Michael Green

Writer and producer

Six-star homes

In Architecture and building, Environment, The Age on

Higher star ratings will add little extra cost.

The energy efficiency of our homes is on the rise again. Last year, state and federal governments agreed to lift the residential standard from five to six stars. The changes will come into the national building code from this May, and then the states must bring them into effect by May 2011, at the latest.

In Victoria, the new rules are the first major increase since the introduction of the five-star regulations in 2004. So what difference does a star make?

It’s only a small rise in cost for a cushy lift in comfort, according to the CEO of VicUrban, Pru Sanderson. With its builder partners, the state land development agency has been offering six-star homes for years. “They’ve become VicUrban’s base standard,” she says. “We’ve proven to the market that it is doable, at scale, for a very, very small price tag.”

VicUrban estimates that the better performing homes will cost $5000 extra at the most, but much less – under $2000 – if the planning, subdivision and orientation of the blocks is done carefully. “In terms of the cost of a home, it’s a very small outlay for a long-term benefit,” Ms Sanderson says. “We estimate that a six-star house uses about 15 per cent less energy in heating and cooling compared with a five-star house.”

Matt Fisher, from the Association of Building Sustainability Assessors, says the price tag could be even lower. “We did some studies that looked at real world [plans] and found that they could be increased from five to six stars for about $500,” he says.

The last jump in energy efficiency rules forced the industry to improve the building fabric and insulation. Mr Fisher says that this time around, the changes will summon designs that better suit the climate and location of the house.

David Hallett, from Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, agrees. He argues that the house plans and the site of the land must always be considered together. “Most of our homes are designed in isolation and plonked on a block, depending on which floor plan the client happens to like. Sometimes it works well, and sometimes, really badly.”

Poorly oriented homes may still be able to reach six stars, but they’ll need top-notch windows and insulation. It will be much cheaper for new homes to meet the higher standard if they are well-suited to their block – with features such as smaller windows to the west and south, living areas to the north, and eaves calculated to shade over summer and let in sun over winter.

The ideal way to address local conditions is with a custom design that fits your land. But Ms Sanderson maintains that big builders and developers can also offer well-oriented houses at scale – though the industry will first have to invest in expanding the range of its products. “At VicUrban we already have sophisticated guidelines about typical building configurations for different kinds of blocks,” she says.

Although Ms Sanderson approves of the higher standard, she’s also quick to point out that the new regulations don’t mean we’ll consume less energy. “The improved performance is being offset by the ever-increasing size of new houses,” she says. “The average new house is 40 per cent larger now compared with the 1970s.” Bigger homes not only chew through more energy, but also more construction materials and waste.

Likewise, the way we live in the house has a drastic effect on the amount of energy we consume. “We’re wasting our time doing all of this if we don’t help educate people about how to live in a more environmentally attuned way,” Ms Sanderson says. “We want the six-star lifestyle to go with the six-star house.”

Renovating with the stars

The six-star regulations will also apply to extensions. Retrofitting energy efficiency is more difficult than starting from scratch, but Anthony Wright, building designer at Sunpower Design, says the higher standard is well within reach. “We generally aim for seven stars or better – six stars is a minimum.”

The new rules are slated to work the same way as the current five-star renovation system, which applies only to projects that require a building permit and varies depending on the size of the alteration. For larger additions the whole house must comply, while for smaller changes only the new part must adhere to the rules. “You’re not required to do the impossible,” Mr Wright says.

To make the grade, he says designers will need to incorporate solar passive design techniques, including smart orientation to get sun in winter and exclude it in summer. That task can be tricky for additions to the shady south. “Sometimes it requires more thought, but there are lots of ways to get northerly sun in a southern extension, such as using roof glazing or setting the extension back.”

Mr Wright has two main tips for would-be renovators. “Do a preliminary energy rating at the sketch design stage to see whether the designer is coming close. It might cost a few hundred dollars, but could save you a lot of grief down the track,” he says. “And be realistic about the amount of glazing you put into the house and the direction it faces. Think strategically about it, rather than having expanses of glass.”

 

Sustainable Living Festival

In Greener Homes on

The Sustainable Living Festival brings all kinds of green ideas together.

This year’s Sustainable Living Festival is already under way. The program has been extended to two weeks, with activities running at different locations across the city and state in the lead up to the main event at Federation Square in Melbourne next weekend, from February 19 to 21.

Festival director Luke Taylor says the longer program will help focus attention on the good work done by local groups. “We have a whole range of local events promoting various aspects of sustainability, from greening your home and sustainable food through to the bigger issues like climate change,” he says. “It’s an opportunity for us to support the sustainability actions done by local communities.”

The theme for the festival, now in its eleventh year, is climate change. There’ll be over 150 talks and workshops, and more than 100 stalls encompassing all shades of green, with a thicket of practical information on things you can do around the home.

Exhibitors include domestic energy efficiency retailers Going Solar, Energy Matters and Solar Shop Australia. There’ll also be useful sessions on draught proofing, reducing your waste and home chicken husbandry, to name just a few.

Mr Taylor says that change is required in our homes and backyards, and also in our houses of parliament. “Everybody needs to be involved in solving this [climate change] problem. Local action is critical, but we need government leadership as well.”

That’s a theme that will be taken up by the panel discussion, ‘Towards climate safe homes’, to be held next Sunday. Last year, a coalition of environment groups produced a report on the energy efficiency of our housing stock, and the steps required to lift it to a zero-carbon or ‘climate safe’ standard.

Panel member Victoria McKenzie-McHarg, from Environment Victoria, says there are two elements to climate safe homes. They not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also build the kind of dwellings that will help people adapt to harsher and drier conditions. “We know that with climate change we’re not going to have the water resources that we have had in the past. We need to improve our housing stock so we’re prepared for climate impacts, and also so our homes become part of the solution,” she says.

“We’re seeing families and householders across Australia taking action themselves,” Ms McKenzie-McHarg says. “There are a number of government rebates that assist them, but to make a really big difference we need a comprehensive plan to green our building stock.”

She says that although houses now contribute one-fifth of Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions, we could slash that impact by 75 per cent by way of energy efficient design and appliances.

Last year, federal and state governments agreed to lift the residential energy efficiency standard from five to six stars. The states must comply by May 2011. Ms McKenzie-McHarg says it’s a good start, but we’re still well behind many other countries. “Melbourne has a comparable climate region to California, but their equivalent rating for new homes is 7.6 stars. And in the UK they’re aiming for zero net carbon homes by 2016. This is really possible – it’s not pie-in-the-sky stuff.”

Greensburg, Kansas

In Architecture and building, Community development, Environment on

On 4 May 2007, a tornado nearly three kilometres wide ripped through Greensburg, in Kansas, USA. It levelled the town and killed 11 people. The townsfolk decided to build back sustainably, with all city buildings to meet the highest level of the US Green Building Council’s rating system. Their blueprint for recovery was all green, taking in public buildings, infrastructure, housing and the downtown business area.

Last year, Greensburg mayor Bob Dixson visited Australia. He spoke to the Green Building Council of Australia, and also to the people of Flowerdale, who lost much of their town during the Black Saturday fires.

MG: What was your message to people in Flowerdale?

BD: The number one thing is to know that there is hope and you will recover. The other thing is sometimes you have to be real patient – we want things to happen faster than they do. Sometimes you have to plan and do the best you can without getting in such a rush that you find out later mistakes are made.

Over 95 per cent of the buildings in Greensburg were totally destroyed and that’s a lot like in the Flowerdale area, so there was a real kindred spirit between us because of the smaller town atmosphere and the sense of community.

MG: How did you come up with Greensburg’s long-term community recovery plan?

BD: Planning started the first week after the storm. The community had no place to meet so we met under a big circus tent and we did everything there; we had meetings, we ate together, we had church services together. And part of the planning process then was to come up with a sustainable long-term recovery plan. It was facilitated by government agencies, but we were the ones who had the input in what we wanted the community to look like. It’s a living document and we need to revisit it regularly.

We’ll be totally sustainable. We’ll have a community wind farm that will generate electricity for our town and it will be big enough to [connect to] our fellow communities that belong to the power pool. It’s kind of a cliché, but it’s a wind-wind situation.

MG: It’s a big change from the way the town was before. How did it come to be so environmentally focussed?

BD: We knew what we were doing was for future generations. We needed to make sure we built back for the 21st century, not for the way it was beforehand. It was about being good stewards of those resources we’ve been blessed with, and about seeing how our ancestors handled it when they pioneered our area. They utilised the resources they had available; no more, no less. And they understood that if you took care of the land, it took care of you. So really the concepts of being green have been around for generations. It’s just that we have such modern technology now to take advantage of those environmentally friendly and energy-saving green initiatives.

MG: What message do you have for communities, towns or cities that haven’t suffered such a disaster?

BD: One thing we’re really proud of is we’re the first community in the United States to have totally LED street lights. That’s a saving of 43 per cent on our energy and when you figure energy and maintenance combined, it’s a 70 per cent saving. It reduces our carbon footprint by 40 tonnes of CO2 per year. If Melbourne went to LED street lights, it could cut its emissions tremendously. Any community can implement things – you just have to do it.

MG: Has the Greensburg community changed since the tornado?

BD: It reinforced the values of our community. It mattered not your economic status in the community, you lost everything. So the only thing you had left was not your possessions, not your vehicle and not your home; all we had left were our relationships with each other. And we found out they were there all along.

Several young couples have moved to the community who have no ties to the area and that’s because of the excitement and the sense of renewal and rebirth. In the midst of it all we’re seeing interest from all over the world. To me, it’s beyond the disaster and building sustainably. People see hope in Greensburg right now; hope that you could come back from a disaster. We have been blessed with a tremendous opportunity, but we also understand we have a tremendous responsibility to share with the world anything we’ve learned, because as far as sustainability goes, we are all the new pioneers of the 21st century. We live in the most exciting times in the history of this planet, because we have an opportunity right now to truly make a difference in where we’re headed.

Cooling your home

In Greener Homes on

Choose cooling that won’t break the bank.

SUMMER hot spells not only induce BBQs and beach holidays, but also snap decisions to shell out for expensive air conditioners. Christopher Zinn from Choice argues that air con should be the last option, not the first. “People can – like lambs to the slaughter – be taken to very high energy use air conditioning systems. There are better, lower cost, lower impact options.”

In its ‘Your cooling options buying guide’ (available free online), Choice details a number of ways you can keep your home comfortable without purchasing a machine. The cheapest tactic is ventilation. Each evening, once the weather has cooled, open your windows to allow a cool cross breeze through your home.

To stop the heat entering to begin with, existing homes can be retrofitted with ceiling insulation, draught-stoppers and shading for north and west-facing windows. “Even if you have air conditioning, these things can substantially reduce your running costs,” Mr Zinn says.

For mechanical cooling, fans should be your first option. Phil Wilkinson, technical manager of the Australian Institute of Refrigeration, Air conditioning and Heating, says they’re a cheap and low-maintenance solution on days that aren’t super hot. “Fans create a draught that helps you feel comfortable as it moves across your skin, but they don’t lower the temperature.” Desk and pedestal fans start from about $20; ceiling fans, from $50.

Evaporative coolers are another lower-energy choice. They cool by drawing air through wet filters and then blowing it out. “The running costs are minimal because they only need to power a fan and a small water pump,” Mr Wilkinson says. They work best in warm, dry climates, so they’re well suited to Victorian summers.

Evaporative coolers come in portable, fixed or ducted systems and range in cost accordingly, from around $100 to over $2000. Be wary of their extra water use – the bigger the unit the more it will slurp. Portables can suck up four litres per hour and central units more than 25 litres.

Well-designed Australian homes shouldn’t require air conditioning, but if you can’t do without, be careful about what you buy. “Choose the smallest, most efficient unit to suit your day to day needs,” says Mr Wilkinson. Residential models are labelled with an energy efficiency rating. “Our advice is to look for as many stars as you can afford – the more stars, the less it costs to run.”

The institute has created Fair Air, an online guide to choosing the air conditioner that best suits you. Portable and fixed wall models begin at about $500; split systems, about $1000; and ducted systems, about $5000. Make sure you use a qualified installer (visit the ARCtick website for more information).

As with heating, it’s wise to zone your cooling to where you spend time, rather than chilling the whole home. Dress down and try setting the thermostat to between 25 and 27 degrees: each extra degree of cooling will increase energy consumption by up to 10 per cent.

Mr Wilkinson says regular maintenance is required to keep both air conditioners and evaporative coolers running well. “You have to clean the filters and heat exchange services and check anything that’s getting noisy. It’s the same as a car, you have to maintain them to keep their efficiency to a maximum, so refer to the manufacturer’s or the installer’s advice.”

New parents and babies

In Greener Homes on

First-time parents must prepare themselves to stay green.

New mother Gabrielle Breen is very conscious of her environmental footprint – in the latter stages of her pregnancy, she spent time draught-proofing her house. But after her daughter was born, her priorities changed for a while. “In the beginning, I didn’t care if I used energy,” she says. “It was the last thing on my mind.”

She found out she wasn’t alone. “I’ve heard stories of parents who discover that flushing the toilet calms their baby, and so one parent holds the baby and the other flushes the toilet over and over again.”

In hindsight, Ms Breen says that with careful planning, new parents’ resource thriftiness need not go down the drain. “If you’re prepared beforehand it makes things easier. And over time, as you get on top of parenting, you can improve things even more,” she says, suggesting that over-zealous flushers try downloading a recording of ‘white noise’ from the internet instead.

New parents spend much more time at home so sealed gaps and boosted insulation will mean lower heating and cooling bills. “Keeping your home cool during summer is an energy efficiency thing, but it will also increase your comfort and your baby’s comfort,” she says.

The Moreland Energy Foundation (MEFL) runs short energy-smart sessions for new parents through Maternal and Child Heath Centres in the area. “We give information about what you can do to minimise your bills and ensure you’re comfortable without costing the earth,” the foundation’s Jessica Steinborner says.

A comprehensive information booklet is free to download from the MEFL website. The Energy for Babies Kit discusses common infant issues such as heating, cooling and washing. It also outlines a number of standard eco-wise measures, from low-energy lighting to water saving.

Ms Steinborner says that while anyone can make those changes, the message is particularly relevant for new parents. “Bringing a baby home is a life changing moment. Often people are planning a renovation or considering big purchases, like new fridges, cars or heating and cooling systems. New parents can either wed themselves to very expensive bills and a bigger carbon footprint, or they can make a clear step towards reducing their impact.”

When her old washing machine conked out, Ms Breen and her husband bought an efficient front loader, which uses much less water, and they’re thankful for their choice. “Babies are so small, I couldn’t believe how much washing you end up doing.”

The couple opted for reusable nappies. According to MEFL’s research, cloth nappies are a more sustainable choice than disposables because they reduce both landfill waste and water use – laundering a cloth nappy takes less water than manufacturing a disposable. They’re also cheaper. “Disposables cost at least $3000 per child whereas a set of cloth nappies costs up to $900 dollars, and you can use them for subsequent children,” Ms Breen says. “I thought reusables would be hard, but it’s been easier than we expected.”

She says that changing simple habits, as well as your hardware, makes a big difference. To help keep your kid cool in summer, she recommends natural air conditioning. “When you’re feeding your baby at night you can wrap them with a damp muslin cloth. During the day, wipe them with a wet facecloth, or put a damp cloth over the top of the pram.”