See how simple it is to live a “normal” yet
sustainable life in the middle of suburban Sydney in Forestville. We provide 60% of our total
water consumption through our innovative rainwater harvesting system, and our solar
panels create 60% of our energy. All is smart metered with over 15 months of
complete records. Our fact sheet is here.
Rainwater is collected through clever peak
flow diverters. They made it feasible to cost effectively collect the entire
roof area in a 5kL tank. Rainwater is then fed to literally “everything but the
kitchen sink” including hot water – without a first flush diverter. Instead we
use downpipe screens. The tank is an educational feature. Right outside the
dining room window we can see how the water flows into it, and what the level
is. Our tank saves us 75kL/yr – yet is empty within 4 weeks. This clever setup makes
a rainwater tank pay. The system was also used for research detailing the
energy use of rainwater harvesting.
Water and energy use are continuously
recorded using a $200 Flukso meter reporting back to a web portal. PV yield has
been logged vs. modelling data showing some interesting comparisons. View detailed logs of our PV production, power use, rainwater, and mains water consumption.
We can share some valuable lessons re water quality,
energy efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems, our tree vs. shading battle
plus a couple of surprising experiences around solar PV system.
We try and minimise our environmental impact
further by minimising waste, recycling, our little veggie patch, a veggie man,
a compost, a worm farm, mulch and minimal water use in the garden.
It
is surprising to see how easy it is to dramatically reduce your impact on planet
earth. Come and see how you could do it too. Next target on our list is standby
power: It makes up 35% of our energy consumption!
(August 2011) (
