Progress has been slow after the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, yet some people are now living in new homes built to higher standards, often with renewable energy systems designed to provide more backup in an emergency. This article is part of a sustainable rebuilds special in ReNew 118.
Left with just one shed standing after the Black Saturday bushfires destroyed their home, a year later Scottish couple Janet and Scott McLean installed a 2.1kW solar power system on its roof and called the shed home while their new improved dwelling was being built.
The grid-interactive system was installed with future fires in mind, with a battery backup to ensure electricity supply during a blackout. The system now fulfils most of their energy needs in the new house, although the true status of their bill, and usage, remains a mystery due to Tru Energy’s long billing delays.
The improvements don’t stop there, with the entire rebuild showing a greater resilience to future bushfires with the bonus of improved energy efficiency.
Learning from the past
The old home was a single-storey brick veneer with a W-roof profile that Janet describes as a perfect ember trap, single-glazing to the west and was like an oven inside in summer. “We had a big wooden deck which probably went up in flames quite nicely. We knew it was a risk but we were a bit naïve perhaps and didn’t think a fire would come through, or that it would be that severe.”
After losing everything it was difficult to know where to start with rebuilding. Two things helped shape their rebuild though: a meeting with architect Ian Weir and visiting open days at other sustainable homes.
They’d first seen Ian on television and discovered that he offered free consultations to people affected by the Black Saturday bushfires. His advice was to keep the building shape as simple as possible with few nooks and crannies to limit the places for embers to gather.
Visiting a house in Healesville, Janet grew to love a unique construction duo of rammed earth and scyon, a thick but lightweight cement composite cladding which looks just like weatherboard. “The house felt solid and inside it felt grounded and safe.” The couple engaged the designer of that house for their rebuild, heeding Ian Weir’s advice to simplify the shape and opting for a flat, slightly angled roof profile that the embers would slide off. After all, the roof had been a weakness in the old house.
Read the full article in ReNew 118This entry was posted on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at 10:52 am