Ecohomeguide.com.au - check it out!

Have you come across Ecohomeguide.com.au ???

This is a brilliant social enterprise and website, set up by Sustainable Living Tasmania.

Here you can get free tailored advice on how your household can become more sustainable, your heating costs can be reduced, and you can live more comfortably and cheaply.  Sustainable Living Tasmania has immense expertise in this area.  

They’ve also researched both products AND suppliers and are now part of the supply chain - offering households discounted and efficient products through some of the best suppliers in Tassie.  

By purchasing your solar PV, hot water, heat pump, insulation and other products through Ecohomeguide you are supporting Sustainable Living Tasmania’s work.

The Ecohomeguide team are currently also offering access to TEELS and NILS, government programs to make more efficient products more accessible to low income Tasmanians. 

Check it out, and see if this website is useful to you!

Sustainable House Day, 17 September 2017

Would you like to open your home on Sustainable House Day?  Here's a message from ATA: Have you worked hard to make your home more sustainable? Would you like to share your knowledge and expertise with others? The Alternative Technology Association (ATA) is looking for homes to open to the public on Sustainable House Day on Sunday, September 17. If you have a sustainable home that makes you proud, we'd like you to nominate it to open. Be part of an award-winning community event, with 80 homes already registered for the day. By opening your home and sharing your passion and knowledge of sustainable living you can inspire and educate others. Share your journey of what worked, what didn’t and how it has changed your way of living. Sustainable House Day is a national event that gives people a rare view of exceptional homes designed, built or renovated with sustainability in mind and allow them to speak to and learn from homeowners.   All homes participating in Sustainable House Day must have a minimum of four sustainable features. The sustainable feature can be anything that goes towards sustainable lifestyles, energy saving and healthy home practices. Click here to go to the Sustainable House Day nomination page.

Great sustainable house ideas on show this Sunday

Yes, this Sunday is the annual Sustainable House Day, this is your big chance to check out other people's houses and good ideas!  You could pick up some cheap and easy fixes for your place.

Register at the site to get access to details of the houses that are available to visit. 

Some great houses on show include:

Glenorchy
Inner Urban Eco-Upgrade - see roof and underfloor insulation, double glazing, draught proofing, insulating the hot water cylinder, heat pump, rooftop solar PV...

Mountain River
New build - masses of solar PV, heavy insulation, passive solar design, heat pump HW system

Tolmans Hill
New build - passive solar, hillside building, high insulation, thermal mass, disability access throughout

Fern Tree
A passive solar build 20 years on, showing improvements added over time

Snug
New build - "An example of an energy-efficient home design which can be achieved for any new house build on a modest budget". Passive solar design, low e-films on windows...

Kettering
New build - fully self-sufficient for energy and water - wow!!!

Want to visit and write up your thoughts?  Please do, drop us a line!

Sustainable House Day - 11 September

Sustainable House Day will be on September 11 this year. There are six houses in southern Tas open for visits this year.

Wouldn't it be great to have one in West Hobart!?  If you're proud of your green home and would like to share your experience and knowledge by opening it to the public on the day, register it at the Sustainable House Day website.

Heat pump bulk purchase

Sustainable Living Tasmania is offering an amazing deal on high-quality heat pumps - which are by far the most efficient and cost-effective form of heating.

"By partnering with local specialists Sackett Services and pooling our purchasing power, we are providing a special bulk buy price of $1,499 on the Fujitsu 6kW heat pump (other units are available at discounted prices too). The offer ends on 15th November 2015, so get in quick".

Find out more at this link.

And attend an information session on 5 November.

If you mention that you heard about this offer through West Hobart Environment Network, we'll get a reward to support our ongoing activities to promote a sustainable community. That would be nice!

Sustainable House Day - this Sunday 13 Sept!

Great news!  There are seven houses available to visit this Sunday in the south of the State, and two in the north.  This is a great opportunity to learn from other proud homeowners about ways you could improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of your current (or your next) home. Or just admire what they have achieved :)

Check out the summaries  on the Sustainable House Day homepage, and decide which lovely homes you'd like to find out more about. There's a drop down list of the features of each house, so you can select those homes which demonstrate what you're thinking of doing next at your place.

What time is Sustainable House Day open?
Sustainable House Day 2015 runs between the hours of 10am to 4pm on Sunday 13 September 2015.  However, some homes may specify different opening times on their profile pages, so please check.

How do I obtain the addresses for the homes opening for Sustainable House Day?
To have access to the house addresses you will need to officially register as a visitor online.  Once you login to your user profile you will be able to see the addresses listed on each house profile. You can officially register here.

Do I need to book at each individual property before attending?
Generally no, but a homeowner may have specified differently on their individual property profile. So it is best to check the individual profile.

Does it cost to attend Sustainable House Day?
This is a free to gold coin donation event. Some homes may charge a small fee (gold coin donation) with funds put towards costs of preparing for the house open or for a nominated not for profit group or charity.  You can see on each individual profile whether a home has nominated to request a gold coin donation.

Are there any conditions of entry as a visitor for Sustainable House Day?
As a participant in Sustainable House Day, we ask you to respect each of the homes you visit and act as per the following conditions of entry:

• Please officially sign in as a visitor to the home providing your full name, telephone number and email address
• Please act in a respectful manner towards the homeowner, all volunteers and other SHD attendees
• Please do NOT touch any property including furniture, objects, electrical items on the property, or personal items of others
• Please ensure all children are monitored at all times onsite
• Please remain in the allocated tour area of the home. You are NOT permitted to enter any areas that have been signed as private.
• Please do NOT consume alcohol or food during the tour.
• Smoking is NOT permitted
• Please turn off/silence your mobile and refrain from answering or speaking on your phone during tours
• Please make every conceivable effort to ensure your own personal safety whilst onsite.
• Please ask permission before taking any photographs
• You agree to any inspections of bags at the request of homeowners or volunteers.
• In the garden please do not touch the plants.

Alternative Technology Association, and Bank Australia

If you are already a member of the Alternative Technology Association ATA you will have heard about this new initiative.  If not, perhaps this is a good time to become a member!  ATA is all about supporting their members in making their homes and communities environmentally friendly. They can help you with installing solar power or a rainwater tank. Or help reduce your energy bills with guidance on energy-efficient lighting or insulation.

One area that may still need attention is your banking. While you have worked hard to reduce your home’s carbon emissions, the interest you pay on your home loan may be being used to invest in coal-fired power stations or other greenhouse intensive industries.

To help you in this area the ATA has teamed up with Bank Australia (formerly known as bankmecu) on an exciting new partnership.

Bank Australia is Australia’s first customer owned responsible bank and over the years has supported a number of ATA activities including sustainability webinars, Speed Date a Sustainability Expert, Sustainable House Day and their solar lighting and solar technician training program in East Timor.

Bank Australia is offering another way to support the ATA while helping you make the switch to a responsible bank. If an ATA member switches their home loan or take out a personal loan with Bank Australia, they will give a percentage of the loan amount to the ATA.

It is a win-win situation as you can:

• Switch your home loan to a responsible bank and know that your home loan is not being used to fund carbon-intensive industries
• Support the ATA with Bank Australia giving the ATA a payment for every member who switches [1]
• Know that your home loan will be doing even more when ATA uses the funds to provide the unique and vital role of providing independent and practical advice for a sustainable future

To prove how serious they are, Bank Australia is offering any ATA member who switches their existing home loan or takes out a new home loan a competitive rate of 4.10%p.a. [2] (4.11%p.a. [3] comparison rate), one of the lowest on the market.

Switching your home loan is easy – a small amount of time to make a big impact. Sleep soundly while your home loan adds value to your bottom line without compromising your values.

Join ATA here.

And if an ATA member, if you are interested in having your home loan reviewed, please click here bankaust.com.au/ATA and complete the details. You will then be contacted by a specialist lender from Bank Australia who will help you through the process.

[1] It's a one-off payment of 0.40% of the loan value, but it doesn't affect your interest rate, fees or loan structure in any way.
[2] Variable rates correct as at 17/06/2015, however are subject to change at any time. Check www.bankaust.com.au for the latest rates. Offer available to new and existing borrowers. Excludes investment loans. For existing borrowers the new loan funds must exceed $100,000.
[3] The Comparison Rate is based on a loan of $150,000 for 25 years. Fees and charges may be applicable. WARNING: This comparison rate is true only for the examples given and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. 

Next: how do I double glaze the windows?

So, your house isn't warm enough yet.

You've done all the obvious:
- insulated walls and ceiling (and floor?)
- put pelmets on your windows and hung some close fitting curtain/blinds
- insulated the hot water pipes (ummm...)
- draughtproofed your windows and doors (courtesy of the WHEN Draught Busters program)

- what else could you do?

Well, you could come along to the DIY Double Glazing Workshop at Sustainable Living Tasmania on 26 August.  You will learn about a range of cheap and easy ways you could retrofit double glazing to different sorts of windows. You'll be cosier in no time!

Where:  Sustainable Living Tasmania, 71 Murray St, Hobart
When:  Wed 26 August 6pm to 7.30pm

Get your tickets via the Facebook event.

Adding Winter Windows

Sustainable House Day 2015 - want to nominate your place?

This year the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) is partnering with EnviroShop to hold Sustainable House Day on September 13.

Sustainable House Day is Australia’s largest national sustainability event giving people the opportunity to see and learn from the best environmental homes.

One important change this year will be an upgrade to the Sustainable House Day website to improve it for participating homeowners, local groups and attendees.

ATA has now opened online registrations for:  

• Homeowners with homes that have environmentally sustainable features – to open them and host tours
• Sustainability groups and local councils – to host or co-ordinate local homes and volunteers and/or ancillary events.

Participating homeowners can now officially register and submit their own house profiles via the event website.

The deadline for home registrations is July 31, 2015

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR HOME ONLINE

• Officially register and create your online user profile at http://sustainablehouseday.com/house-owner-registration/
• Once logged into your profile you can create your house profile: 

If you have an existing house profile from SHD 2014

• If the house you are opening was opened in 2014, its profile may already exist on the website. To search for your profile go to: http://sustainablehouseday.com/cat/2014/

(Please note: addresses were taken off the website after SHD 2014 as required by organisers, so you may need to use a few different search terms to locate your profile.)

• Once you locate your profile, click into the profile and scroll down until you see Claim this house. Click on this.
• An email will then automatically be sent to organisers to allocate this property to your profile. Once your property has been allocated and approved you will receive an email notification it has been added to your profile and updated to 2015.
• Please log in back to your profile and update your profile information accordingly. 

If you do NOT have or cannot locate an existing house profile from SHD 2014

• From the my profile page, click on the Create New House Profile button at the top right hand corner
• Complete the new house registration form
• Once submitted the form will automatically be sent to the organisers for approval.
• Once officially accepted you will receive an email notification regarding acceptance and the house profile will be allocated to your user profile. 

We also request you please refer to the T&C’s of participation below:

• All homes must have a minimum of three sustainable features.  You can view a list of suggested sustainable features: http://sustainablehouseday.com/about-shd/forms/
• You must have a current home and contents insurance policy
• You must agree to the terms and conditions of participation at http://sustainablehouseday.com/terms-conditions/
• All applications are subject to a final approval process by the organising committee.

If you are experiencing problems with the website or registering online, please contact Jodie North at Jodie.north@envirogroup.com.au and we will address these issues as soon as possible.