Reminder of design impact

Your news item in the last issue about Enviroarch winning the Master Builders Association awards for sustainable building was a timely reminder of the environmental impact of design.

Like the Killcare house they designed, we could all be living and working in buildings that generate energy and harvest resources like water, wind and solar power.

Such buildings are naturally warm in winter and cool in summer.

Instead, most buildings are poorly oriented, badly designed, built of unsustainable materials and encourage us to guzzle non-renewable resources.

They're freezing in winter and boiling in summer.

Another way to reduce our environmental impact is by growing plant food.

This provides easy outdoor exercise and cuts down on the energy used to get goods to and from the supermarket.

Home-grown produce is also freshly-picked and it looks, smells and tastes like real food.

Further, growing food can be a feature of energy-efficient buildings.

Planting deciduous vines or espaliered fruit trees such as grape or peach on the building's north side allows winter sun in, but keeps summer sun out.

This keeps the inside temperature more stable, and reduces the desire for artificial heating or cooling.

Cost savings all round.

Email, 26 Sep 2012

Shirley Hotchkiss, Umina