This 1960’s home was renovated in 2006. A number of features were added to lower the household footprint – enabling us to live more sustainably while enjoying modern conveniences.
New or Retrofit: Renovation and retro-fit
Climate Zone: Eastern Sydney – BCA Climate Zone 5, Nathers Climate Zone 56.
Unique Sustainable Elements featured in this home
Water Harvesting Systems To take advantage of the plentiful Sydney rain, 2 x 3000 litre Rainwater tanks (all that could be easily located near the house) were installed and plumbed into the household, allowing rainwater to be used for toilets, showers and laundry. This has reduced the household reliance on city water by over 50%. Installed by Tankmaster Australia.
Roof To reduce the need for heating and cooling, Gold Batt insulation was installed in the roof. Existing roof tiles were retained and new tiles used only where necessary.
Floor Where flooring needed to be replaced, bamboo flooring was used. Bamboo is a hard wearing flooring surface and a more environmentally friendly option than traditional hardwood flooring. Supplied by Style Plantation.
Window Treatments As the house has a number of glass doors and windows – great for letting light in – Comfort Glass was installed for its enhanced insulation properties.
Solar or Wind Power Generation In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power usage, a 2.7 kWp photo-voltaic system was installed by Solar Shop Australia. This supplies more than 90% of household requirements.
Water Heating As there was nothing wrong with the existing gas storage water heating unit, it was retained during the renovation. Gas storage water heating units produce about ¼ the green house gas emissions of electric storage hot water options. When the unit needs replacing, a gas-boosted solar hot water system will be installed.
Lighting With the aim of only using as much electricity as the house produces, energy efficient lighting was installed. In the lounge room, compact fluorescent lights and LEDs were installed – 10 x 50W bulbs (500W) have been replaced with only 100W – a saving of 80% In the kitchen/family room, 400W of down lights have been replaced with 90W of fluorescent lighting.
Kitchen Trying to come up with an affordable “green kitchen” proved more of a challenge. After much digging we finally found a helpful green architect able to provide us with options and price brackets for these options. We eventually chose to renovate the kitchen using mid-cost range eco-friendly products – zero-emission MDF, laminate cupboards and granite composite bench-tops. Where possible, existing appliances (oven, hot-plates and dishwasher) were reinstalled.
Transport The household car is a Prius using approx 5.0l per 100km in the hilly city driving around Northbridge. The car is rated at 4.4l /100km, compared to standard mid-size cars which tend to be rated between 10 – 14l / 100km. We also have a fully electric Vectrix motorbike which, when charged with solar from the house, results in 0 emission transportation.
(August 2009) (
