House energy star ratings - what do they mean?

Many of you may be aware that the energy efficiency of new houses is measured using a star rating system. This system has existed for a number of years and rates houses on their energy consumption from one star at the lowest level through to ten stars at the highest. But what do these rating mean in reality for you, the consumer, home purchaser or new home builder?

NatHERS, or The National Home Energy Rating System, has a great on line description of each star rating in each locality in Australia, and what it means in terms of anticipated energy consumption in a house for heating and cooling.

For example in Sydney East, a 1 star rated house will use 230MJ/m2 and a 10 star house will use 6MJ/m2. This equates to the 10 star house using only 3% of the energy of a 1 star house or being 38 times more energy efficient than the 1 star house.

Something else to be aware of is that the ratings are not linear from the 1 star through to the 10 star. A 5 star rated house does not use half of the the energy of a 1 star house, 115MJ/m2, but only uses 50MJ/m2.

This is invaluable information for anyone trying to find their way through the maze of energy stars and ratings.

Now that you have collected your rainwater, what now?

You live in the city and have put a lot of money and effort into installing a rainwater harvesting system, now what are you going to do with the water? The answer is, whatever you can.

One of the simplest a most effective uses for your collected rainwater is to use if for flushing your toilet. Toilets are responsible for using around 10% of the water used in your home, and depending on overall household water usage, this can be around 25 - 35 litres per day, or 9000 - 13000 litres per year.

But, for the water to be connected to your toilet cistern you will need to have a back up system in case your water tank level gets too low. Products such as the Davey Rainbank and the OngaWaterswitch are the answer.



Both products are connected to the pump which sends the water to your toilet cistern. When the water level in your tank gets too low, the Rainbank and Waterswitch sense the low water level and divert the water supply source from your rainwater tank, to the mains water. After rainfall and your tank has filled again, either unit will sense that the water level in your tank has increased and will switch back to your water tank to supply the toilet cistern.

This ensures that you will always have a water supply to fill your toilet cistern, but ensures that whenever possible, it will come for free from your rainwater tank.

Recycling bathroom sink grey water with the AQUS system

The AQUS system by Watersaver Technologies is a fantastic example of green design and ingenuity. The Aqus system catches the water from your vanity basin, filters and disinfects it, and stores it until the next time you need to flush your toilet. The system then sends to stored water to your toilet cistern reducing the amount of town water necessary to simply flush your toilet. It is designed to be easily retrofitted into existing fixtures. Gravity and a small electric pump transport the water from the 21 Litre holding tank installed under the sink to your toilet cistern. A valve in the toilet cistern prevents fresh water inflow as long as sufficient water is available in the Aqus to do the job, when the Aqus runs low, the normal toilet valve for incoming water will serve the demand.



The system retails for about US$200, but unfortunately is only available in the US at the moment. Hopefully someone will look to import this to Australia because there is a definite market here for such a simple and inexpensive product.

Caroma in Australia have made a toilet suite called the Profile, see below, which achieves a similar result. But in our opinion there are significant psychological hurdles to over come with their cistern and the perception that one is washing their hands 'in the toilet cistern'.




In our opinion, the Aqus is the way to go.

Beware of manufacturers' claims to be green

More and more consumers have a growing awareness of the larger environmental issues and are looking to make product choices with this in mind. However, beware, because companies are now aware of this and are 'dressing up' their old products in new 'greener' clothes.

'Greenwashing', as it known, is where a company markets a product squarely at the green consumer knowing that the claims it makes are untrue. This could be in the form of unsubstantiated 'eco' claims or using text and imagery to give the impression that the product is environmentally friendly when it is not.

We recently came across an example of this is some advertising for insulation products that you would use in your home.

The old Pink Batts, that we used to see the Pink Panther advertising, have now been re branded by the manufacturer, Insulation Solutions, under the umbrella of 'eco pink' along with the rest of their insulation products.

Whilst what insulation does can't be disputed ie, makes your home more energy efficient, reduces your energy usage and therefore your greenhouse gas emissions.

In our opinion the marketing of these products has the definite potential to mislead consumers into thinking that the batts themselves and the manufacture of them is environmentally friendly.

To be fair to Insulation Solutions, they do claim that their batts are made from 70% recycled glass, but to create a marketing campaign with such a 'green' tinge, there needs to be more substance to their eco claims, such as:

• How are they manufactured?
• What has Insulation Solutions done to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions?
  
• What sort of waste is produced and what is done with it?
• What is done with the waste left over after the batts are installed?

We will always advocate people installing insulation in the roof, walls and floors of their homes, however it is important to look closely at the products on offer and buy the best product for your circumstance, which may not necessarily be the one that looks the 'greenest'.

Cleaning up your collected rainwater

Anyone who is recycling their rainwater for use in their washing machines and toilets will be aware of the problems that can occur when the harvested rainwater contains sediment or is coloured with tanin from leaves. Your whites are no longer white when washed and your toilet bowl stains.
Re-using harvested rainwater in such ways has to be commended, but we sympathise with anyone who has encountered the problem. Simply because you have decided to live a more sustainable life shouldn't mean compromising.

So what is the solution?. Install a filter between your water tank and the appliances and fixtures. Companies such as Rain Harvesting have simple and easy to use filter systems that remove sediment, colour and odour from the water.

For consumers to want to 'buy' into living more sustainably, it can't compromise their life and has to be easy and convenient. Products such as these help people to do things the way they always have, whilst the sustainability just goes on in the back ground.

Guilt free household downlighting

The current fashion for peppering whole house interiors with low voltage downlights has a couple significant drawbacks, they are extremenly energy inefficient and have a very short lifespan. Most people wrongly presume that because the light fittings are low voltage, that means low energy use. This is not the case. Low voltage simply means that the voltage used at each light fitting has been reduced, this is then wasted as lost heat. Most of the standard downlight globes are 50 watt, only sligtly less than a normal 60 watt incandescent globe. So there is no energy saving there.

So what is the solution if you want guilt free downlighting?. Replace your standard downlight globes with compact fluorescent fittings from a company such as Megaman. Most compact fluroescent globes are only around 11 watts, 80% less than the standard downlight fittings and will have a life up to 10 times longer.

Get them from Neco

Building Green : an overview

An eco-friendly home is better for the environment as well as your health.


Building green is about the way your home is designed, constructed and operates in order to reduce its impact on the overall environment whilst creating a healthy and enjoyable environment for you to live in. Key green building strategies include water and energy efficiency, sourcing sustainable products and materials, and using renewable energy.

The buildings we live and work in have a profound impact on the natural environment, the economy and our health. The built environment accounts for:

• 40 per cent of our total carbon emissions
• 33 per cent of all product and material resources consumed
• 42 per cent of our total energy consumed
• 12 per cent of water use.
  

In the past the building industry has been inherently wasteful, lagging behind other industries when it comes to sustainability. The statistics should be impetus enough for everyone involved in the building industry to accept a greater responsibility in adopting more sustainable practices.

But for green building to succeed it has to be mutually beneficial: there has to be something in it for consumers as well as for the environment.

And there is. The win for consumers is a more modern, healthier home with lower energy and water bills. A well-designed home can, without any change in occupant behaviour, reduce energy use by about 60 per cent and water use by about 30 per cent.

Research indicates homes that incorporate environmental initiatives now sell more quickly and command higher prices than those that don’t. The objection that building green is too costly has been overstated for far too long. Achieving the energy and water savings cited above need add no more than 5 per cent to the cost of construction.

Building in a more eco friendly way simply creates a better house to live in. Studies show that indoor air quality is usually about five times worse than outdoor air due to the pollutants given off by everyday household furnishings and products. By using eco-friendly materials you create a healthier indoor environment for you and your family.

The perils of vinyl flooring in your home.

Vinyl flooring, made from PVC or Poly Vinyl Chloride, is one material that we believe should not be on the market. PVC is dangerous to human health and the environment throughout its entire life cycle, at the factory, in our homes, and when we throw it out.


During the manufacture of PVC, dioxins are a by-product due vinyl having a high chlorine content. There are also documented links between workers exposed to the manufacture of PVC and cancer.



Whilst installed in your home, PVC will off gass dangerous chemicals. That new vinyl floor smell, that's them. Also, in order to make PVC flexible, a chemical called phthalates is added. Phthalates are a suspected carcinogen and reproductive toxicant. Think about that next time your baby or young children are down playing on a vinyl floor.


And finally, recycling PVC has generally been a failure. Compared to other plastic type products, PVC contains far more chemicals and is therefore harder and more expensive to recycle. When inadvertently mixed with other easily recyclable plastics, whole batch lots of recyclable materials are rendered unrecyclable. When dumped into landfill, PVC leaches chemicals into the environment. And when burnt, as it is often for energy, it releases dioxins again.

The good news is that there are much safer, healthier and more environmentally friendly products on the market. Think about using Linoleum, cork, sustainable timber, stone or tiles and even natural rubber.

Rice stubble panel board - the future for your kitchen?

Board products such as MDF and particleboard that are used to make your kitchen cabinets are typically made from wood fibres, particles or flakes bound into a flat board with a binder such as a formaldehyde based adhesive. Quite often the timber sources are not sustainable and the health effects from exposure to formaldehyde are well known.




AMPAN is a new Australian panel board made from the waste stubble from rice production bound into a flat board with non-toxic inert resin. The advantages are obvious, rice stubble is normally treated as waste and in burnt in the field, so finding a use for this makes good environmental sense. Rice being such a high water use crop, AMPAN also increases the value and usage of each litre of water used to grow the rice.

Also, any board product that is getting rid of formaldehyde is a good thing.


The board is still in development with RMIT and the CSIRO, so we're not sure when it is likely to come to market but let's hope real soon.

AMPAN certainly sounds like a win-win-win for both farmers, consumers and the environment.

Ten Shades of Green

We have just finished having a read through the book Ten Shades Of Green. The book is the documentation of an exhibition of the same name by the Architectural League in New York in 2000.
The book shows you real project examples of green design and building as well as the strategies used in each project. The are some great sketches of various design strategies for creating good green passive design.

The local interest in the book is the Cotton Tree Pilot Housing project in Queensland by Clare Design. This is a fantastic project bringing back lost elements of vernacular Queensland architecture and re-interpreting them for modern living. The project hits the holy grail of being both green and affordable.