As avid climate conscious peeps we decided to compare our two heating options as we both work from home, so all day heating in winter is necessary. Whilst the wood burner requires a bit more effort; finding or purchasing the wood, stacking said wood, intermittent trips to stack wood into the house, not to mention the endless vacuuming; a months supply of wood worked about to be around $300. Now compared with the cost of ‘green’ electricity to run the AC, turned out to only be around an extra $5 per day, half the cost of wood per month.

Not all of us have choices when it comes to heating or cooling our homes, however the use of gas to heat or cook with in your home will not be an option in the future if you live in Victoria.

You may of come across the news of the Victorian Governments active shift towards all electric homes, with the introduction of no new gas connections to all new homes and subdivision starting in 2024. Additional to this, the next building code upgrade which will the required energy performance to shift up to 7 stars in place by May 2024, albeit late.

Whilst the real world feasibility of transitioning your home to be better for the planet is always easier said then done. Federal and state government will need to provide the leadership through regulations and codes, as this will help to drive change and innovation in the private sectors.

However, state government programs will be required to address the various barriers to support the disadvantaged through rebates as well as incentives for landlords to make the changes the renters seek.

But don’t worry you don’t have to wait for impactful government intervention or more progressive and innovative businesses that put the planet over profits to reduce your energy consumption.

I have outlined 3 different ways to help reduce your energy costs for both renters and homeowner alike.

1. Draught-Proof your home

   Unless you have built or purchased a house based on passive design principles chances are your home is not air-tight. Draught -proofing your house is a relativley inexpensive way to get the most out of your energy to heat or/and cool your home. This includes covering your windows to plugging the gaps around your doors and even rugs! Check out this article by CSIRO to explore the different ways to can make your home more energy efficient.

2. Find out how you use energy around your house or get a rebate on your new energy efficient appliance

   If your energy costs have sky rocketed over the past year and you are wanting to get these costs down, perhaps identifying any energy hot spots around your home is an option. Or maybe your ready to swap out your old electric hot water water for a heat pump. Each State and Territory has rebates and incentives to purchase an energy efficient appliance. The Australian Government Energy Website has extensive resources as a great starting point.

3. Design for the future

   Whilst I have my own personal opinion on the way new housing divisions are planned, the most effective way to manage your future and on going energy consumption is to get the design right. My top tips are

   1. Build the smallest footprint - we do not need multiple living rooms! The smaller the space the less space to be heated or cooled.

   2. Get the orientation right. This can have a significant impact on the solar gains (heat) your house receives through out summer and winter impacting your energy use.

   3. Insulation, this is the single most effective way (including renovations) to reduce thermal gains and losses. If your choosing between double glazed windows or the best quality and greater coverage of insulation - insulation will give you more bang for your buck.

   4. Incorporate Passive Design principles where ever you can! There is a increasing amount of home builders out there who specialise in passive design. I highly recommend seeking a quote for comparison however ensure your confirm the costs of across the lifecycle and not just the initial build - you might be pleasantly surprised!

For additional information, tip and guides Your Home is an excellent resource.

Choosing your source of energy is one impactful way to use your buying power to support the planet, however combining this with reducing your energy use, even if you have solar and battery set up is the ultimate outcome.

How will you change energy use around your home?

Hold on to your panties, shits going to get rough, and this climate driven shit storm will not be distributed equally. The privileged will continue to be  buffered whilst the poor and disadvantaged bear the brunt of the social, economic and environmental changes that are coming at us. Change is coming fast, dressed up as extreme climate events, that will impact both human and natural systems.

OR we avoid the worst of what's coming and choose to be part of changing the course. Our actions now, even at an individual level, can create a better 22nd century for all. And if history is anything to go by, in the face of change we invariably adapt.

Before I link the basics of climate science to your humble home there is some simple science based earth history that we need to discuss first, and if, like me, you paid little to no attention to history, science and everything else that wasn’t physical education at school I will keep it simple.

The period after the dinosaurs froze their butts off and allowed for Homo sapiens to evolve is called the Holocene. This period was dominated by stable conditions that were perfect for humans to evolve from cave peeps to the assortment of people that we see spread across the global today.

However those stable conditions (carbon in the atmosphere, ice stored across the globe, increasing biodiversity - the list is extensive) are under threat and when these the conditions start changing significantly, it means that the environmental conditions that continued human existence physically requires are no longer stable. These changes are expressed as extreme climate events and in 2023 there is no country that hasn't experienced an extreme climate event.

For over three decades we have been told by scientists, that earths systems (which are responsible for the management of the life sustaining conditions) are changing and there is growing evidence that these changes are caused by human activity.

Enter the Anthropocene, the proposed period in which the earth has entered. This period is defined by the significant changes that are occurring to earth's systems, change caused by human activity.

So how do we know about these changes? Steffen et al (2009)1 identified 9 key systems known as planetary boundaries. Each system plays a significant role in keeping the earth's conditions stable, but, and more importantly, the functionality of the these systems is interdependent. By tracking these boundaries against their calculated capacities we are able to see how close we are from destabilising the planet's systems and therefore, those pesky life sustaining conditions.

These planetary boundaries are constantly re-evaluated to include the latest research and data for measuring just how close we are to irreparably destabilising the environmental conditions that have allowed human life to flourish.

In my next post I will start to introduce the planetary boundaries and how your home affects these integral earth systems.

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And so it begins...

I was driving home from work this week listening to one of my fav bands, I subconsciously started singing along…..

It has to start somewhere

It has to start sometime

What better place then here?

What better time than now?

The reflection begun, it has to start and we are running out of time; so here I am presenting to the intergoogleweb of the world, myself and Twenty Two Bricks.

1. My why

The construction, operation and maintenance of our buildings contribute around a quarter of all greenhouse gases (GHG) 1 in Australia alone. In 2022 the Australian Government has committed to reducing our GHG emissions by a whopping 43% below our 2005 emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.2 This is no small feat and these goals cannot be achieved through carbon credit schemes alone.

I have worked professionally within the built environment for 15 years, and in this time I continue to see reluctance and hesitation to build in a way that better serves people and planet. The building industry is notorious for lacking in innovation and willingness to change. This obsolescent approach to creating our built environment is impacting our ability to fast track solutions that reduce the impact on our planet.

Although this reluctance exists, people are becoming increasingly aware of climate change and its impacts. The annual Ipsos Climate Change Report in 2022, showed that 83% of Australians are concerned about climate change, and 67% of Australians feel a responsibility to act and do something about it. This report also showed that Australian’s are leading the way with solar panel installation.3

I know of and have witnessed the innovation and opportunity for change in this industry, yet applying sustainable principles to the built environment can be considered, a nice to have, afforded by the privileged or the courageous. This is partly due to the gap in knowing what is possible and achievable, and an even bigger gap between knowledge and action.

2. Building better homes for the 22nd Century

The fact is, our choices of this Century will impact the next Century, and children born today will live and experience the 22nd Century. Whilst it can be overwhelming, there are options available. Twenty Two Bricks will bring you information and knowledge distilled into easy to understand format so you can learn and take action toward changes, big or small, that will have a lasting and positive impact on our planet.

Twenty Two Bricks is about closing the gap between knowledge and action by empowering you, the everyday person, to make choices that will positively impact the home you live in, this planet included.

I want to cut through the greenwashing, disinformation and misinformation to provide you access to information and knowledge of the sustainable options available for the home you live in whether you rent or bought your home.

3. The game plan

Whilst I work away in the background wrangling technology, I will be sharing, discussing, comparing, celebrating and challenging all things sustainability within the built environment through my newsletter here.

I want  to hear from you; have you been on a sustainability journey building or renovating your home? are you just looking for ways to have less impact? what do you want to know more about?, what pisses you off?, what experience was amazing and everyone should know about?

I want to know about it.

Whether we like it or accept it, change is coming and this change is deeply necessary. But this is a journey that is shared, and I want to empower you to make informed and impactful decisions that contribute towards a better 22nd Century.

Lets spark curiosity of what can be possible as there are already so many inspiring people in Australia doing incredible work.

Because our choices today, impact everyone's tomorrows.

Hit me up at tamara@twentytwobricks to chat or tell me if you know the band and song name of the lyrics.

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