Unique and inspiring sustainable homes are popping up across Australia as the drive for more eco-friendly building action to help reduce carbon emissions becomes more mainstream.
Sustainable House Day provides the opportunity for interested people to gain advice, insight and information about retrofitting, renovating and building sustainably from experts and homeowners.
Run by the national not-for-profit organisation Renew since 2017, Sustainable House Day has existed in some form for more than 20 years.
Through the Climate Resilient Homes campaign and providing consultancy services, Renew are advocating for government and industry to implement policies that promote sustainable living. These include renewable energy and lowering emissions; making homes healthier, more affordable and climate resilient; and protecting consumer rights in the rapidly changing energy market.
The Sustainable House Day organisation say that by creating healthier and more comfortable homes, the extra benefits include residents saving money on their bills. The products, technologies and knowledge needed to make homes greener already exist, they just need to be more mainstream.
Here are a couple of statistics:
- Yearly, about 20 per cent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions come directly from Australian households.
- The average Australian household releases about seven tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions each year.
After the success of last year’s Sustainable House Day event that was turned into a month-long virtual program due to COVID-19 restrictions, the format has returned this year. Significant expansions to the 2021 program include in-depth webinars hosted by experts and homeowners; interactive house tours; live-streamed panels with homeowners; and some in-person events by community partners.
The organiser of Sustainable House Day, Renew, works to enable, advocate and inspire people to build and live in their own sustainable homes and communities.
Renew has more than 10,000 members, an active network of 14 members’ branches throughout Australia, and they engage with more than 250,000 people nationally and internationally each year.
This year’s program starts on Wednesday 15 September with an online community partner event hosted by Smart Living’s Jess and Bryan Anderson, a Ballarat East couple who have made their own sustainable, off-grid, strawbale dream home.
The month-long program ends on Sunday 17 October, Sustainable House Day, with a day of free online sessions and in-person events across the country (where restrictions permit).
In celebration of the event, we’ll be featuring a series of stories on sustainable homes in the Canberra region showcasing the ACT’s innovative builders and designers.
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