things and hopefully that helps.
Re: house design and material selection – the detailed home designs for the ecovillage have not been finalised, but all houses are required to meet a 7.5 star standard. This is written into the planning scheme and so is a first for Victoria, and Australia. It means homes will require very little active heating or cooling in order to be comfortable all year round in the cape paterson climate zone. All architects and designers used in the project are well versed in sustainable design principles. Use of insulation, internal thermal mass for temperature regulation, minimal window surface area, orientation of living areas to the north, external shading etc will all be incorporated into final house designs. Your points about how some of these techniques work, or don’t work, in different weather conditions are all good points and our task will be to find the appropriate balance and mix of techniques into final designs.
Appropriate designs for different climate zones across Victoria will vary greatly, and we are very confident our final detailed designs will perform very well in the cape paterson climate zone.
Re: fire risk – the ecovillage has a very low fire rating risk, and the site layout and choice of vegetation helps mitigate fire risk. All homes will be designed to meet the bush fire attack level prescribed to the site (BAL 12).
Re: water – 10,000l tanks are the minimum required. Again, this is raising the bar for housing development in Victoria and Australia. Residents can certainly choose to have more storage should they anticipate a higher water need for fire fighting and/or gardening.
Re: solar – I understand some people have had negative experiences with solar in the past, but it is now very mature technology and is widely used around the world. In one month alone last year Germany installed 3 times as much solar as is installed Australia-wide. Adopting solar today is not being an early adopter. We are confident that if solar systems are selected and installed well, they will perform well and generate attractive financial and environmental benefits. Our systems are required by law to be a minimum of 2.5kW (again, a Victoria and Australian first) and we will work with residents to ensure they are sized to supply as much energy as each household expects to consume.
Re: technology obsolescence, unfortunately that is outside our control, but we will work with residents to select appliances that work efficiently and will last. We will encourage residents to take up simpler options, such as ceiling fans for cooling, rather than air-conditioning, to minimise financial and envirnomental impacts
Re: amenities: the Ecovillage will include a cycling/walking network, community gardens cafe, conferencing centre, barefoot bowls club, work spaces including a shed space for mechanical/repair type work and more. All this is detailed on the website so I encourage you to have a look in more detail.
Re: fuel – we will be working with residents to implement electric vehicles, charged off roof-top solar, and aim to implement a car share scheme to minimise cost and environmental impact for all. Obviously the most environmentally friendly, cost effective trip is by foot or bike, and by providing the cycling/walking network as well as many local amenities, we hope to minimise the need for car travel.
I hope this helps clarify a number of your concerns, and would welcome further dialogue directly to clarify any other concerns about this project
Regards,
Anthony (Tosh) Szatow
Nice work A. Noel and Tosh – good to see some lengthy and respectful debate about the merits of the ecovillage design requirements. For my part: A. Noel, I think you must have misunderstood the Cape Paterson model. In fact, I think they’ve addressed your concerns in detail. Houses won’t be able to reach that standard without excellent insulation and passive solar design. To my mind, the vulnerability is in people driving conventional petrol cars back and forth from Melbourne, but as I understand it, the developers intend to encourage the use of electric vehicles.
I think it’s such a shame that the people with committment & resources move away from urban areas & build rather than retrofit existing proprerties, much lower foot print, & rather than riding bikes & walking, choose to drive electric cars vast distances. Please folks stay in your local communities & do the hard yards together so all can benefit, not just the privileged few, cheers julie