Sustainable House Day on September 15 provides a privileged view into exceptional homes designed, built or renovated with energy efficiency and environmental living in mind, and allows people to speak to and learn from homeowners.
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This year homes are:
Retro River Rest
Designed by Atlas Building Design, this amazing house is made from shipping containers, which are not only a great way to recycle, but the build process also reduced the amount of construction waste on site.
The owner gets frustrated by "the amount of waste we humans produce and I often find love in many old things. Putting time into cleaning old pieces of furniture is something I enjoy and thinking outside the box was exciting".
Shopping at op-shops and second hand stores to find unusual and interesting pieces to decorate has given the home a unique character and provided a second lease of life to items otherwise going to landfill.
This home has also been heavily insulated on the ceiling, walls and floor and external openings are sealed to keep it comfortable in both summer and winter.
Jukes Street renovation
A 1960s cream brick renovation into a light-filled, open-plan home.
Not much has changed externally, but double-glazed windows, underfloor insulation, external wall insulation and roof insulation was added to make this home perform at a high level in winter. Hydronic heating keeps a constant temperature and the north facing rear addition acts as a sun trap in winter.
Designer Live Architecture has created a great example of incremental changes to an old home to take it from one-star to five-star efficiency.
Allansford Cottages
Restored and renovated cottages in the Botanical Studio complex of Beautiful Silks, originally built in the 1870s and lovingly brought back to life.
Surrounded by a walled botanical dye garden, the cottages showcase local materials, trades and traditional building techniques. Timber from the site was milled on site, windows were recycled and insulation added to create comfy cottages.
Ozone car park
Warrnambool City Council's first off-grid solar-powered building in Ozone car park, featuring solar, battery storage and energy monitoring solutions, is an example that can be adapted to residential homes.
The car park building is also the departure point for a free bus tour of all three homes on Sunday, September 15. The tours, at 10.30am and 1.30pm, are brought to you by Warrnambool City Council & Warrnambool Environmental Action Group.
Bookings can be made at City Sustainability on 5559 4800. Gold coin donation on entry.