Greenwood Green. When we bought it 20 years ago the rear patio was flat and at barge-board height. We replaced that with a gabled one.

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Ethan Chase
6 years ago
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1 Greenwood Green Our house was built in 1973 and has had no major structural renovation since then an en-suite was adapted from a robe-recess and encroachment on the 3 rd bedroom. When we bought it 20 years ago the rear patio was flat and at barge-board height. We replaced that with a gabled one.

3 Saving Water Things we have done to conserve Water Water-saving showerheads Small (3l/6l) dual flush toilets Subsurface drip irrigation Electronic timer for watering days Eliminated lawn Shade structures to reduce evaporation rate in summer Wicking beds where practical 3000l tank harvesting roof water. Outcome twice weekly watering is generally sufficient for trees but we still hand-water potted plants using tank water for as long as it lasts. Water use has now plateaued at about 300kl per year which is below the average for our suburb.

4 Passive Cooling Things we have done to reduce cooling costs Bought north-facing house We have chosen not to use evaporative or refrigerated A/C Grape trellis on north face of house cool micro-climate Shade Cloth over windows Shade cloth between car-port and house to shade western wall. Water tank on Wester wall to block afternoon heat Extensive shade sails. Outcome Winter interior temp never get s below 15 o c and in Summer rarely above 30 o c. We have ceiling fans in all rooms that is all.

5 Saving Electricity Things we have done to conserve electricity Turn as many appliances as possible off their stand-by option Low wattage fluorescent lighting Turning lights and appliances off when not using room Two sun-tube sky-lights to lounge room Replaced small high windows in bathroom & en-suite with large glass block windows Replaced old bar-fridge with new one 2.4kw Solar array on roof Solar HWS Timer-switch for HWS Booster on during daylight. Hard-surface floors do not need vacuuming External, under-eave and internal clothes lines reduce use of clothes dryer. Outcome Electricity Consumption has reduced from average 24 units per day before basic power-saving strategies implements; this went down to about 19 units a day before installing Solar PVCs where summer use now is as low as 4 units a day and winter can be up to 12 units a day.

Recycling household scraps and prunings Things we do to feed the garden Council provided recycle bin used for packaging Kitchen scraps to compost bins Some scraps feed worm farm Portable worm farm

6 Recycling household scraps and prunings Things we do to feed the garden Council provided recycle bin used for packaging Kitchen scraps to compost bins Some scraps feed worm farm Portable worm farm used to dispose of cat litter Soft cuttings dropped into drip-zone of bushes Larger prunings taken to Council for composting Outcome We know what we are putting back into the soil. Twenty years ago all gardens had crappy soil but now, after years and years of building up with compost and mulch, there is so much more organic matter and worm activity in all the garden beds.

7 Food Miles & Public Transport We have taken a range of steps to attend to this. Manage with one car Limit trips to local food shops to two days of the week and to hardware store just one day a week. Use public transport for work-related travel as much as possible one of us works out of home office. Grow as much food as we can in our own garden dense plantings. Fruit Trees produce greatest amount of food for us we have a grapefruit, tangelo, mandarin, myer lemon, Jamaican lime, kaffir lime, two white grape vines, passionfruit vine in the back yard and an avocado, Kalamata olive, pomegranate, mulberry, Eureka lemon, two black grapevines and a dwarf nectarine in a tub and two kumquats in tubs. Preserving food both our own and bought to carry over from seasonal gluts bottling, drying, jams Outcome Pantry of preserved food supplements what we buy and is usually somewhat gourmet quince paste, dried olives, plums poached in wine, spiced marmalades. We are hoping to dry tomatoes this season. We have also dried leaves parsley and celery for the herbs cupboard.

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