Take a look at sustainable inspiration

Open the door to sustainable living by touring some of the Geelong region’s most environmentally progressive homes next month.

The properties featured in this year’s Sustainable House Day showcase a wide range of sustainable features and are a valuable resource for anyone looking for inspiration, ideas and the key to sustainable living.

Event organisers Geelong Sustainability expect to have between 12 and 14 homes available for inspection on October 14.

One of these will be a passive solar house in Drysdale, designed by f2 Design and built by S’OR Construction.

The split face block veneer home sits on 100 acres of rolling farmland and has been designed and built with specific requirements from the client to be as sustainable as possible.

Material selection was very important to be able to keep its carbon footprint down. With the wings of the house being only five metres wide, it allows the winter sun to fully penetrate and heat up the polished concrete slab to gain full use of its thermal mass. Heavy insulation is used to keep the heat in through winter and the heat out through summer.

A passive house is designed and constructed to be thermally comfortable and healthy, and uses vastly less energy than conventional buildings, regardless of the climate zone the house is in.

In Teesdale, a just-completed passive house built by Aphi Projects has triple glazed windows, fire resistant materials, heat exchange system, bionic wood heater and paper rock benchtops. All water is treated and reused on site on a 2.5 acre bush block filled with 300-yearold red gums.

A new extra small house in Norlane measures only 57sqm and was created by Small Change Design and Construction.

The Quark XS house has been customised with an entry porch and a narrow high corner window to ensure privacy, while offering a view of the street tree and sky from the living room. Black corrugated steel sits beside the white gabled structure in harmonious contrast. Inside, the soaring ceilings to both the living area and bedroom make this extra small house extra special.

For more information on Sustainable House Day in the Geelong region, head to geelongsustainability.org.au/shd.