Most people are pretty keen to make their home as sustainable as possible these days.
There are a few reasons for this:
- Social conscience – many people are concerned about the prospect of climate change and are keen to ‘do their bit’ to reduce our impact on the planet
- Cost savings – a home that uses less energy and water will reduce household utility bills
- Market appeal – sustainability is increasingly promoted as a selling feature to home-buyers
In addition, a minimum ‘star-rating’ is required for new homes in all states these days. A sensibly oriented design can make this pretty easy to achieve, but renovators and home-owners can find it difficult to improve the energy-efficiency of an older building.
So how do you go about it?
We’ve always taken the view that you start small by doing things that don’t cost too much money but that will make a difference, such as:
- Fixing leaky taps
- Insulating the ceiling
- Changing incandescent light globes to low energy lamps
- Replacing older shower heads with low flow fittings
- Fitting draught seals to windows and doors
After you’ve put all these things in place you can move on to some ‘bigger ticket’ items like:
- Installing a water tank
- Replacing the hot water service with a solar-boosted one
- Fitting solar panels
- Double glazing the windows
- Collecting and treating your waste water
In other words, do what you can when you can. You’ll be reducing pressure on the environment, saving money and probably making your home more appealing as well.
