Category Archives: Energy

Sustainable Homes Group – House tour May 2016

The May event for the Transition Town Guildford Sustainable Homes action group will be another house tour and it’s an owner retrofitted house with a veggie garden.

This house has simple readily available design features. If you are looking to make your own older style home more sustainable check out this great little house for good practical ideas.

Windows

 Sustainable refurbishment of a two bedroom duplex which demonstrates that it is possible to buy low cost housing and renovate on a small budget to create a living space that is comfortable and environmentally friendly.

They have kept most of the duplex intact, recognizing the importance of embodied energy in the existing structure.

The home is orientated to the NE using LowE glazing to maintain energy efficiency. Polished concrete floors next to the North facing windows absorb heat in the winter. External shading keeps sun off the NW windows. The home uses barred louvres to allow safe night time ventilation. The home also features SHW system, rainwater tank & re-use greywater. The home has natural lighting, due to a roof window, that is important to how the home functions.

Features include:

  • Passive solar heating in winter using polished concrete floor
  • Windows allow for cross-ventilation.
  • Wicking Bed.

Come join us for this tour taking about an hour followed by arvo tea & quick tour at Enviroment House just down the road (Enviroment House,125 King William St.)

Event Details

RSVP: Numbers are limited, so it’s essential to RSVP via Eventbrite

Location: The address will be sent in the confirmation email when you register

Date: Sunday 22nd May

Time: 2- 4 pm

Cost: By donation or bring a plate for afternoon tea

Look forward to seeing you there!

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Gas Fracking in WA: A Pennsylvania Perspective

Transition Town Guildford is starting a new monthly speaker series – Bright Ideas. Our first event will be a presentation by a recent Perth resident, sharing his experience of Fracking in the USA. A timely talk given the potential of fracking encroaching on the Perth Basin and the Swan Valley.

Fracktalk2016

Dr Drew Hubbell lived in Pennsylvania for 15 years, ground zero for fracking in the United States.

While there are differences between WA and Pennsylvania, many of the threats are still the same. Dr Hubbell is concerned that there is a lack of knowledge in WA about what the industry has done – what its business model is.

In his talk, he will share what he saw and experienced in the US, and compare that to what is being proposed for the Perth Basin.

When: Tuesday, 1 March 2016 from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm

Where: Mechanics Hall – 20 Meadow Street Guildford, WA 6055 AU – View Map

RSVP via Eventbrite: https://fracking-perth-basin.eventbrite.com.au

About Dr Drew Hubbell

Dr Hubbell is an academic with a Ph.D. in Literature. He has taught at the university level in the United States for 25 years. He is currently Associate Professor of English at Susquehanna University, Selinsgrove, PA, and Adjunct Professor of English at UWA. His scholarship is in environmental literature and the way literature contributes to human-nature relationships. In June, 2015, he moved to Perth with his wife. Drew got involved with CCWA and No Fracking WAy shortly after moving here, after learning that WA was seriously considering the promotion of unconventional gas (“Fracking”).

Sustainable Homes – House tour August

The August event for the Transition Town Guildford Sustainable Homes action group will be another house tour and it’s an owner designed solar passive house.

 House image

 

“Sitting on a 1-acre property at the edge of Mundaring townsite, this house is a sophisticated response to its setting. It was designed as our family home and I have recently launched my design business Edgefield Projects (www.edgefieldprojects.com.au). The building forms a simple L-shape in plan, with a 2m wide Jarrah deck verandah running along the inside edge, focusing the house onto the social hub: a central terrace and lawn area. The living spaces are laid out within one large volume that is bookended by a sophisticated natural oak kitchen on one end and a recycled brick fireplace (with pellet stove insert) on the other.”

Features include:

  • Passive solar heating in winter using polished concrete floor 
  • Windows allow for cross-ventilation, and ceiling fans throughout provide air movement for thermal comfort.
  • A NatHERS rating of 7 stars, and has no mechanical air conditioning
  • Innovative pellet heater that uses compressed sawdust pellets made from mill offcuts

Come join us for this tour followed by arvo tea.

Event Details

RSVP: Numbers are limited, so it’s essential to RSVP via Eventbrite

Location: The address will be sent in the confirmation email when you register

Date: Sunday 16th August

Time: 2- 4 pm

Cost: By donation or bring a plate for afternoon tea