Sustainable homes are where the heart is

AN online event showcasing several old and new energy efficient homes is back for another year.

Bendigo Sustainable House Day, hosted by the Bendigo Sustainability Group, will take place on 24 October from 10.30am to 3pm with a range of talks and workshops on offer.

Event manager Liz Martin said the day will include everything from old weatherboard houses, to artist studios, to a high tech “passiv haus.”

“This year we’ve got 14 videos already done and they range from gardens to retrofitted weatherboards and an artist studio made out of a garage,” she said.

“We’ve got The Salvage Yard from Castlemaine talking about recycled materials and the difficulty of saving things from sites that have been demolished.

“We have everything right up to the beautiful high-tech passiv haus that is very tightly sealed and keeps the same temperature all year round, regardless of what happens outside.”

Ms Martin said the day will have an emphasis on teaching people how to make their homes more energy efficient.

“We want everybody in Bendigo to be more sustainable,” she said.

“We’re going to have really hot summers with climate change and we want everybody to learn how to add extra insulation and do the simple things that just make their houses more comfortable to live in and also more energy efficient.”

People will also have the chance to ask questions of experts and builders, to learn how to build their own sustainable house like Ms Martin did.

Ms Martin lives in a small plot of land, in the backyard of a subdivided property in Kennington.

“It’s been subdivided off but it still has street frontage, it’s not a battle-axe block, and strangely enough my son used to play in this backyard when he was in primary school,” she said.

“What I do love about it is it just works. I moved in just after the first lockdown and it’s been a real sanctuary.

“I spent three or four months in the first lockdown making the garden out the front and that’s really thriving now.”

The house has a concrete slab floor, highly insulated walls, and a recycled blue and red brick front.

“I’ve only got a three-kilowatt solar system but I haven’t paid a cent for my electricity all year, still in credit even after that grey dreary winter,” Ms Martin said.

To join the event and to learn how to make your own house more sustainable, head to bsg.org.au.