"You know there´s got to be something pretty special about a house when a federal minister wants to visit one week and a state minister is preparing to open it the next" ...Sunday Tasmanian, May 20 2007

So why is there so much interest in a home that looks like any other in the street?

Sunrise Homes Tasmania has proudly built and officially opened Tasmania´s First Certified GreenSmart Home. The home was opened by The Hon. Paula Wriedt, Minister for the Environment in Tasmania.

The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull, Federal Minister for the environment visited the home just one week before the opening. And yes you can rest assured that both ministers were impressed and very interested.

What has been achieved in this apparantly unassuming home built in the fastest growing municipality in Tasmania is absolutely landmark.

The level of energy efficiency achieved here, once solely the domain of straw bale houses or for those willing to spend many tens of thousands of dollars on their home, is now available to everybody - at the right price.

Four of the simple key elements in the home include:


1. Double your wall insulation!
The insulation system selected for the display home is the concertina foil batts. 2 layers of these innovative products plus a layer of sarking paper will give you well over R3 in your walls

2. Solar hot water is the answer
For the quickest payback and highest impact on saving greenhouse gas compared to electricity - go solar!

3. Isn´t it time every home had a rainwater tank
A 5,000 litre rainwater tank harvesting all of the rainwater off a roof space of the house will supply almost all of the water needs!

4. Double glazing - feel the difference
You can really feel it! Touch the inside pain of a double glazed unit and then the inside of a single glazed unit in the same room and it may help you decide to include double glazing in your new home

There are a raft of other small points that make a big difference that I will cover later also. And the reality is to make an immediate and noticeable difference to the energy use in our home we really need to hit the 2 biggest users of energy in your home:

Hot Water and space heating / cooling.

Look at the figures:
Sustainability Victoria tell us that 46% of Greenhouse gas emissions in our home come from hot water and space heating/cooling

The Australia Greenhouse Office tells us that 66% of energy use in the average Australian home goes towards hot water and space heating/cooling - 1999 figures

The sustainable energy development office in Western Australia say that 57% of the energy used in a typical West Australian home is for hot water and space heating/cooling

In South Australia it´s 59%

The Queensland government in its sustainable energy website explain that:

· The average energy use by Australians is more than twice that of the world average
· That 40 per cent of the energy consumed in Queensland homes is used to heat water, and
· That 90 per cent of the energy we use in our homes has a harmful effect on the environment

Now, there are still some people that say that you don´t really need an energy efficient home in Tasmania do you - you have hydro power down there.

This is a truly valuable example of a misunderstanding of the facts, that hurts. The dams that hold the water that supply the power in Tasmania are only at around 20% capacity - the lowest in nearly 40 years. Last year, Tasmania, through basslink, has imported from ‘the mainland´ the equivalent to 70% of the total annual power demand for Tasmania homes. This power is not clean hydro power!

Its time to make some changes. And the good thing is it really has never been easier to make a difference - and never more important.

Keep on the lookout for the next edition and there will be more answers. until then remember - make yours a home for living!

Smile...The future is looking great!