By Jessica Anstice
A sustainable, eco-friendly Beaconsfield Upper house will be open for the public to learn some things that can be done to make a difference to the environment, no matter how big or small.
Dragan Vulin is opening up his home to help promote cheaper utility bills and a healthier way of living by means of sustainable building practices.
Sustainable House Day (SHD) is an annual national event taking place on 15 September.
The event is organised and run by RENEW, a national non-for-profit organisation that inspires, enables and advocates for people to live sustainably in their own homes.
In 2018 they had over 33,000 interested people visiting 226 open homes.
Mr Vulin’s home is still under construction but will be one of many open homes in the area that will give the public a chance to walk through and ask questions from unbiased homeowners.
There will be new homes, some still under construction and some retro fit ideas as well as solar installations and people talking about their electric vehicles.
“My home has been built using recycled bricks, high performance double glazed windows, internal recycled brick feature walls for thermal mass to aid in maintaining internal temperature, mechanically operated clerestory windows to purge unwanted heat and incorporates smart passive design principles,” Mr Vulin said.
“We home grow many varieties of fruit and vegetables and harvest all our own water.
“We hope to include many other features for next year’s SHD including a chicken coop, a natural pool using reed beds and a windmill for filtration along with some deciduous plantings to the north elevation to provide shading during the summer months.”
Having a bushfire overlay also means the home has been built to achieve BAL 40 certification, some of which are governed by building codes whilst other use smart design principles.
“I hope to share my knowledge and learn from visitors on the day about many other sustainable design principles.”
