Michael Green

Writer and producer

Resilient cities

In Greener Homes on

Governments and councils are planning for fossil fuel–free cities.

OVER the last two decades, ‘sustainability’ lodged itself in our lexicon. Now, there’s a new concept to digest: ‘resilience’.

Peter Newman, professor of sustainability at Curtin University, says the two concepts come from “the same tribe”, but resilience shines a spotlight on how we “deal with the resource constraints that confront us”.

In his latest book, Resilient Cities: Responding to Peak Oil and Climate Change, he explores those constraints, and many of the innovative responses emerging from cities around the world.

Peak oil refers to the point in time when oil production is at its highest, and beyond which, begins to decline. Most predictions suggest that the global peak is coming soon, or has already passed.

Professor Newman says the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico demonstrates the greater difficulties companies now face drilling for oil. “Nobody disagrees that oil is getting harder and harder to find, and we’ve got to do more and more risky things to get it.”

He argues that this fact, along with the need to reduce carbon emissions, means that our cities will need to halve their oil consumption by mid-century.

“Both climate change and peak oil force us to think about different kinds of cities that are able to cope with less fossil fuels,” he says. “We’ve built our civilisation around the cheapness and easy availability of fossil fuels. That era is ending.”

A CSIRO report, Fuel for Thought, released in 2008, estimated that petrol could cost as much as $8 per litre by 2018.

Elliot Fishman, from the Institute for Sensible Transport, modelled the impact of CSIRO’s estimate and found that people living on the city fringe are the most vulnerable.

“It would mean that someone in Cardinia, in Melbourne’s outer east, would spend about 15 per cent of their total income on petrol if they maintained their current travel patterns,” he says.

It’s a troubling finding, especially in light of the state government’s recent expansion of the urban growth boundary. “We’re still developing outer suburban land into cheap housing where people have no options other than the car,” Mr Fishman says. “Where you live has a major impact on your transport costs.”

But buyers and renters are now catching on. “Real estate agents say that more people are asking about public transport availability,” he says.

To reduce car dependence, he recommends householders opt to live close to work and public transport, if possible. You can also cut fuel consumption by working from home one or two days a week, and riding a bike or walking for short trips.

Governments are also beginning to take the issue seriously, especially at the local level. Maribyrnong and Darebin Councils both released peak oil adaptation plans last year. The Queensland Government has produced a series of reports into peak oil since 2005.

Professor Newman argues that once there’s a critical mass, our cities can be transformed rapidly.

He points at the Vauban neighbourhood in the German city of Freiburg, which exhibits many markers of resilience: efficient buildings, walk-ability, good public transport, local renewable energy and a strong sense of place.

“In Vauban, you can see the future and it’s better,” he says. “It is carbon-free, car-free, more local and far more environmentally friendly. It’s much more community oriented and a lot more fun for the kids growing up there.”

Garlic picking

In Blog on

LAST Monday I picked garlic all day. For a couple of hours in the afternoon the smell was so pungent my eyes went cloudy.

I was staying on Homeland, an intentional community in Thora, about half an hour from Bellingen. Brian, one of the residents, has grown a big curly afro, a thick mo‘ and two healthy patches of organic garlic.

We began at eight o’clock. The task was simple: pull the bulbs out of the ground without breaking the stalks, and group them in two rough clumps – big and small.

As the hours went on I narrowed my preferred picking stances to two: sitting cross-legged and scooting forward, and standing and bending down. Both caused me considerable discomfort, but in different ways, so switching over was brief, blessed respite.

Every now and then I shifted my gaze from the bulbs at my feet to the lush field beyond, then to the orange grove and to the purple-blue hills in the distance. Suddenly the deep lungfuls of air I inhaled seemed to smell sweet again. By knock-off time at five-thirty my legs were shaking with fatigue, and I felt overjoyed to be sore and finished, not just sore. 

A few days later I got talking with an Englishman in a pub. He had a miserable face, the kind you’d cast as a depression-era tax collector: sallow cheeks, a long, pointy nose, and arched eyebrows. He was a heater salesman before he packed it in for a round the world trip. He had blown 40,000 pounds (AUD$67,000) in just over a year, mainly on booze. He’d comfortably drink 15 pints in a night, he said.

I told him I’d been garlic picking for a day and that it was damn hard work. And he said, “Nah, can’t be hard, you just reach up and take them off the tree.”

Garlic patch

The garlic patch, from a safe distance.

Green renovations

In Architecture and building, The Age on

Whether you’re renovating for resale, rental or long-term liveability, every signal has turned green.

BY May next year, the state government will increase the residential energy efficiency standard from five to six stars.

The star rating system applies to all renovation projects that require a building permit, but 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.

The state government will also soon phase-in compulsory eco-scorecards at the point of sale and lease. With more and more people seeking energy efficient housing, it’s wise to renovate green to make sure your home doesn’t fall behind.

Here are some principles to follow:

Orientation, glazing and thermal mass

“The primary aim of the renovation should be passive solar performance,” says architect Mark Sanders from Third Ecology in Geelong. “That means getting living areas facing north.”

If your block has a north-facing backyard (or, on a wide block, a north-facing side), you’re in luck.

The task is more difficult if you want to extend to the south. One solution is to design a courtyard between the old and new parts of the home, thereby creating a northerly aspect and allowing the sun into the extension.

Mr Sanders says it’s crucial to combine smart orientation with appropriately shaded windows that allow the sun in during winter, and block it out over summer. “We also try to incorporate a concrete slab to the north, so we’ve got thermal mass to store and re-radiate the heat,” he says.

One result of the step up to higher building efficiency standards may be that designers pay closer attention to the placing and quality of windows. To lift the overall performance, choose fewer, smaller or better windows for the southern and western sides of your home. “It’s preferable to use double glazing,” Mr Sanders says, “or single glazing with decent window coverings.”

Insulation

Mr Sanders recommends householders commission a star rating of their home early in the planning stage. It’ll help identify weaknesses in the performance of the existing building fabric, and pinpoint how they can best be remedied.

“It’s not a compliance requirement, but we just think it’s an important part of a holistic review,” he says.

He used the process for his own house, a Victorian-era home he lifted from zero to six stars. “That meant insulating the walls and floors and doubling the insulation in the ceiling,” he says.

Wall insulation is essential to achieve high star ratings, and a renovation can provide a rare chance to install it relatively cheaply. Mr Sanders’ method was to cut out a section of plasterboard in the middle of the walls. “We slipped insulation up and down and re-plastered without touching the cornices and skirting boards,” he says.

Heating, cooling and ventilation

There’s a wide range of heating options, and the one you choose will depend on the your house. But according to sustainability consultant Malcolm Wilkie, zoning is non-negotiable. “Heat the living room and close off the areas you don’t need. Bedrooms and hallways don’t need to be heated.”

Mr Wilkie says air conditioning isn’t necessary in a house that has been renovated to provide good orientation, shading and insulation. “If you’ve got the house right, all you need is a little bit of air movement on really hot days, and fans will do that.” Be sure that your windows can be opened for cross-ventilation at night or when a cool change comes through.

Lighting

When it comes to lighting, Mr Wilkie has one golden rule: “Don’t install low-voltage halogen downlights.”

Despite their popularity, halogen downlights are terribly inefficient, expensive to run and need gaps in ceiling insulation to reduce fire risk.

He suggests pendant fittings or wall-mounted up-lights instead. “It’s better to use bright task lighting only where you need it, like over a reading chair, and not to flood the whole room with light,” he says. “It’s more creative and creates a much nicer ambience.”

Mr Wilkie also recommends that renovators let in as much natural light as possible. With a combination of skylights and roof windows, he says, “during the day you shouldn’t need to have any artificial lighting on at all.”

Water

If you want to save water, time and money, your pipes and plumbing mustn’t be an afterthought. Stuart McQuire, author of Water Not Down the Drain, advises early planning for water tank placement and use.

“If you’re re-doing spouting or guttering, direct it towards a place where you can fit the tank, and get as much of your roof going there as possible,” he says. “Sometimes a renovation opens access briefly, so you might need to order it before you put the frame up.”

Rainwater can be used for the garden, or connected to toilets, the laundry, hot water, or even the whole house – depending on how much you can collect.

“If you want to water your garden, get the biggest tank you can fit and afford. When there’s an extended dry spell, that’s when you’ll appreciate it,” Mr McQuire says. “But if it’s just for toilet flushing or even for the laundry, you don’t need a huge tank.”

Even if you aren’t installing tanks or connecting toilets and greywater immediately, a little extra plumbing up front will leave your options open – and save a lot of hassle later on.

“If you are renovating the bathroom, put the plumbing in so you can run rainwater to the toilet. It’s a lot harder to do once the walls and floors are there. The same thing applies to greywater, because it might be impossible to do later without pulling your bathroom and laundry apart,” he says.

When you choose fittings for the bathroom, laundry or kitchen, look out for the Water Saving and Efficiency Labels and Standards (WELS) scheme. The labels include a star rating – up to six stars – and a flow rate in litres. Good fittings will save you hot water, and therefore, energy too.

For even better hot water efficiency, Mr McQuire recommends householders opt for a solar water heater, if they’ve got a roof that isn’t too shaded by trees or neighbours.

For more tips, see the Your Home Renovator’s Guide. 

Contact Malcolm Wilkie.

Packaging waste

In Greener Homes on

Bulk buying can help you fit into a smaller household footprint.

WHEN Wendy Branagan puts out her rubbish bin, she takes note of the date. “I mark it on the calendar so I can keep track. I can normally stretch it out to once every two months,” she says.

The Blackburn resident has been unwrapping herself from packaging waste for over a decade. She has established relationships with local shopkeepers who are happy for her to bring reusable bags and containers. “I found a container at the opshop that fits two loaves of bread perfectly, so I take that to the bakery every time,” she says.

Nevertheless, Ms Branagan acknowledges the “embarrassment factor” of bringing your own bags and rebutting supposed health concerns. “Sometimes, even after all these years, I have to really take a deep breath and do it anyway,” she says. “People are normally very encouraging.”

According to Sustainability Victoria’s ResourceSmart website, Australians use about 71 kilograms of plastic every year, on average. Our manufacturing industries may have declined, but our rubbish production is booming – per head, we rank second only to the USA.

Ms Branagan is motivated by the link between household waste and broader environmental concerns. “Packaging contributes to land clearing, mining and water use,” she says. “There’s a connection between the packaging we accept at home, the giant pool of plastic accumulating in the Pacific Ocean, and climate change.”

Among other waste-minimising habits, Ms Branagan always prepares a shopping list, doesn’t buy too much food at a time and tries to cook from scratch rather than using more highly packaged processed goods. For more tips, she recommends the Simple Savings website. “I’m amazed at how much money I save by shopping this way and not wasting food.”

Nick Ray, from the Ethical Consumer Group, says that while many people make an effort to minimise packaging, we tend to take a certain level of waste for granted, rather than change our habits.

And while he advocates recycling wherever possible, he notes that it’s still the third preference in the “reduce, reuse, recycle” hierarchy.

“There’s a myth that we can recycle plastic – it’s really a process of down-cycling,” he says. “Food-grade plastic isn’t recycled into food-grade plastic. So if we can avoid it in the first place, that’s something I’m keen to do.”

Mr Ray and his family are part of the Western Organic Collective. They purchase a box of veggies once a week directly from the wholesale market, and order dry goods, including flours, nuts, dried fruit and honey, every few months. “The collective buys in bulk and we take our own sealable containers along and divide it all,” he says.

The Ethical Consumer Group’s website has a list of commercial outlets where you can buy in bulk without packaging, as well as more information about how to start and run a buying collective.

More broadly, Mr Ray argues that we need to recognise the significance of our shopping habits in our overall household impact.

The Australian Conservation Foundation’s Consumption Atlas measures the greenhouse gas pollution, water use and land footprint of Australian households. “It turns out that food component is very high,” he says. “In Victoria, it’s about one quarter of household greenhouse gas emissions. And there’s another third behind the other products we buy.”

Going north

In Blog on

I’M in Bellingen now, inland on the mid north coast of New South Wales. It’s a lush, vibrant town and when I arrived this afternoon the air smelled sweet like it had just rained, even though it hadn’t. Maybe it always smells like that here.

To my shame, I haven’t done an honest day’s work since I left. I got offered some labouring in Canberra, but I moved on instead (too cold).

While I was there I bought another Primo Levi novel, called The Wrench. It’s about a rigger who works on building sites moving heavy objects, constructing cranes. The back cover quotes a reviewer: “This is not a book for journalists. Civil servants, too, will feel uneasy while reading it, and as for lawyers, they will never sleep again. For it is about man in his capacity as homo faber, a maker of things with his hands, and what has any of us ever made but words.” I’ve been sleeping lightly, but maybe it’s a coincidence.

In Newcastle, I visited wunderkind photographer Conor Ashleigh, whom I interviewed recently for a Big Issue photo essay on child labour in the brick kilns in Nepal. One morning we drove through the Hunter Valley to Singleton, and saw the huge open-cast coalmines and four-wheel drives. In the pub on Saturday night we met a young man who’d left Singleton. He told us that a 19-year-old mate of his who worked in the mines already owned a house outright and had bought himself a Hummer.  

But the region isn’t all coal – the guy who’d left Singleton is now an arts student, playing in a band. On Sunday I went to a singer-songwriter night run by Conor’s girlfriend, Grace Turner, she of the breathtaking voice. Her mother, artist Mazie Turner let me stay at her home. We got to talking about Moby Dick, and she related the story of a journalist on the Melville trail who swam with whales. One came straight at him, massive below the surface. He felt the sonar reverberating through his body and looked into its eye. At the last moment, it dived deeper. “Seeing something that fills up your entire vision – now that is truly awesome,” Mazie said. “Wonder. Wonder is the first principle of life.”

If nothing else, I’ve been stretching my awe muscles: sea baths on Sydney’s northern beaches, dolphins at Port Macquarie, broad rivers, kind strangers, the size of this land. Sometimes I forget how big and varied it all is.

Today I visited a macadamia farm, Tallow Wood Grove, south of Nambucca Heads. They have 23,000 trees, lined across the hills. It takes ten years for a macadamia tree to return a commercial crop. The long harvesting season, from April to September, is coming to an end. It was cool and open in the shade of the rows, and walking below the foliage, I realised it was just the way that, as a child, I’d imagined the wood in Roald Dahl’s book, Danny, the champion of the world, where Danny and his father go pheasant poaching. My catch would be a pocket full of macadamias.