‘Design for Climate’ talk and workshop –
bring your house plans to The Blue House at the 'award-winning' Yandina Community Gardens on Sunday 11th September!
9.30am – 10.30am: ‘Design for Climate’ talk
10.30am- 11.00am: Morning tea (gold coin donation)
11.00am -12.00pm: Design, Q & A session
Come along for the FREE Living Smart “Design for Climate” talk and workshop at the Blue House, Yandina Community Gardens, 41 Farrell Street (cnr North Street) Yandina. Three local skilled presenters will be taking participants through a two hour talk and workshop on sustainable building design principles for housing on the Sunshine Coast. Start time is 9:30am, with a one hour design principles talk, followed by a morning tea break. At 11:00am we will start the one hour Q&A session, so bring along any house plans or land site maps to discuss with the architects & building designer/energy assessor about your own site.
At 12:00pm, there will be break for lunch (BYO or visit one of the many cafes along Yandina's main street) and at 1:30pm, we will be screening the inspiring film - 'The Future Makers' – a documentary produced by Maryella Hatfield. This film tells the story of key Australian scientists who are leading he way on the world stage in renewable energy (60 mins) www.futuremakers.com.au
Yandina Community Gardens were the recipients of the Sunshine Coast Council's 2010 Glossies Award for Edible Landscapes. This is an annual award for outstanding achievement and contributions in the field of environmental protection and awareness. The award took into account the improvements made to The Blue House, situated in the gardens, which included the installation of solar power; solar hot water; two water tanks; and the addition of a pergola on the western side of the building to reduce heat and glare from the severe afternoon sun.
The solar power helps off set the cost of running our three demonstration aquaponics systems. Aquaponics is an organic food and fish growing system where fish are raised in tanks, their waste is piped into plant grow beds and used to fertilise vegetables; the roots of the plants help to filter out the nutrients from the water and clean water is piped back to the fish. Aquaponics systems are very water-wise and power-wise. Small aquaponics systems allow people who live in units or who have limited access to land on which to grow their own veggies, to have a steady supply of freshly grown produce and fish – and it is all totally chemically free.
Our gardens showcase how to grow tropical and subtropical edible plants which grow easily in our climate all year round and the two water tanks provide water for the gardens.
The 'Blue House Goes Green' eco renovation project, was a collaborative initiative in 2008/09 following the first Transition Town course held at the Yandina Community Gardens on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
The aim was to show how a traditional Queensland building could be renovated to be more energy-efficient and remains an on-going project between the Sunshine Coast Council, local industry and the community.
(September 2011) (
