Latest Energy News Report

[Shadowgirlau]

Well as I was perusing the news tonight I came across this little piece about the rising cost of energy and how big business will be exempt while households will pay more. There is more to this than what I mention in this little snippet so if you’re interested go and have a read at the whole report at the address underneath.
It starts off talking about the cost of energy etc then goes onto the following piece about the new energy standings for homes both existing and new as below.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/latest/553 ... wer-bills/

• From 2010 all new homes will be built to 6 stars on the energy efficiency scale.
• Hot water systems and lighting will have to be more efficient.
• Anyone wanting to lease or sell a home will have to disclose its energy, greenhouse and water efficiency from 2011.
• Energy efficiency rules for commercial buildings will be toughened from 2010, and there will be mandatory disclosure of a building's efficiency.

I was wondering how many of us already have some renewable energy ratings and how many are still in the process of obtaining them? As many of you know we are in the process of building a new home and like we did the last time, we have included double insulation, solar hot water, grey water system, grid connect solar power, postioned our house facing north/south and so on. I am sure there are more things we could do however I am loss for thought right now.

Kathleen

[minnie]

Hi Kathleen,

It's going to be difficult for old homes, especially very old.

Our house wasn't built north/south so when we eventually get up the solar hot water (still sitting here waiting for DH to get the time) it's not going to be facing the best way, although the evacuated tubes work better in shadow etc they say.

Eventually we need to insulate (only the ceiling over the kitchen and lounge are done so far. But it's all time...

This house was originally one room, the little lounge room and then verandah were built on bit by bit and then built in... so over time it's a total mish mash... sometimes I think if we'd had the money better to have knocked it down and started again!

Big changes in the near future that's for sure.

Vicki

[Hayhay]

I'm wondering if, as a consequence, more older homes will be demonlished to build new enery star rating homes. Which to me seems more wasteful than spending a bit to up the star rating of an old home..........you know all those resources. Our home is old too and we are slowly making it more energy efficient.

I reckon all new homes should have soloar panels and solar hot water as standard.

[minnie]

Hi Hayley,

They seem to brush all with the same paint so to speak without taking many things into account.

While an older home hasn't got star ratings it was often built to take advantage of seasons, such as breeze ways for summer etc.

I've been told by the people handing out the light globes and shower roses that we're bad because we have a wood stove and wood fire and that's not good for the environment... taken into perspective - our nearest neighbour is a kilometre away, with his 1600 acres where we use old wood that the trees have fallen down. So as far as smoke goes not that much is generated in the scheme of things and it's all fallen wood that's used (or mainly).

So in comparison with a person living in a unit in the middle of Sydney with Air Con, electric heater and electric stove we're not bad... and we use the fluro light bulbs and a good shower rose (we are on tank water ). Sometimes the powers that be really don't see all the scenarios and what is good and what isn't IMHO.

Vicki

[Mojojo]

Typical - the smallest users get the biggest push first. Same with water, where its industry that uses 90% of it. Now of course everyone should be doing all this, but I think the big corporations should have to work to the same, or higher, standards as Joe Bloggs and his family home!

Vicki - further to the burning wood, I did some in-depth research on this when I did not have to go to work! Form a whether carbon neutral/pos/neg standpoint, seeing as thats what is so in fashion these days.

Growing your own timber for firewood, (*disclaimer - from what I read, and I read all I could find) is a carbon neutral, or very slightly negative, process.
Burning the timber - as long as it is properly dried - releases only very slightly more carbon than it does decaying on the forest floor. The tree draws carbon from the atmostphere in its growing, and locks it up, and it is impossible for it to release more in burning it than is held in it. And as some remains in the ash - which of course goes into your compost and then the garden, on the whole it is not an environmentally destructive process, on a small scale.
The old matter cannot be created or destroyed thing.
And as long as its fallen timber, or purpose grown, clearly not old growth forests.
And yes, fallen timber does provide some habitat for wilflife, as well as fuel for bushfires.

So as long as your bit of woodsmoke - again, reduced if properly dried timber is being burned - is not a major air pollutant for your immediate environment then you are in the clear!

Oh, and from memory only a couple of acres of home grown trees is sufficient as a woodlot for a family. And it is also providing a habitat for wildlife - just no felling at nesting time for the birds.

- Jo

[DomAnsell]

A few years ago, I was really taken a back buy the council where I worked. Where I worked was a relativity good environmentally conscious office. All lights where turned off, all computers shut down before the last person left the office, and the air con was only used on really bad days.

I was working for a packaging company an as such there was a lot of cardboard boxes and papers etc. being thrown out. Myself and my boss called the council numerous times to request a recycling bin. Because we were in an industrial area they would not give us one. Their argument was that 'we wouldn't know how to recycle the right stuff'.

Recycling came in whilst I was still in primary school, and until recently we even separated all the stuff for them. If we were doing it at home I didn't see why we would suddenly not know how to do it at work.

Anyway to add to the problem, we could store all our recycling and then put it into a trailer and take it down to the nearest recycling facility, which my boss did a few times. But he had to pay to do this.

Sadly in a business the bottom line is always money, and my boss's we're petty tight with money, and we ended up just throwing it in with the rest. But honestly I considered it such a waste, especially as it was at the council level that our hands where tied.

One of our business neighbours had a recycle bin an we made an error mentioning it, and it just disappeared one day.

[Shadowgirlau]

Dom it is a very sad but true fact that some businesses have their hands tied by beauracracy.
Councils which are as we all know, state government levels of power are often the worse offenders in more ways than one
with their double standards and so on.

Vicki, I agree it is going to be difficult for people with older homes, particularly when it comes time to sell them on should they wish to do so. On the other hand I can't help but wander how much of this new idea is actually just lip service and seeing to be doing something enviromentally responsible by the government?

Hayley, I couldn't agree more with your thought along the lines of all houses should be standard with solar hot water, insulation, solar panels and rainwater tanks.

I also think though that making such things standard wouldn't be good for the government coffers in the long run even though it would be good for the consumer and the enviroment. See what a little cynical person I am

Cheers
Kathleen

[minnie]

Hi Jo,

That was pretty much my thinking and I didn't do the research, so thank you for doing so!

Any hollowed trees that look to be an animal shelter get left, many animals use either dead standing or fallen trees for shelters... possum types and birds of course.

If burning wood had to keep a city warm in winter, then that wouldn't be sustainable nor environmentally responsible. Burning of the old growth forest to make way for palm and pine is causing more damage than the few who burn for heating or hot water.

Like when they talk about cows farting, it's the poor animals living on total grain and their stomachs can't cope that break more wind... and then of course the concentration of manure and disposal causing issues that aren't a problem when on grass and dung beetles do their job and putting back into the soil to fertilise. As with all things it's not a black and white picture that's for sure.

Hayley and Kathleen, totally agree about new homes. It's what should happen but... so many council won't enforce because 'the developers will go somewhere else' it would only take a few to stand up for what's right and things would change but like you Kathleen I'm a cynic and getting more so as the years pass.

Vicki