Sustainable houses on show

Sustainable house owner and builder Jim Edwards will be opening his Clunes home to the public on Sunday, September 12.

Once upon time in Clunes there was a cow paddock that was turned into an environmentally sustainable house and garden. In 1989 Jim Edwards and his partner Margaret Seydel had a vision of living sustainably in an energy-efficient house and they set about building their unique pole and timber house on a block of land in Clunes. This Sunday, September 12, from 10am to 4pm, their house at 3B Booyong Road, Clunes, will be showcased as part of the annual Sustainable House Day. People are invited to visit and find out about how they went about it, as well as get tips on putting sustainable living into practice.

“When we started building in the late ‘80s, there was very little information or resources available for building sustainably,” Jim said. “In Sydney at the time it was even illegal to have your own water tank.”

Jim and Margaret finally completed their house in 2004 and have continually embraced new sustainable technologies.

“We have two water tanks and our house was the first house here to get a dry composting toilet,” Jim said. “It’s great for our trees and vegie garden. At first we got a septic system, but in the process of building you learn more.”

Jim said that the waste from the compost toilet was regularly removed via a chute under the house and it was placed in a composting bin for three months before it was used to fertilise the garden. They have also efficiently used the space around their house, with a vegetable garden growing up the driveway in the sunniest area.

Their house has been built with a light-coloured roof to reflect the sunlight and keep the house cool, and includes an easy maintenance guttering system, which Jim designed himself.

“The house is sustainable in its design because it doesn’t require any heating or cooling,” Jim said. “We have a flow-through air system vent with windows on the roof which allow the hot air out. It is designed for the nine months of year we get a lot of sun.”

Jim has installed a four kilowatt solar system which produces four times as much power as they actually use and he can walk out onto the roof to easily clean and maintain the panels.

Jim used recycled or plantation timber to build with and buys vegetables from local farmers.

Jim said he’s always been a bit of a greenie and has built a house unlike other houses, with the whole family contributing ideas for the design.

“My motto is ‘don’t let somebody tell you you can’t do it’,” Jim said. “When I pick up new ideas for what we can do more sustainably, I always put them into action. In the near future I want to make a solar food dehydrator.”

Last year, 30,000 people visited sustainable houses around Australia and a study conducted showed 75% of those visitors had made or were going to make sustainable changes to their own homes. If you want to get inspired about how you can lessen your impact on the environment, visit the website www.

sustainablehouseday.

com for more information, such as address details of the open houses, including one at Lennox Head.