Sustainable Waterfront Property in the Australian Bush

For sale in Macmasters Beach in New South Wales, Australia is a magnificent environmentally-sustainable waterfront property, which is set upon 40.97 acres of lush paddocks, serene palm groves, and native vegetation.

Designed by architect Francis Fong, the brief was to provide a luxurious and modern home for those inside, whilst ensuring the sense of being in the Australian bush. At all times you’ll feel the clever balance between the privacy of a home and the freedom of the outdoors.

The house has been designed to ensure that no matter which room you are enjoying, you can appreciate the setting, the bush and water views, the sounds and the sea breeze.

Importantly, it’s sustainable credentials are outstanding:

The property operates “off the grid” for total independence. Powered by cost efficient solar electricity that further enhances the property’s sustainable credentials, there is also a back-up diesel generator that automatically starts when necessary.

The water supply is equally sustainable: you can enjoy the rainwater from the small pod roof, take a tranquil moment to pump rainwater to the supply tank on top of the hill, or utilise the connection to town water (although this will very rarely be required).

For the summer, there is ample electricity to run air-conditioning should you choose, however, the house design entices even the faintest of breezes thus naturally maintaining the temperature and ambiance of the home. There are also 42000 litres of water beneath the house dedicated to the sprinkler system, which act as a moderating thermal mass.

For the winter, you can utilise the natural resources on the land and enjoy the two wood combustion stoves, including the wonderful French Chiminee Philippe main fireplace in the living room.

It is quite evident that every thought has been given to creating a harmonious and sustainable lifestyle in deep privacy in building this home.

CLICK HERE to view the property website.  The property is available through Marquette Turner Luxury Homes and Clearpoint.

DID YOU KNOW: By recycling our daily read, NSW saves 3,079,000 gigajoules of energy a year. That’s enough to power 142,510 households.

DID YOU KNOW: By recycling our daily read, NSW saves 3,079,000 gigajoules of energy a year. That’s enough to power 142,510 households.

DID YOU KNOW: Sydneysiders have reduced their water use by more than 13% since 2003

DID YOU KNOW: Sydneysiders have reduced their water use by more than 13% since 2003

What to Do With Old Computers and Electrical Appliances?

What do you do with appliances such as fridges, microwave ovens, televisionsd, phones and computers that are well past their use by date and no longer work? For most of us, we wait until our local councils hold a household rubbish collection (different from our weekly rubbish collection). Most councils hold these at least once a year and many people “hang out” for these and walk the streets looking to make someone’s trash, their treasure!

Waiting for the council collection usually means those old items are cluttering up our garages or backyards waiting for that annual date and hopefully we don’t forget to place them on our footpaths the night before collection.

These old appliances have typically been buried as landfill, leaving toxins that leach into the ground and our waterways.

Each year 1.5 million televisions are disposed of and this is increasing rapidly because by the end of 2013 the government is switching off the analogue signal all over Australia. Most of us are upgrading our analogue televisions to digital.

If 75% of those 1.5 million televisions that are discarded annually were recycled, it would amount to a national saving of approximately 23,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalents, 520 mega litres of water, 400,000 gigajoules of energy and 160,000 cubic metres of landfill space.

Finally we have a service available to us to correctly dispose of our old electrical equipment and help us achieve a sustainable future.   As a general rule of thumb, they believe that anything that “plugs in” can be recycled and state that between 95%-98% (by weight) will be fully recycled.

1800Ewaste comes to you, takes away your old appliances and delivers it to the appropriate recycling facility.

http://www.ewaste.com.au/

Save Water: Shame on Sydney Water

When driving through Kensington yesterday, I was appalled at the lack of respect Sydney Water have for our (and their) most precious commodity – water.

I don’t doubt for a moment that there was a reasonable explanation for what I saw, however, the wastage was disgraceful. Water was being pumped out of two locations, (within 50 metres of each), and allowed to run into the storm water drains.

Yesterday’s temparature in Sydney was in the mid 20’s and most people who live in that particular street have gardens and lawns in their front yard. I am certain they would have probably watered them that afternoon, if they had not done so that morning.

Wouldn’t it have made a lot of sense to route the water onto residents front gardens, or have it pumped into containers on trucks to be utilised in local areas that are really suffering from water shortages, rather than let it wastefully run down the drains?

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

Water Conversation in Australia

A few facts

- Australia is the driest inhabited continent.

- Australia use more than 23 buckets of water around their homes every day.

- Mulching around plants helps prevent water loss through evaporation.

- Downpipe diverters take water from your house roof for use in gardens.

- Pool covers can reduce water loss saving on the need to top up water levels.

There are in excess of 160 water-saving products and services that carry the Smart WaterMark label.

Look for the Smart Approved WaterMark – it is Australia’s labeling program from products and services that help reduce outdoor water use. Products carrying the logo – from rainwater harvesting, irrigation and greywater systems to garden items, pool covers and waterless car washes, are independently proven to save water, helping you make an informed choice when purchasing products and services.

Who Cares About Our Water?

Findings from the third annual NewsPoll survey, commissioned by the Smart Approved WaterMark found:

1.              the number of capital city residents who believe the water situation is extremely serious has dropped by 17 percentage points – from 44% to 27% in the past two years.

2.              Participants that consider the water situation to be either very or extremely serious also declined from 84% to 69%.

3.              The overall trend highlights the need to remind people that just because it rains people should not stop thinking about saving water.

4.              73% of people in 2008 thought water restrictions are about right, compared with 54% in 2006.

5.              The survey showed that people still consider technology to be the most effective mechanism to reduce water use followed by rebates, education, restrictions and finally, pricing.

6.              All cities have seen an increase in people buying products with associated water rebates.

Sustainability and Energy Saving Globes

The Australian Government has placed an important ban on traditional in candescent globes (or bulbs of course) that are still used in many buildings. A sales ban is expected to commence in November 2009. Once the sales ban is in place, we will no longer be able to purchase traditional pear-shaped incandescent light globes.

  

  Incandescent Light Globes – On The Way Out

An efficient lighting alternative is the compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), which uses around one-fifth of the electricity needed to produce the same light and can last up to ten (10) times longer than a traditional pear shaped incandescent light globe. These are the energy saver fluorescent gloves we have all become familiar with in recent years.

According to the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, the “phase-out will deliver considerable savings to the environment and the economy. Across the country, the move to more efficient lighting, such as CFLs, is expected to save around 30 terawatt hours of electricity and 29 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions between 2008 and 2020. This is equivalent to permanently decommissioning a small coal-fired power station or taking more than 500,000 cars off the road permanently. It is expected to result in savings to the Australian economy of around $380 million per year by 2020 and result in net savings of more than $50 per year for each household that changes all of its incandescent light globes to CFLs.

  

Compact Fluorescent Lamps – Energy Efficient Future

Now is the time to audit your lighting and move to more energy efficient and reliable lighting.

For more information visit here

DID YOU KNOW: Reduce Pizza Box Waste

Australians eat 190,000,000 takeaway pizzas each year, producing a lot of cardboard boxes, headed for the bin. If scraps of cheese and pastry remain in the boxes, don’t throw the box, put it in a compost bin or use it as a cover for a worm farm. Worms will eat and scraps and the box!

Christine Watson

Follow Clear the Air

A Message to Australian’s from Oxfam on Climate Change

Another round of UN climate change talks has just ended in Bangkok – and again we saw a lot of talk and not enough action.

Less than 50 days now remain until the UN climate change meeting in Copenhagen. Here we must get a safe and just global climate agreement. A solution is possible, but the leaders of rich industrialised countries like Australia need to find the political will. This is where you can help.

The Australian Government’s emissions reduction targets are far too low. Taking these targets to Copenhagen will not help to achieve the effective global climate agreement that’s needed.

We need to increase political pressure on our government if they are to improve their target.

What’s our government’s position on climate change?

Current Australian Government policy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions between 4-24% below 1990 levels by 2020. The latest science indicates that developed countries, including Australia, must adopt emissions reduction targets of at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020, if the world is to have any hope of avoiding dangerous climate change. Historically Australia has released huge amounts of greenhouse gases in to the atmosphere. Today we are still one of the world’s largest per capita greenhouse gas polluters. We have a responsibility to be part of the solution.

While climate change is an international issue, the real pressure on governments to take action comes from their domestic constituency ie. from public opinion, the media, but importantly from the parliamentary opposition. Whether or not the Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) is passed in the Senate, the emissions reduction targets are far too low. The Opposition needs to make this a key message.

Without the Federal Opposition pushing the Australian Government, there is little incentive for the Government to do better. This needs to change.

Take action now

What’s wrong with Australia’s targets?

The Government has said it will go to Copenhagen with a maximum emissions reduction target of 25% below 2000 levels by 2020. What’s wrong with that? A number of things:

• A target of 25% below 2000 levels correlates to about 24% below 1990 levels. This falls well short of the International Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) 2007 recommended range for developed countries of 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020.
• This 25-40% range was the previous ‘gold standard’ and is now outdated. Even when it was considered to be the range to aim for, it was only expected to give the world a 50/50 chance of keeping warming to 2ºC or less above pre-industrial levels. An increase of 2ºC was previously thought to be the maximum safe limit.
• Since 2007, every indication from science is that things are worse than was previously thought. The latest science indicates we should be aiming to keep warming to below 1.5°C in order to avoid dangerous climate change. That means that the 25-40% reduction range for developed countries is far too low.
• Furthermore, despite all the scientific evidence, the conditions attached to the Government’s 25% target are so stringent that they are unlikely to be met, in which case the maximum target will become a mere 15% below 2000 levels by 2020.

Write to the Federal Opposition Leader, Malcolm Turnbull, and Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Water, Greg Hunt, showing your support for higher emissions reductions targets and ask them to put pressure on the government to commit to a 40% reduction target (by 2020) before Copenhagen.

Simon Turner

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Sydney Sandstorm Freak Weather – Sep 23, 2009

Rarely has the phrase “clear the air” had more meaning than the sand storms that Sydney experienced on September 23, 2009.

We were in Los Angeles at the time and couldn’t quite believe the images of such freak weather we were seeing on the internet and television. The second storm on Saturday 26th turned out to be far less frightening.

These images are somewhat apocalyptic.

Simon Turner

Follow Clear the Air

Sustainable House Day

‘Sustainable House Day’ gives Australians the chance to visit a home in their locality that has been designed and built primarily to lesson its impact upon the environment.

As reported in Green Pages, there are approximately 170 houses that will be open to the public, and will display to everyone the opportunities available in incorporating designs that capture renewable energies from sun and water, recycling and installation systems and how energy efficiency can be applied.

Even better, and for the first time, ‘Sustainable House Day’ on Sunday, September 13, will be free.

Established in 2001, the “Day” it is an initiative the Australian and NZ Solar Energy Society (ANZSES).

All you have to do is visit one of the homes listed on the website between 10am and 4pm.

Architects and builders will also be there to provide information and exchange ideas on practical methods to save on energy bills like using thermal mass, glazing and window treatments, water storages, solar and ventilation.

Also sponsored by the Australian Government ‘Green Loans’ program, competitions and parties will be held on the day in different locations.

It is estimated that ten percent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from households. Thus, Sustainable House Day provides an amazing opportunity to reduce our household’s impact.

Enjoy!

Simon Turner

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Nuclear Power is not the Energy Source for Australia

We have all heard the debate in relation to climate change regarding the use of Nuclear Power as a potential replacement for our coal fueled power stations. Is Nuclear power clean and green? Will nuclear power decrease the total amount of greenhouse gas emissions and thus decrease global warming?

In 2007 around 15% of the world’s electricity came from nuclear power. The United States produces the most nuclear energy in the world with nuclear power providing 19% of its electricity supply. France supplies more than 78% of its electricity through nuclear reactors and the European Union as a whole relies on nuclear power for around 30% of its total electricity needs.

The reality is that enormous amounts of fossil fuel are used to mine, mill and enrich Uranium that is needed to fuel a nuclear power plant as well as construct the enormous concrete reactor. Nuclear reactors have a 30-40 year life cycle and massive amounts of fossil fuel energy are required to complete the dismantling process. There is also enormous fossil fuel energy required to transport and store the nuclear waste which is buried underground.

Scarily radioactive waste like Strontium 90 remains radioactive for 600 years. Plutonium is the most significant element in nuclear waste and is so toxic and carcinogenic that 500 grams of the waste evenly distributed around the globe would be enough to cause cancer for every man, woman and child on the planet and Plutonium waste remains toxic for 500,000 years.

When considering radiation it is easy to look at Dentists when they X-Ray your teeth. The dentist will leave the room because any amount of radiation is dangerous if you are exposed to it often enough. The USA currently has more than 55,000 metric tons of nuclear waste that it has stored with each reactor producing a further 25-30 tons of nuclear waste annually.

Australia currently has no commercially operational or planned nuclear reactors. Our focus should be on the harnessing of solar and wind for our energy production. The Kyoto Protocol requires that we produce 20% of our energy needs through renewable means by 2020.

I would like to see our politicians commit to the British plan of producing enough off shore wind farms to produce all of the energy required to power the entire nation by 2020. If nuclear power is too dangerous for Iran to have we should not be looking to increase its use anywhere in the World.

Michael Marquette on +61 433 170 170

Original article published on the Marquette Turner site

Australian Resources: Solar Power and Wind Power Must Be Used

Given the location and size of Australia it is possible that we could lead the world in solar and wind technology. We live on the largest ssland in the World, have the 7th largest land mass of any country, we are surrounded by ocean and have a population of just over 21.84 million people. We have an abundance of land, plenty of ocean and enormous deserts.

Wind farms throughout the world are being set up with a few dozen to several hundred wind turbines. Some are being set up offshore to take advantage of strong winds over lakes or oceans. Germany currently has the largest wind generation capacity followed by USA, Spain, India and China. The United Kingdom plans to power all of its homes by wind power by 2020 through enormous offshore wind farms.

By ratifying the Kyoto protocol in 2007 Australia committed to producing 20% renewable power by 2020 – in other words we have just 11 years to improve our performance from just over 4% to the 20% target. Australia currently uses wind technology to produce just over 1% of our energy needs and a further 3% is harnessed through solar. Scotland is already using renewable sources to produce 19% of its energy needs.

Germany has 100 times more installed solar capacity than Australia. Australia has only 25,000 households with solar panels installed and solar installation is increasing at 15% per year compared with 30-40% globally. With so much capacity to produce energy through renewable sources the Australian Government must put policy in place to encourage installation of solar and wind facilities. There is no excuse for Australia to be anywhere but first place in the race to be green.

Watch a video to see how solar panel works HERE

Michael Marquette on +61 433 170 170

this article first appeared on the Marquette Turner Luxury Homes site

How to Receive the Homeowner Insulation Rebate from the Australian Government

Australian homeowners are able to receive financial assistance – the Homeowner Insulation Rebate – an  incentive to eco renovate.

Why Use Insulation?

Quite simply, by insulating your home, you will utilise one of the simplest methods to make your home more energy efficient and regulate the air temperature.

Effective insulation keeps the heat in and keeps the cold out during the winter, and assists in regulating the cool air in your home during the summer, thus benefiting from reducing your requirements (and thus expenses) for artificial heating.

The Homeowner Insulation Rebate

This allows for zero up-front costs for insulation installations that generally cost in the realms of less $1600 for the majority of households.

In the specific case of landlords and tenants, there is a Low Emission Assistance Plan for Renters, which qualifies investment/rental properties to receive assistance of up to $1000 for insulation installation. Given that the average cost for installing insulation is approximately $1200 per property, that means an outlay of around just $200.

Getting Your Insulation Installed

1. Find out if you are eligible. (there are a few limitations, notably for those household that are also considering solar hot water Federal Government rebates).

2. To find registered installers, search online on the Insulation Installers Register.

Begin your search HERE

3. To find out what options of installation are most appropriate for your home, discuss the possibilities with your registered installer. Your climate region and the heat flow in your home will dictate the best option for you.

Find out more about the Homeowner Insulation Rebate on the Federal Government website HERE

Simon Turner

http://marquetteturner.com/how-to-receive-insulation-rebates-in-australia/trackback/

Hot Water Rebate

The hot water rebate is Australia’s first national and comprehensive site that will calculate how much you can receive in rebates.

You can learn more about environmentally-friendly hot water tanks, calculate your rebates instantly, and do it in one easy place.

All you have to do is enter your postcode HERE to calculate your rebate.  It’s that easy.

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