Sustainable House Day, Wattle Grove, Western Australia

Margaret and Les as Owner-Builders, designed every aspect of their Wattle Grove house 'Karralika' meaning Blue Hills, on one hectare to make it as sustainable as technology and budgets would allow in the quest to reduce their environmental footprint In the planning stage Margaret attended numerous lectures and read every book then available on 'solar home' concepts. Google was a long way off. The use of the term 'sustainability' likewise was not in vogue during the planning stage but many of our current sustainability concepts were already on the drawing board albeit under a different titles Likewise with her artistic background, Margaret was responsible for the landscape design, carefully selecting trees to ensure that shadows being cast would not block the efforts of the winter sun to stream inside. Most importantly with the aid of a trusty compass, she insisted that the house be placed in a true northerly direction to ensure that the summer sun passed directly overhead Visitors to Karralika can find sustainable ideas to utilise in their own homes and soak up some of the atmosphere of this property Some of the highlights include:

• the open-plan house some 20 years old has a multi-use configuration with up to 5 bedrooms (one upstairs) if needed
• three of the bedrooms have been utilised as an office, music room and sewing room
• the house is complemented by a storeroom utilised for bread making
• initial building ideas for the house were determined by the purchase of some massive Oregon trusses obtained from an old  W.A Electricity Commission warehouse located in Wellington Street~the trusses are worth a visit in their own right
• virtually all Oregon roofing timber, door frames, many window frames and kitchen and bathroom cupboards were also courtesy of the same Electricity Commission building
• jarrah flooring throughout came from a an old YCW building in Araluen
• true North-facing, passive solar house with wide colonial verandahs
• extensive use of recycled materials sourced from the W.A Supreme Court, Ozone Hotel, Leederville Convent, Mounts Bay Hospital, Bank of NSW~Subiaco and more
• thermal brick strip on the north side to absorb winter sun and provide a summer cooling effect
• strategic placement of sash windows for cross ventilation
• ceiling completely insulated by a 75mm thermal blanket
• very few windows and well located trees on the western side
• roof air circulation assisted by ceiling fans and roof vents
• an evaporative air-cooling system is installed although its use is infrequent
• winter heating provided by a large wood heater using a lot of timber from the property
• roof pitch is 30 degrees which suits the large 3-panel solar hot water system
• 55 panel photovoltaic array feeding excess power to the ‘grid’
• provision of two tanks of 180000 litre capacity, fed from roof overflow
• no scheme water is used on the property at all
• an organic vegetable garden, utilising permaculture and biodynamic applications
• free-range hens providing sufficient eggs for household needs and gifts
• the ‘lemon grove’ growing organic lemons
• the ‘Fairy Garden’, ‘Margaret’s hideaway’ and ‘Nature’s trail’ exhibiting an array of native trees and plants

When interviewed recently Margaret suggested that sustainability was one of the most important opportunities for our own future and that of the world. She said, “our immediate goal is to become a better household by looking at every aspect of the way we live from the products we consume to the energy we use- though the lens of sustainability”. Summing up, Margaret said,” Karralika is very much a work in progress with many sustainable initiatives still unfolding. We have had great enjoyment being part of the process and hope we can inspire others”. We hope you will support Margaret and Les on Sustainable House Day and the other homes open to see sustainable living up close