Michael Green

Journalist, producer and oral historian

Ceiling insulation

In Greener Homes on

Insulation is a key to reducing energy needs.

You can save up to 45 per cent on heating and cooling with roof and ceiling insulation, according to the sustainable building design guide, Your Home.

Despite that, about four in ten Australian houses still go without. Dennis D’Arcy, CEO of the Insulation Council of Australia and New Zealand, says many homeowners don’t know what they’re missing. “People just assume houses have insulation. If you’re buying an old house, you’ve got to inspect it.”

If you’re one of those four in ten, you can now get insulated for free. The Energy Efficient Homes Package – part of the government’s anti-recessionary spending – offers up to $1600 worth of materials and professional installation for houses that have no insulation. Mr D’Arcy says the money will “more than cover costs in a very high percentage of cases”.

From July, eligible owner-occupiers will get the whole shebang by calling a government hotline. If you want it before then, get insulation professionally installed, pay upfront and receive the rebate later. Renters aren’t left out either – landlords are now eligible for up to $1000 for insulation in their rental properties.

Even if you don’t qualify for the rebate, it’s worthwhile checking your ceiling’s status – the insulation is probably gappy and underdone. Insulation’s effectiveness is measured by its ‘R-value’. For Melbourne ceilings, Your Home recommends a minimum level of R 3.7. As a rough guide, Mr D’Arcy suggests between 130 and 180 millimetres of insulation, at least.

There are many different products available: batts, foil or loose-fill, made from an array of polyester, wool, glasswool, cellulose fibres and more. For DIYers, batts are best. You can buy them from hardware stores and they’re easy to manage – choose what suits on price and recycled content.

When it comes to installation, follow the instructions on the pack, and make sure you cover all the gaps right out to the edges. If you choose loose-fill insulation, you should get it professionally installed.

Glazing

In Greener Homes on

Heal your eco-unfriendly windows.

In a typical home, windows cause more heat gain or loss than any other part of the building fabric. “Standard windows are like a thermal wound in the building envelope,” says Gary Smith, from the Australian Window Association.

You can heal the wound, but it will take good advice and careful thought. “There are hundreds and hundreds of options,” Mr Smith says. As well as cost and style, you need to consider the best fit for the window’s orientation.

When you make your choice, be aware of both the warmth that passes through the window and the frame (conduction), and the radiant heat caused when sunlight hits the glass directly (radiation).

A window’s conduction is measured by its U-value. The lower the U-value, the better its insulating qualities, and the better for your home. For insulation, double-glazing is best – or you can improve existing panes by retrofitting with (much cheaper) secondary window systems. Remember that the frames also conduct heat; preferred options are wood, high-performance or thermally broken aluminium, fibreglass or uPVC.

In Victoria, we spend more time heating our houses than cooling them – with a bit of planning the sun can help you do it for free. Make sure north-facing windows get direct sun in winter, but are shaded during summer. For these windows, choose products with a high ‘solar heat gain coefficient’, but at the east and west cut the solar heat by installing glass or films that are tinted, reflective or coated (‘low e’ glass).

Good windows are expensive up front, but will add to resale value and more than pay back over the life of the home. For the budget-conscious, Mr Smith suggests starting with living areas. “Begin fixing the main places where you spend your time. Better windows and glasses give you a huge improvement in comfort.”

Windows might be transparent, but they’re complex. This information is only part of the story so research thoroughly, seek expert advice and shop around. The Window Energy Rating Scheme website is a good place to start.

Rainwater tanks

In Greener Homes on

In the first of a series on how to reduce the ecological footprint of your home, Michael Green takes a look at water tanks.

“Tanks do fill,” promises Nigel Finney from the savewater! Alliance. If you want to install one, do it before the good rain comes. “They fill in the wetter seasons,” Mr Finney says. “That’s when you can get maximum use out of them for your toilets and laundry.”

In January, the federal government introduced a rainwater tank rebate, adding to the Victorian government’s offer. Altogether, you can get up to $1500 back on your system – depending on its size and use. You get a higher rebate for bigger systems that are connected to your toilet and laundry by a licensed plumber.

A 5000 litre, plumbed tank will cost about $4000 to $5000, so even with the rebates it will set you back thousands of dollars. Mains water is very cheap, so the payback period is long.

On the plus side, a rainwater tank gives you an independent supply for your garden, so you can water your veggies even under tight restrictions. A tank also helps reduce stormwater pollution and eases pressure on dwindling dams.

What size tank is right for you? A good rule of thumb is enough capacity for four weeks’ supply. For use in the garden, laundry and toilets, that’s usually around 5000 litres – though be sure you have enough roof area to feed your tank. The savewater! Alliance website has a guide to average rainfall, roof-size and tank capacity (as well as product lists and handy advice).

“You can put a tank just about anywhere,” Mr Finney says. They come in all materials, shapes and sizes: steel, fibreglass, plastic or concrete; round, slimline or bladders; and capacities from 200 to 100 000 litres.

If you want value for money, go for plastic, round, large tanks. “The cost per litre drops off dramatically once you start getting over 2000 litres,” says Mr Finney.

Maintenance-wise, you’ll need to clean gutters and filters regularly. A ‘first flush diverter’ is useful to drain the dirty, initial water that comes from the roof during rain.

Vegetable Power

In Community development, Environment, The Age on

Joining an organic produce co-op can get you not only cheaper and better vegies but an introduction to like-minded neighbours.

IT’S 7.30am on a Friday. A dozen people, mostly young mothers, crowd a corrugated-iron back garage in Footscray, sorting fruit and vegetables. They’re hunched over two long rows of waxed grocer’s boxes, sharing out lettuce, leeks, beans, beetroot and much more.

The Seddon Organic Collective is holding its first sorting day. The members, and their toddlers, are making friends. The SOC is made up of 25 local residents. From now on, every week, they’ll buy cheap organic produce from the Melbourne Wholesale Market on Footscray Road, split it up, and dine in on the benefits.

Ken Johnson, the clean-cut president, is puzzling over paperwork, trying to tally the boxes, the money and the orders. He believes organic produce is both healthier and better for the environment. “This is a way to access organic food more cheaply,” he says.

The key to cheap supply is bulk buying from the wholesale market, and for that, the group must be incorporated.

In less than 15 minutes all the boxes are sorted. Each is bursting with more than a dozen kinds of fruit and vegies. While Johnson keeps pondering his lists, the other members chat and sip tea.

Leah Avene is thrilled to be a part of the new co-op. “I’m from Tuvalu, in the Pacific. It’s sinking due to global warming so I made a decision a year ago to try to live more sustainably. The first thing that we did was go vegetarian and start eating organic.”

The 23-year-old journeyed to the wholesale market at 6am to buy the produce from the wholesalers, Biodynamic Marketing. “For $20, it’s amazing value. I used to get a seasonal box from a local place, which cost me $45 a week and it was probably a bit smaller.”Big savings aren’t the only plus. “There’s a real community buzz growing among us, which is really lovely,” she says. “When we established the group it wasn’t just about organic eating. We also wanted to build friendships with like-minded people.”

The Seddon group is following a model begun by the Western Organic Collective in 2001. The WOC, based in Footscray, usually has an extended waiting list.

Long-term member Nick Ray says the group formed out of a desire to buy good organic food cheaply and without too much trouble.

“The quality of the stuff is extreme. None of that wrinkled-up organic produce that some people say isn’t quite up to speed. It’s a feast.”

As well as the weekly veggie box, WOC members buy bread from Pure Bread and run quarterly bulk dry-goods purchases. They also meet socially for “Seasonal Celebrations”. “Once a quarter we have a meal together,” Ray says. “People bring food along, we share news and we often have a theme. We talked about food miles at the last one.”

By 8.15am contented SOC members are leaving the garage, lugging boxes for themselves and others for delivery. The co-op has only just begun and there are still some kinks to iron out — they made three boxes too many today. But already there’s someone on the waiting list. Cheap organic produce is in demand, says Johnson. “It would be great if this model could spread around the city.”

How does it work?

EVERY Friday morning, two people buy the fruit and vegies from the Melbourne Wholesale Market. They drop the produce off at a designated house, where four people sort it, then deliver a box to each house. Voila!

Every member must contribute to the running of the collective. The work is done by roster: sorters must help out for a couple of hours every four to six weeks. Other people take on committee roles or organise the money, rosters and buying.

“It’s not a system that would work for everyone,” warns Nick Ray, from the Western Organic Collective. “You can only forget (to show up) so many times before you’re blacklisted!”

From experience, the collective has found that about 25 members is the right number. Any higher and the quantity of food required becomes too large to manage.

To make sorting and delivery as easy as possible, it’s best if members live close to one another.

First published in The Age, Epicure

Book review: The Best Australian Political Writing 2009, edited by Eric Beecher

In The Big Issue on

Two and a half stars

We’re already drowning in news. That’s what makes this collection of political articles curious: why would anyone read last year’s fish-and-chip wrappers? Then again, as editor Eric Beecher observes, 2008 was an extraordinary year. From Rudd’s debut and apology to the stolen generations, through to the global financial crisis and the election of Barack Obama, last year was nothing if not newsworthy.

Beecher sources his material from a very narrow range: the serious newspapers – mainly the Australian – with cameos from the Monthly, Griffith Review and (his own) Crikey. The content is generally unsurprising but occasionally thought provoking, with the collection on Indigenous affairs (as well as the full text of Rudd’s apology) by far the standout. Here, the writers (including Marcia Langton, Paul Toohey and Don Watson) challenge our assumptions, hearts and minds.

But this section also betrays the book’s limitations: while it’s interesting to read Noel Pearson’s nuanced analysis from the day before the apology, what did he think after it? And what does he think now? This is a book for newshounds and political animals.