Efficient homes
Designed to last: Long live sustainable housing
What would our houses look like if we designed them to last 100 years, or longer? Ande Bunbury, designer of the award-winning Double Century House concept, examines the issues.
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Solar & batteries
Energy flows: How green is my solar?
How long does it take to pay back the energy used in the production of solar + battery systems and how much of an effect do they have on the greenness of the grid? Renew’s Andrew Reddaway investigates.
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Efficient homes
Comfortably ahead: A tale of two heaters
Turn on your air conditioner—and knock hundreds of dollars off your heating bill. Tim Forcey describes the learnings (and savings) gained from his experiment with reverse-cycle electric heating.
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Water saving
Put your stormwater to use
Even dense inner-city housing can easily hold back most of its stormwater runoff—saving water, cooling cities, reducing flooding problems and protecting rivers. Chris Walsh’s inner-Melbourne house shows how.
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Water saving
Josh’s house and garden
Behind 10 Star Josh’s House is a productive, water smart and shade-giving garden—and you can find the plans online, writes Jacinta Cleary.
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Water saving
Drop by drop: measuring it out
Robyn Deed talks to Gardening Australia’s Sophie Thomson about her measured approach to watering in Adelaide’s challenging dry climate.
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Efficient homes
Energy-efficient renters
Sarah Coles attends a Melbourne house energy audit—and learns the steps renters can take to use less energy and reduce household bills.
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Water saving
At home with water efficiency
Eva Matthews looks at the gadgets, habits and tools that can help you make the most of our precious water.
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Efficient homes
It’s in the Stars: The importance of efficiency ratings
With household appliances the main contributors to a home's energy use, it makes sense to 'buy smart' and 'use smart'. Eva Matthews investigates how to achieve savings and help save the planet.
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Solar & batteries
Going hybrid: Adding batteries to grid-connected solar
Going off-grid may not be for everyone; a better route may be to 'go hybrid', by adding batteries to grid-connected solar. Andrew Reddaway explores the options.
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Cooling
Reducing air conditioner impacts: The state of solar cooling
It's the holy grail of cooling – using the sun to power your cooling system. Mike Dennis from ANU takes us on a tour of the solar cooling market and where it's headed.
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