ARC News #14

Transforming an out-dated Maylands building into a state-of-the-art community facility has impressed the Master Builders Association of Western Australia

Story of Change

From the producers of the Story of Stuff. There's a great survey at the end to find out what your role is.

Green Drinks Perth

Housing Sustainability: A Perth Green Drinks forum

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"Another great newsletter"
- Chris

Greetings!

Well July is behind us, the driest July on record. If you ever need a reminder of climate change look at your rain gauge- it is real!

Work progresses on a number of fronts, ARCshelter is developing in leaps and bounds, see story below. ARCactive (sustainability lifestyle certification) goes live next month, more details to follow. ARCeden continues to focus on marketing environmental projects, it is great to see Halo starting construction.

Last month I am pleased to say I completed the first level of my Noongar language course. Wow what a complicated language. Whilst attending these lessons I am constantly reminded of the amazing connection to country the indigenous have with the land. This is a constant source of inspiration to me.

We are working with Cultural Corridors to re-engage people with country in particular disenfranchised aboriginal youth. The statistics are alarming, 85% of our jails are full of aboriginal people who represent less than 5% of our population. It is hoped that this reconnection with country and reestablishing the cultural links will be a way of mending this unacceptable incarceration rate.

Looking forward to Sustainable September (see story below).

Till next month,

Marc

National Tree Day

Did you get your hands dirty on National Tree Day on July 28th?

National Tree Day provides all Australians with an opportunity to do something positive for the environment and reconnect with nature.

Kyilla Park in North Perth had over 80 volunteers and 2000 native plants were in by 10.30am. It was great to hear about the hydro-zoning the City of Vincent is implementing to water different areas of public spaces accordingly. Creating native garden borders is part of this initiative.

Over on the Esplanade in Perth there was a slightly more political Tree Day meeting where people had their say on issues such as the proposed destruction of the 300 trees in Wembley, the Hamilton Hill Tuart, the 43 Charles Riley Reserve trees in N.Beach, 150 trees at the Carine TAFE site and the hundreds in Point Peron on Bush Forever reserved land.

If you have any interest in getting involved in defending public spaces in WA contact Leisha Jack on leisha_jack@aapt.net.au.

ARCshelter - Mia²

Month 3: Bricks, Insulation & Waste Management

Work is progressing in leaps and bounds with the roof anticipated to go on mid-August.

All the planning and material selection is paying dividends with an incredibly quick building program.

This month clay and concrete bricks (selected for best thermal performance and minimal maintenance) went up with insulation to the cavity and further insulation to be installed behind the reverse brick veneer and wood-clad walls. Tontine Insulation is a fantastic product as it not only gives very good thermal performance but is made of recycled plastic bottles in Western Australia.

Building is a messy business and creates a lot of waste. It's important to think about this when building any property. We have selected Earthcare to best manage our waste accordingly.

Read more on
Tontine Insulation

Earthcare Waste Management

Sustainable September

Sustainable House Day - 9/9/12. Calling for volunteers and display homes!

Sustainable September demonstrates sustainability in action in WA, and celebrates the people who are creating a sustainable future, in community, business, government, industry and education.

There are many different events taking place during the month and we are involved with Solar Dwellings in Sustainable House Day on September 9th.

This is a fantastic opportunity for people to check out houses in their neighbourhoods that are leading the way with sustainable building initiatives.

For more information about volunteering your house or time please contact Marc on 0412 928 504 or marc.drexel@arceden.net

Read more about Sustainable House Day...

Living Smart - Rubbish Trip

The final group outing with our fellow living smarties was to see where all our rubbish goes.

The first stop was Neerabup, where many councils regular green bins are taken. After driving past a few treeless suburbs we came to the new and quite impressive plant (we calculated it costs $3.2 million each year in running costs alone to get the trucks to and fro each day).

The good news is about 30% of all general waste is turned into usable compost, the bad news is the plant can only handle 80% of total waste so 20% goes straight to landfill.

One of the highlights were rows of gardens beds designed to highlight the benefits of using compost and mulch opposed to mulch only or nothing (although the native plants fared quite well left to their own devices).
Tamala Tip Shop

We moved onto Tamala Park which is houses our current landfill hole. It was fun to discover the tip shop - a great place to take things that aren't quite ready for landfill but need to move on from your house.

The biggest lesson - REDUCE WASTE!

Real People, Real Difference.
Steve Kinchin, Evoke Design Group

Meet Steve Kinchin, director of a boutique sustainable design consultancy specialising in energy-efficient building design [solar passive] for new homes as well as extensions and renovations.

This year Evoke Design Group were the winner of the HIA GreenSmart Custom Built Home of the Year and the 2012 GreenSmart Home of the Year.