Pete’s place:
The house is a traditional 1908 Edwardian double fronted weatherboard with many period features preserved. It has retrofitted sustainable features to help reduce Pete’s lifestyle impact and to promote sustainable lifestyle. Although Pete has owned the house since 1984, he has decided not to do the “inner urban living area "reno” and has maintained the essential structure of the house as he bought it (as a 3rd owner).
It is a small, liveable, three bedroom Brunswick home, close to Lygon street public transport and local bicycle paths. Pete grows a lot of his food and has “sort of self renovated” doing a lot of the house restoration and planning development along sustainable lines as he can afford in time and money.
Pete has a big interest in sustainable living, energy conservation and alternative energy. Four years of living in the Canadian arctic and a 100 day midwinter expedition across the frozen NorthWest Passage convinced Pete that climate change is not just our biggest threat but something we should all take personal action on.
Pete now works as a Senior Sustainability Consultant for GHD a major international engineering company four days a week and for Iramoo Community Sustainability Centre one day a week. Early this year Pete volunteered to help local citizens in the outer west and Moreland to purchase solar PV systems under community bulk buy programs with Iramoo and MEFL with help from Paul Blackman from the "Solar Shop" from whom Pete bought his own system.
Pete has often taken advantage of government rebates to purchase appliances and sustainable technologies and has joined the MEFL Zero Carbon Moreland program and is also a member of Moreland Energy Foundation, a signatory to Community Power and a member of the Alternative Technology Association. Pete is happy to advise visitors on the “what to” and “how to” of sustainability. He believes that citizens can do and should do something about climate change!
Whats been done at Pete's place?
All windows have thermal block roller blinds and heavy curtains to improve insulation qualities. All doors, windows and cracks have been draft stopped using a range of strategies.
All roof surfaces are connected to a total rainfall sump pump system collecting into three small poly rainwater tanks (2500l round, 2100l slimline, and a 3300l slimline). Tanks can be selectively filled and used for sub surface infiltration irrigation or to provide water to the toilet and washing machine on demand. (Use of first flush diverter and leaf guard system.)
Water efficient appliances include a front loading washing machine and dishwasher, a dual flush toilet, low flow shower-head and flow restrictors in taps. All bath and shower and washing machine water can be diverted on demand to the garden (fruit trees or garden beds) via a Waterwise greywater 230 greywater system. Rain can be used to wash clothes and this water can then go to the garden so it has multiple uses.
Original traditional weatherboard on all external walls.
The west wall is sheltered from sun by an ornamental grape vine and is also insulated with R3 batts and silver lining paper.Other walls to be retrofitted with insulation as they are to be painted. This will involved deboarding, insulation installation and retrofitting boards.
The roof has ceiling insulation (R3) and two rotary ventilators to reduce summer heat build up and increase ventilation. The house has extra cooling insulation due to solar panels being installed on all north facing roof surfaces.
Grid connected 960W Kaneka amorphous system with a Sunnyboy 1700 W inverter to allow for system expansion.
Pete kept the RECs. (now you can’t). The system was installed in 2008 and currently yearly production exceeds use.
House lighting is a combo of compact fluoros and LED fittings where lower lighting levels allow. LEDs are also used where “light on” periods are short and on-off switchings are frequent (toilet and utility rooms) as CFL’s don’t perform well in these areas.
Remote smart switching of power points to kill “vampire loads” for audiovisual/TV and dishwasher / microwave loads.
Pete subscribes to 100% Green energy with Origin (this includes offsets for gas too.)
Garden lighting is high efficiency LED spotlight 16W Para floods and solar fairy lights and spot lights (six systems). This was an anti possum measure but the experiment failed and the possums get most of my apples and pears.
Pete makes use of an ATA energy meter to monitor appliance consumption.
Heating is zone controlled sectored gas space heating using: Rinnai 556 FTR in lounge, Rinnai 550 F in Kitchen back of house, Rinnai 308FTR in bedrooms at front of house. All heaters can be timer set and have economy settings that slowly decrease the set temp and energy consumed over time.
Both front bedrooms have an open fire place and are used occasionally utilizing “found” timber recycled from local building projects, local re-stumpers or felled trees.
The lounge also has a high efficiency slow combustion Coalbrookedale Little Wenlock stove.
Cooling is by cross flow ventilation and use of pedestal fans in summer.
Hot water is provided by a 135L Gas hot water storage system located as near to the shower as possible to conserve water and turned down to maintain minimal required temp. This has been serviced routinely to maximise its life and LCA value including routine changing of the sacrificial anode. It is currently in its tenth year of operational life.
A solar hot water system will be installed on its failure.
All house hold appliances are 4.5 star rated or above.
Use of worm farm, compost bin, Bokashi Bin on site. A weed tea bin composts all weeds.
All food organics are reused on vege garden via worm farm.
All landscaping is reclaimed or recycled materials including brick paving and bluestone borders, garage shed is clad in the (original recycled) roofing corrugated iron.
“No-dig” vegie garden in the front garden, mix of natives and food producing plants. Rear garden has a mix of fruit trees and vegies.
Extensive use of mulching and organic fertilisers and recycled organic compost from work place.
Extensive use of retro and recycled furniture. Pete recycled his bath from a junk day.
Low impact house cleaning chemicals and ethical purchasing of household stores and foodstuffs.
What’s next? Wall insulation on north and south walls and installation of energy efficient double glazed low e glass windows, as many of the windows will soon need to be replaced.
(August 2009) (
