The movement towards a return to living in communities is one that is growing in momentum in Australia and world-wide. Smaller micro-communities and larger ventures are springing up alongside others that have been long-established.

Yet many people also consider a move to community living with a mixture of curiosity, dread, some fear and uncertainty over losing independence and whether or not it is a truly viable option. Done the right way and with the right approach, living in a community can provide an immensely rewarding lifestyle and quality of life.

However, without a good organisational structure and a clear sense of direction, communities can run the risk of ending up as simply a microcosm of what is happening in the outside world – the type of situation many have been set up to try and grow beyond.

Working bee and Communities Convergence Conference at Bellbunya Community

The return to living in communities is being fuelled by awareness and a growing bulk of eco-scientific evidence that intensive living in sprawling cities, booming population growth, spiralling property prices, pressure on water supply and infrastructure and a world facing finite and dwindling resources is a recipe for unsustainability.

Governments have been pursuing a cheery and seemingly reassuring drive towards a healthy-appearing economy. But the underlying disquiet over sustainability is becoming too loud to ignore.

Several years ago I interviewed Richard Heinberg, from California, one of the world’s leading authorities on the anticipated/looming peak oil crisis.

Richard’s medium-term vision for Australia was one of people in cities being forced to divide into smaller, more sustainable urban communities focussed around co-operative growing of community-garden food sources and shared resources.

Once fuel becomes too expensive or sparse to support the agricultural industry and the transport of food supplies to hungry cities relying on the food chain of local supermarkets, people will have little option but to adapt to a massive change in lifestyle and approach to self sustainability.

As Richard pointed out, much of the world has been complacent over the need to learn the skills to support a new way of existence. It is part of human nature to leave things until it is forced upon us and then rely on crisis management.

Some conditioned to materialism and convenience will do it painfully, others will adapt with resilience. But it does not need to be an issue around fear. Richard predicted that those who do adapt to the change proactively will help to create a new paradigm of human co-operation and a much more enlightened and healthy society based on people values.

Many spearheading the movement towards communities are pioneering new methods of resourcefulness and skills sharing, it is an evolving industry of learning and adaptation.

Yet many people also consider a move to community living with a mixture of curiosity, dread, some fear and uncertainty over losing independence and whether or not it is a truly viable option.

SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES
Creating a successful community requires some fundamental elements, which can be viewed as a balance of Yin and Yang, or head and heart – Spiritual values and communication to support people and resolve human issues, and effective organisational systems to keep practical day-to-day needs running efficiently and maintain progress.

Where many communities struggle is in not having an effective organisational or project management system to share the inevitable workload and development that needs to take place.

It often falls on the shoulders of a few inspired people who eventually lose motivation and become discouraged.

One well-proven system involves dividing the community up into key areas of responsibility that are each overseen by a small working group, meaning all bases can be covered.

Effective use of time/energy and “people-power” teams means the whole community can move as a workforce resource around these different areas and knock out what needs to be done, under the direction of the relevant working group and using checklists they have devised.

A team of 12 working in a concerted way for just a few hours, or one hour a day, can achieve what a few people would take a week to do. With a bit of practice and commitment, it can become very streamlined.

The Spiritual health benefits to the community come from a great boost in morale from the teamwork, a sense of achievement and progress, and a learning of tolerance and camaraderie from working alongside others.

It is building this sort of co-operative effort and team contribution mindset that will be a strong and vital asset in years to come. Traditional communities like the Amish of North America, through to the tribal communities of the Pacific Islands and New Zealand have always had this down-pat.

Likewise they always take time to celebrate and acknowledge their achievements, which can be one of the great joys of living in community. Singing, jokes, conversation, building valuable, genuine friendships and a shared meal afterwards are great motivators.

PERSONAL IDENTITY
Often one of the biggest arguments to living in community and one of the biggest reasons why people leave, or resist the desire to live in community, is the feeling of losing the “sense of self”, or being absorbed in the needs of the community and the issues of others.

The system above is one key in helping to overcome this. When people know there are consistently scheduled times when they can fulfil their contribution to community and responsibilities are clarified, the rest of their time and independence becomes clear.

A Spiritual mentor I had always had a favourite saying: “When things are organised, people are relaxed. When things are disorganised, people get under pressure.”  It is an important energy to understand.

Another vital key, particularly in a close community is having a clear understanding of the distinct and different energies of personal time, business time and social time.  And likewise personal space, business space and social space.  It is a necessary advance on understanding healthy boundaries, and very effective.

Living in community can sometimes be like living in a giant share house. There is always someone who wants to chat when others are trying to stay focused on important business or earning a living from their space within the community. Fragmentation and distraction can be energy-sapping and the financial vitality of the community as a whole can suffer if this area is not understood clearly and practised proactively and with a positive, co-operative attitude.

SPIRITUAL WELLBEING
The Spiritual health or wellbeing of a community can also determine its overall vitality and success.

Community living by its very nature can attract people who are inherently creative and possibly a little rebellious against the idea of status quo. It is often why they have left the mainstream.

Recognising and appreciating this and giving it space and direction to flourish can utilise some of people’s strongest assets. Anywhere there are people living together there will unavoidably be conflicts and differences of opinion. It is vital to have regular communication or clearing circles where the community gets together as a whole and creates a genuine, safe “heart space” to hear each other fairly and focus on creating solutions to give that energy direction.

Nothing can cause frustration and resentment in people more than feeling they are not being heard or listened to. Over time, small grievances can build into larger resentment if regular clearing circles are not being held. What is not being expressed will still be felt uncomfortably on an intuitive level.

Heart circles can require some good facilitation skills, and if the role is shared around it can become a major area of personal growth for anyone. Done well, the heart circles can also be a great area of personal growth, communication and character development, moral support and personal wellbeing for many.

Communities which have a common Spiritual belief and values focus, such as Buddhism, already have a great advantage.

Where this is not the case, a mixture of different beliefs and values systems can benefit from having a concerted focus effort to reach agreement on the core values and mission statement of the community.

Some form of optional Spiritual development group, as well as healthy lifestyle practices such as yoga and meditation, can become the life blood and cultural richness of a community and nourish its people.

Communicating or relating workshops such as the increasingly popular Non-Violent Communication can be a vital asset for maintaining harmony.

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Living in a closer community can sometimes be like an ongoing workshop, and it can also be a great deal of fun and growth and source of enduring friendships. It helps greatly if people have the character resilience of a sense of humour and some personal development training, or if this is an ongoing activity within the community.

Areas of self-awareness like tolerance, patience, listening skills, good verbal communication, respect for people’s space and views, honesty and integrity can become valuable assets to getting on with others.

It is a good basis also if people become aware of their own motivations and what is involved in living in community, so it is a clear and conscious choice. Finding a community that resonates in values is a wise move also.

LEARNING CENTRES
It can be a great benefit if a community sets up its own ‘learning centre’, where people with different skills can run workshops or exchange knowledge or services and healing modalities.

This can create an avenue for bringing income and valuable cashflow opportunities into the community also.

Often communities have a particular strength or success they have developed, such as renewable energy source, developing biodynamic or permaculture food supply, cottage industries, low-cost building practices, or obtaining grants and funding.

A project I am working on with a few other community-builders is developing an exchange network between communities where facilitators can travel to share their individual skills and knowledge with other organisations.

As these various aspects of a community and its structure develop and strengthen, they begin to attract more of the type of people with the skills and motivation to want to help make a difference.

With the right approach, communities can become a vibrant, efficient, growing and viable option for sustainable living and shared resources, rich in people and culture.

***

WORKSHOPS

Paul will run a series of workshops at the Bellbunya Community eco-conference centre, at Belli Park,  10km from Eumundi, on the Eumundi – Kenilworth Rd.

Saturday, July 31, from 6.30pm – 9pm:  COMMUNICATE AND LISTEN, on safe relating and heart circle skills. Cost $30.

Sunday, August 1,  from 8.30am to 5pm:  MANAGING EFFICIENT COMMUNITY,  this will include setting up a community project management system that can be adapted for share-housing or a business.  Cost $100. Bring a plate for shared lunch.

Monday, August 2, For those wanting to stay overnight, practical coaching on team-building projects will run from 9am to noon.  
Bookings:  (07) 5447-0181 or  0429-478-129, or paulmis@powerup.com.au

See:  www.bellbunya.org.au for details.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Mischefski is a journalist, photographer, environment and social issues writer and lifeskills trainer. He has studied communities from the Pacific Island and New Zealand cultures to the Amish of North America and societies in Northern India. Paul has lectured extensively throughout the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and spent several years in the US helping to manage a world-wide chain of Spiritual retreat centres. He runs Spirit In Organisation Processes For Communities.

A cypress framed and clad cottage nearing completion.

The South East Queensland Regional Plan has predicted that the population of the region will grow from 2.8 million in 2006 to 4.4 million by 2031.

The Queensland Department of Infrastructure and Planning claims that this rapid growth will create the need for an additional 754,000 new homes.  As the state government chatters excitedly about economic growth, many of us wonder about the cost to the environment.

We can’t avoid using some timber products in most building and that means trees do have to be logged.  Look around the building you are sitting in right now.  Check out the window frames, door frames, doors, floors, walls and of course what’s holding it together;  the framing.  So when you set out to build your new home, add that essential ‘parent’s retreat’ or  build  a new deck, how are you going to know which timber is the best for biodiversity?  You can get a different perspective depending on who you talk to.

Many construction industry professionals have come together to move the industry in the direction of sustainable forestry management.  The Green Building Council of Australia, responsible for the Green Star Rating System for green building, acknowledges  both the Australian Forestry Standard (AFS) and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as robust regulatory bodies.  Both are internationally recognised and both utilise the idea of chain-of-custody certification.  This type of certification claims to make it possible for anybody to verify that the source of the timber is legal and from a sustainably managed forest.  

However, it does seem that some certification standards are greener than others.  For example, the FSC will not certify any plantation timber sourced from a stand that replaced natural forest, cleared after 1994.

Dave Kirby from Kirby Fine Timbers on the Sunshine Coast is a saw miller who believes that biodiversity can be protected by logging these older Queensland plantations.  His small stands from Eumundi to Amamor provide him with enough rainforest hardwoods to supply musical instrument manufacturers worldwide and some local joiners and furniture makers.  He says though the plantations, (monocultures — one type of tree),  do not support biodiversity at all — these forests are eventually clear-felled and then regenerated again as plantations.

“These old plantations are as green as it gets, I’m against clear felling old growth forests. Plantations are the best way to provide industry with the timber products we need and preserve the rest.”

Though the AFS promotes itself as similarly responsible as the FSC, its certification of all Forestry Tasmania practises means that it approves the clear-felling of old growth forests.  The Forestry Tasmania website proudly states: “One of the key outcomes of the Tasmanian Community Forest Agreement was the commitment by the State and Federal Governments to reduce clear-felling in old growth forests to 20 per cent of the old growth harvest by 2010.”

This level of so-called ‘sustainable’ forest management may not sit well with many people and points to the need for those involved in the building industry or those currently managing their own building project to do their own research.

Richard Beaumont from Cooroy Joinery and Woodworks points out that the industry is complicated and is hopeful that the FSC certified wood he uses to craft doors, door frames and windows is as sustainable as FSC claims.  He says that the New Guinea Rosewood he likes to work with is not clear-felled but selectively logged by locals who are paid fairly or may even share in the profits.   He is also assured that similar situations exist in other countries where he sources timbers from the old growth forests in the Solomon Islands to the plantations of Mahogany in Fiji.  

Greg Phipps from Eco Cottages in Pomona thinks he has hit on the perfect green timber.  He uses cypress for most parts of each building.  Apparently there is more cypress in Australia now than there was when Captain Cook visited.  Greg says that cypress is sensitive but robust, naturally resistant against termites and, best of all, it won’t grow effectively in a monoculture.  It is not drought resistant but can survive on very little rain, about 300mm a year.

“It is a prolific seeder.  When it does rain, the trees throw lots of seeds but then if it grows too thick, it goes into lock up, it says to every other cypress tree, don’t eat and drink too much and then what you get is thick spindly trees that are not much use.”

In this case, human interference actually aids biodiversity because cypress does much better through selective logging and in a mixed forest environment (thus when the cypress is logged, the forest remains).  However, this is not apealing for the big companies.  Cypress cannot be clear-felled thus reducing the speed and quantity of the operation.

“The good thing about Cypress for farmers,” says Greg, “is that is not only encourages biodiversity but also income diversity.  Cattle farmers can encourage stands of cypress on their land for selective logging.”  

Andrew Webb from WD Architects in Cooran says that there are rarely any perfect solutions for both good environmental outcomes and good mass-market construction outcomes.  But, cypress comes pretty close to that for framing, “if the industry would shut-up long enough to take notice and stop their scrambling over each other trying to show who’s high-energy, toxic product has more green cred.”

Andrew says cypress isn’t suitable for every application but it is the stand-out winner for framing timbers.  Auracaria cunninghamii (hoop pine) has a lot going for it too.  Timbers for other applications, particularly window and door frames, are a much harder proposition but generally logs from a small-scale community production, such as CBFT-certified timbers (Community Based Fair Trade), on the evidence seem to be the most sustainable for a good quality product (and if the finished product is not of a reasonable quality, it’s unlikely to be sustainable).  

Staying local as much as possible is a good policy but unfortunately there are no easy answers.  So when beginning your building project, start with the the Good Wood Guide , talk to some locals and be aware of the many shades of green.

Image Credit: Andrew Webb from WD Architects.

Cob lends itself to organic shapes.The word "cob" comes from an old English root meaning "a lump or rounded mass".

Cob builders use their hands and feet to form lumps of earth mixed with clay, straw and sand. It is a sensory and aesthetic experience similar to sculpting with clay. Cob is very easy to learn and inexpensive to build.

Because there are no forms, ramming, cement or rectilinear bricks, cob lends itself to organic shapes: curved walls, arches and vaults. Earthen houses are cool in summer and warm in winter.

Cob has been used for millennia, even in the harsh climates of southern England, where thousands of comfortable and picturesque homes have been continuously occupied for many centuries. In fact, earth homes, built in this free form manner, have existed around the world for thousands of years.

Welshman Ianto Evans and American Linda Smiley, of “Oregon Cob” fame, brought Cob to Australia in 1995, teaching a workshop in Caboolture. Linda McKee and Mal McKenna continued teaching Cob until 2000. Since then, Mal and his builder friend, Michael Leo, have succeeded in getting Council approval for a Cob building, which will be built in the near future. In the meantime, Alan Atkinson of Eco Homes and Gardens has formed a new partnership with Mal, who lives at Bellbunya Eco Conference Centre, to bring Cob  building into the mainstream of new green housing approaches, beginning with an exciting series of Cob building workshops at Bellbunya.

Because earth is non-toxic and completely recyclable, many people searching for a more eco-friendly lifestyle are bound to embrace this living, breathing choice of home. Further, Cob is ideal for owner-builders, who can have friends help out with this easily learned form. The cob lump goes straight from the mixing spot to the wall, where it is knitted in using feet, hands and blunt sticks to form one mass — a hand sculpted home. The lumps are made to your size, making it easy for children to be involved. It is a very safe work site; there are no power tools, as we encourage the use of hand tools and as little timber as possible. ??Zenning in tranquility, laughter and fun is the sustainable standard we seek, and the occasional ‘Aha’, as another cobber ‘gets it’ — that feeling of cob in action.

No, Cob is not a fast process: it can be made timeless, though, when we get that right mix of soul and mind. You might as well take your time slowly building your home which, if tended to lovingly over the years, will stand proudly for years to come.

An introductory Cob Building Seminar will be held on the 26th May at 7pm and the first Cob Building Workshop from July 26th-31st at Bellbunya Eco-Conference Centre, 114 Browns Road, Belli Park, near Eumundi.

Contact Mal on 07 5447 0181 or Alan on 0402494252.

Image Credit: www.cobprojects.info

Australia's green future. Image: greghardwick.com.au

How many times do green groups need to shout if from the roof tops? Roof tops that could easily be covered in green, clean energy.

Clean energy and energy efficiency industries will create more than 28,000* new jobs by 2020, according to ground breaking economic modelling released today by the Clean Energy Council (CEC).

CEC Chief Executive, Matthew Warren, said the report demonstrates that renewable energy jobs are the key to Australia’s defence against ongoing global recession and the front line response to climate change.

“We have a burgeoning renewable energy industry in Australia that is ready to become an economic powerhouse when the parliament passes critical Renewable Energy Target legislation,” he said. ? ?“We now need politicians from all sides in Canberra to set aside cheap political point scoring and pass the RET bill now.”

Mr Warren said that immediate deployment of renewable energy projects has the clear support of most stakeholders and the community.

“Any political tricky manoeuvre to hold the legislation up now will simply end up being a remarkable own goal,” he said.
The report concludes that at least 50 percent of Australia’s energy will be derived from renewable sources by 2050 and this will require the creation of a new renewable energy workforce.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for employers, investors, education providers and jobseekers to reap the benefits of a green jobs revolution,” Mr Warren said.

The CEC is working with all levels of government, industry and educational institutions to make sure we get the RET legislation right and pave the way for the creation of this exciting new industry.

The report is now available for download at the clean energy council website.

*jobs – modelling does not account for jobs created under the $1.6bn Solar Flagships program nor does it include jobs created under the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS).

Image: Lyndal Chase

The recent international Green Cities Conference heard that each resident of Brisbane is responsible for 24 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions each year, compared with just 5.8 tonnes in Beijing. While many point to large and booming economies overseas, population and housing trends here at home are stark reminders that Queenslanders must look to their own back yards for local solutions to their thumping ecological footprints.
“We have an urgent need for change,” says Mark Thomson, architect and President of the Australian Green Development Forum. “The conference brought home that we will be living in a very different world in 10, 20 or 50 years’ time. We may be experiencing more severe storms, floods and droughts, and we as a community need to start responding to these likely occurrences.”
Currently, most new homes are built by project builders. Buyers choose a standard plan and have it positioned on a site, often with scant attention paid to the principles of “passive design”. The result can be energy-intensive homes which need air-conditioning and heating to maintain user comfort. Passive design uses orientation, layout, materials and the site itself to create a comfortable environment for its occupants with little or no need for artificial temperature control.
“One of the reasons why air conditioning has become so prevalent in southeast Queensland is that our modern houses are so poorly positioned on their sites,” Mr Thomson says. “Regulation is playing a role in improving water and energy efficiency, but to my knowledge there are no moves to regulate passive design in new buildings. It’s in the too-hard basket.”

While the industry is showing signs of change, its efforts are falling short of what is needed. The Housing Institute of Australia (HIA) offers GreenSmart courses in sustainable building and those completing are given permission to use the GreenSmart builder’s logo. However, course completion does not guarantee a builder will change their practices.
“Builders find it easier not to apply good passive design principles,” Mr Thomson says. “The challenge for the building industry is to fully acknowledge passive design and understand its importance in addressing issues like climate change.
“And home buyers need to be educated and empowered to demand it.”

While the basic principles of passive design haven’t changed – orientation of living areas towards the north, a thin building layout ensuring good cross ventilation, using appropriate materials that store heat in winter and ventilate adequately in summer, etc – its site-specific nature makes it difficult to stipulate with the use of standard plans.
Some newer developments are starting to adopt the principles of passive design in their homes and estates, but it needs to consider the wider landscape. Vegetation is a major contributor to a house’s microclimate, however many new subdivisions begin by clearing all trees. Expansive roofs, driveways, high fences and paving can considerably heat the microclimate, contributing to the urban “heat island” effect.

“Maintaining a canopy of shade goes a long way to reducing overheating and maintaining a natural microclimate. Sustainable development needs to look at natural vegetative states for clues as to how we should be designing for the future.”

The Smart Sustainable Home Program is an important step in educating home buyers, says Mr Thomson.
“The houses give visitors an opportunity to experience and learn more about passive design. A majority of people are living with the consequences of poor design and Smart Sustainable Homes give them the chance to see and feel other options.”

Image: Dayle Batistic and daughter Elleah, and the others in their household, are reaping the rewards of completing the energy and water modules of the Living Smart Homes Project.
Photo: Courtesy Batistic family”

We’ve learned so much,” says Dayle Batistic, mother of three, “such as how to read our meters and audit our water and energy use. The actions we’ve taken, like changing to energy efficient light bulbs and turning down the temperature of the hot water system, have had no negative effect on our comfort. We’ve since converted to solar hot water and even though there was a nine per cent price rise in electricity last year, we’ve reduced our bill by eleven per cent.”

The Living Smart Homes Project aims to empower householders to do something about climate change on the home front. Run by the local council in Caboolture and Noosa, it is currently completing its pilot stage. The Batistic household is one of 50 in Caboolture and 90 in Noosa to sign up.

Image: Matt and Rebecca Colefax and their family live in Tewantin and have also signed up to the Living Smart Homes Project. “It makes so much sense,” Matt says about the program. “Visitors see our sign and take interest. We’re planting the seed in their minds that they can do something too.”

Participants receive a sign to display at the front of their property. As they work through four self-paced modules – energy, water, waste and transport – they develop an understanding of their own consumption patterns and how they might change them. On completion of each module, the household receives a badge to attach to the sign.

Mrs Batistic’s electricity savings were a good return on her investment of 45 minutes spent working through the energy module on the project website.

“We haven’t done transport module yet, but instead of driving the kids seven kilometres to school we now ride our bikes together. So that’s a saving of $15 a week in petrol and we’re burning seven kilometres of calories each trip. The kids get out into the environment and are noticing things, like the local koalas, snakes and wallabies,” she said.

“It’s a wonderful program because it makes you so aware. We had all the information before, but we had never analysed it and put it in terms of carbon emissions. When you see your impact, that’s when you go: ‘I can change that!’ And it connects you with other people – they ask about our sign and want to join up.”

The program has been a catalyst for Dayle and her husband Richard to become involved in other environmental initiatives such as the Caboolture region environmental education centre (CREEC) at Burpengary. They have also formed their own bush care group and are helping to promote the Living Smart Homes Project to other groups.

The Living Smart Homes Project is current being evaluated and will soon be extended to Caloundra residents. It will be made available to other councils next financial year.

The question of housing affordability is a furphy, says Alan Pears, a consultant and academic at the forefront of the energy debate in Australia.

“We’ve got a seriously misguided debate going on at the moment about housing affordability with some saying we can’t afford sustainable features in new homes. It’s the other way around – we can’t afford not to have sustainable features,” said Mr Pears.

“The argument is an attempt to create an artificial conflict between good design and affordability.”
Mr Pears believes sustainable urban development isn’t just about housing design and density, it’s about organisation and access.

“Most people call it transport,” he said. “I call it access.

“A developer should have an obligation to show how people living in that development could have a good quality of life without having to rely on a car. Good quality is, for example, not taking half a day to get to the doctor by bus.”

The housing affordability argument takes on a different complexion when the entire household budget in taken into consideration.

The average Australian householder spends between 15 and 20 per cent of their household budget on transport. Housing affordability in the long term is affected by world oil prices, particularly in the light of peak oil, climate change and quality of life. A well-designed house has cheaper ongoing energy and water costs and, if located in a well designed development with good transport to services, reduces transport costs and provides many social benefits contributing to a better quality of life.

“Generally speaking, five star energy efficiency measures in new homes reduce the annual energy bill by more than the slightly higher mortgage repayments needed to pay for them,” Mr Pears said.

Rising energy prices around Australia, and the prospect that emissions trading will increase them further, make household energy efficiency measures even more attractive.

The poor design of decentralised, distributed, low density housing developments away from public transport systems locks people into a lifestyle that’s expensive in terms of ongoing costs of energy and transport, travel time, and the environmental impact of emissions. Residents are vulnerable to rising oil prices and social dislocation of not being able to drive, for example from accidents, loss of licence, or being under 18 or elderly.

However to achieve quality sustainable urban development, Mr Pears said: “We’ve got to cross a lot of organisational, cultural and political boundaries to get all this right.

“The Queensland energy Minister a couple of years ago made the point that each new air conditioner installed in a Queensland house led to a need for $13,000 investment in energy-supply infrastructure. The building industry resists anything more than marginal improvement because they’re focussed on the sticker price of the house. The energy sector should be putting money into helping people build much better houses that have little or no need for air conditioners.”

The changing nature of the population is not reflected in most new housing developments. More than 55 per cent of Australian households these days are one or two people, however the bulk of new housing is the traditional model.
“When the new housing market is driven by people wanting to build detached conventional dwellings, or by developers who are focussed on rental properties that deliver a financial return without necessarily quality of life, no one has the kind of housing they most want.”

The new Sunshine Coast council has opportunities to improve the sustainability of the region’s housing, beginning with detailed social research into people’s housing and transport needs, using the results to help create sustainable developments.
“It’s not fair that people today pay the full cost of sustainable housing that will benefit people 50 or 100 years in the future; people who use and benefit from it into the future should repay some of this cost,” Mr Pears said.
A progressive local council could borrow money on behalf of the people who live in new developments in exchange for adding a regular levy to be paid by the residents enjoying all the benefits of good access and better public transport.
Infrastructure like public transport must be locked in early to new developments because the lifespan of urban layout is very long and changing it retrospectively is very difficult.

“This is why historically governments borrowed on our behalf to invest in community infrastructure,” he said. “Instead, we now have the bizarre model of governments not having debt because it’s somehow bad, but rampant private debt is okay.”

Alan Pears’ work in sustainable energy and the environment has included helping develop and implement public information and education, appliance energy labelling and mandatory building insulation regulations. As co-director of Sustainable Solutions, he has been involved in building energy and environmental rating and regulation, green building projects, educational software, green appliance development, industrial and business energy and environmental management, and policy analysis.

This article gives three very basic starting points for good passive design.

1. Orientation
2. Floor plan
3. Eaves and windows

A good builder or designer will be able to alter a standard design or juggle the orientation and layout to suit awkward blocks so these basic principles are met.

1. Orientation

The golden rule of passive design is “face the sun, not the street”. This means lining up your floor plan so that the long axis runs East-West with your living areas facing true north, wherever possible (true north varies for every location in Australia, and on the Sunshine Coast is about 10.50 west of magnetic north. Note: compasses indicate magnetic north). This is an important distinction, as it is the ‘true’ axis of the sun’s yearly movement through our sky.

What a long east-west axis does, is make the ‘short’ walls of the house face east and west, where the sun hangs low in the sky, in the early morning and late afternoon in summer. By heavily insulating and shading these short walls with external screens or plants, and by having few windows, the inside of the building is protected from heat gain during the warmer months. (If you have children’s bedrooms facing west with large windows and minimal shading, you are already experiencing the effect of bad design during summer – kids, early bedtimes and hot rooms don’t mix well).

Secondly, you cluster living areas to true north, so that the sun can be used to warm the most used spaces during winter and shaded out in summer. If your block does not allow a long east-west axis, it’s important to reorganise the floor plan so that your main living areas have glazed windows or doors facing true north, with correctly sized eaves, to achieve the same effect. (See following sections).

More info: Case Study 7.1 Modifying a Project Home is a great example of how a few minor changes to a basic plan can make huge improvements to how the home works.

2. Floor plan

Designing a plan that is ideally one-room wide throughout, or with operable or louvred internal walls, allows breezes to cross from one side of the building to the other and cool and ventilate rooms naturally. Like water, air likes to take the most direct path, so for good cross ventilation, you should place openings directly opposite each other. A window in one wall, without a corresponding opening opposite, won’t do a lot to draw air through the room.

Cluster living areas that need heating in winter, to the north, and use ‘utility’ rooms such as the laundry, garage and bathrooms in the southeast and southwest corners to buffer the hot morning and afternoon sun in
summer. Obviously this is a very prescriptive approach – there are a million ways to design spaces that perform these same basic functions.

3. Eaves and Windows

On the Sunshine Coast, eaves that sit out roughly half the distance of the height of the glazed area below them on the northern side of the building, will allow warming sun into the living areas during winter months when its travelling low in the sky, and keep it out during summer when its passing higher overhead. Coupled with good roof insulation and deciduous trees or vines on a pergola across the north face of the house, the right sized eaves will maximise the natural heating and cooling of internal spaces without the need for mechanical systems.

Glazed areas (windows and doors) should ideally be equal in area to about a fifth of the floor area of the room they are located in, on the northern face. This way during winter, enough sun will be allowed into a room to effectively heat it.

Ample eaves over windows will also allow windows to be open during storms in hot months, when ventilation is important.

Short east and western walls should have as few windows as possible (other than small ones to facilitate cross ventilation) and be shaded all year round, either with vertical shutters, screens, or vegetation.

Southern windows should be kept to a minimum, to avoid too much heat loss during Winter (from the shaded, cold side of building) – again, just enough to provide good cross ventilation.

When choosing windows for the side/s of the house that receive the cooling summer breezes, (usually northeast to southeast) think about side-hung or pivoting window frames that will act as a funnel or sail, to catch breezes and direct them into the house, rather than sliders (that cut off half the area to breeze) or louvres (effective, but only open straight-on from the wall – and they don’t have the ‘funnelling’ effect).

There are literally hundreds of small things you can do to manipulate sun and air movement around a home and make a massive improvement on its energy requirements.

For more detailed information, visit the yourhome website or get weekly eco-design tips by email from Jo’s website by clicking here.

“The project’s ultimate aim is a sustainable community,” said Ben McMullen, Manager Environment Services at Noosa Council.

“Regulation isn’t the answer when it comes to long term change. People need ownership. Making a conscious choice to live a sustainable lifestyle was not something people thought about in the past. But now we as individuals, communities and a society have to start to address it.”

“This program is helping people at the individual household level to take the first steps along that path,” he said.

The program is coordinated through a website that connects participants in cyberspace, whilst community workshops bring people together face-to-face.

Householders signing up to the program log on to the website and work through modules on energy, waste, water and transport at their own speed.

Living Smart Homes participant, Frank Wilkie (left) and Noosa Council's Climate Protection Officer Kamal Singh. Image: greghardwick.com.au

“The website not only provides information for households, it gives them a voice and encourages them to feel comfortable discussing the issues as they see them. Importantly, it encourages action by individuals and lets them track the sustainability of their own households,” Mr McMullen said.

On signing up, participants receive a sign for display on their property boundary declaring their commitment to changing their own patterns of behaviour. As each energy, waste, water and transport module is completed, the achievement is recognised through a badge attached to the sign.

Evan Raymond, Senior Environmental Officer at Caboolture Council, coordinates the Living Smart Homes Project in his shire.

“The delivery and scale of this project sets it apart from other sustainability awareness programs,” he said. “Caboolture Council has developed and delivered local community and school based sustainability awareness programs since 2005. Integrating the internet in the program will increase accessibility and connect like-minded people on a greater scale. The Living Smart Homes Project is all about facilitating relationships within communities and between communities.”

All households in Noosa and Caboolture are eligible to sign up: families or individuals, home owners or renters, houses or flats.

“This isn’t top down, it’s a bottom up approach,” Mr McMullen said. “People have strong feelings about how households and communities should address climate change. The Living Smart Homes Project gives them the means to take action and then measure their progress. They can be champions of sustainable behaviour change within their local neighbourhoods.”

The Living Smart Homes Project builds on the Living Smart Program that for three years has provided information on sustainable housing in the Noosa area, including a database of business contacts.

Queensland University of Technology will independently review the effectiveness of the project during 2008.

For more information visit the website here.