Follow us on our journey to achieve a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle on our 5-acre block in Bullsbrook, around one hour north of the Perth CBD, Western Australia – just on the northern side of Perth's Swan Valley.
We’ve read stories about what has led other folk into the tree-change lifestyle, and guess we’re no different in our reasoning. For us, we love the quiet country life, and would like to provide an opportunity for our children (and future grandchildren) to enjoy the unique experience of rural living. It is our intention to build a home that can sustain our lifestyle in an environmentally friendly manner.
We had been looking at blocks in the Bullsbrook and Chittering areas for the past few years, and knew that we had stumbled upon something special when we found this gem late in 2008. We immediately fell in love with the peaceful and tranquil surroundings, and felt that the combination of existing vegetation and flat land would be perfect for us to build our future home.
We’ll try to check in regularly to share our experiences of how we are going with our plans, and hope to hear of your own stories as well.
Hooroo,
Dean
To assist with covering the costs associated with hosting this website/blog, we would appreciate it if you could check out the odd Google ad – it might just be what you are looking for.
If you're looking for an easy-to-read and uncomplicated e-book about healthy and simple living, then this is one worth looking at!
Many books that we find on living a healthier lifestyle often turn out to fall short of the promises that we see before buying, and let's be honest – how much time and money should it take to live smarter?
Written by someone from our local area, this book is worth a look, and doesn't need to be read from cover-to-cover. By reading a little at a time we pick up handy tips and tricks that don't require us to make big changes in order to get positive results.
Since finishing the preparation of the garden bed (click here to see Part 1), we planted a few vegetables and herbs on January 9th. This included:
Vegetables:
Sweetcorn,
Tomatos,
Lettuce (a couple of varieties),
Rhubarb,
Brocolli,
Silverbeet,
Capsicum,
Pac Choi.
Herbs:
Oregano,
Standard and Sweet Basil,
Parsley.
The photos below show the newly planted seedlings. I wonder if we have planted more than we should have in the space that we have available, though time will tell. Generally, each seedling has about 30-40cm between them.
What does it mean to build a house that is environmentally friendly?
There seems to be so much material out there telling us to be more environmentally responsible when building new homes. Pressure to reduce carbon footprint, use solar passive design, capture rainwater, re-use greywater, install water efficient taps and showerheads, install grid-connected solar panel systems, build with environmentally friendly materials, reduce power consumption….
How does the average punter navigate his/her way through all of this material? How can someone with the average-sized suburban block do their bit? What expectations should people have of themselves if they have a rural block of land? How do we strike a balance between preserving natural vegetation and reducing the threat of bushfire from existing trees? Is it cost-effective to build with all this in mind? Are materials suppliers and builders becoming more attuned to these issues without ripping of the consumer?
I don't believe that the answers to these questions will be easy to find, or even equally relevant to all people. I hope that you can join me on a long-term project to see if the above goals can be achieved by the average family.
Hope to see you along the way, and love to hear about your own experiences.
I visited a major distributor of rainwater tanks, and related accessories, a couple of days ago putting the sales rep through a number of what must have been annoying questions for this novice.
The questions that I had are outlined below, along with the information and recommendations suggested. The Commonwealth Government booklet that I referred to in my previous blog entry was also referred to.
1. What volume of rainwater storage capacity should I aim to achieve: Given the roughly 700mm of rainfall per year in this area, I should make a calculation on the assumption that annual rainfall may often be only 80% of this – that is 560mm. Further, on average approximately 2mm of rainfall per month will be lost in absorption and wetting of surfaces. The home that I am looking to build will have approximately 415 sq/m of roof area for rainwater capture. Therefore, in most years I could reasonably expect to capture:
Total annual rainwater capture in Litres = [ (80% of average annual rainfall in mm - 24mm) x Total roof area in sq/m]
Total annual rainwater capture in Litres = (560 – 24) x 415
Total annual rainwater capture in Litres = 222,440 Litres.
Of course, there will be years of greater and less rainwater, so I also don't want to be short of storage capacity in the years of favourable rainfall. Ideally I would like to be able to store at least 250 kL in case we decide to install a swimming pool, or in the case where water is required for firefighting.
This would meet the local council requirement of a minimum 120,000 litre minimum capacity water tank(s) connected to roof catchments.
2. How many tanks should be installed: Due to the north-facing layout of our block (top of below picture), we will likely install the main tank approximately 20 metres behind the house (out-of-sight and out-of-the-way). A suggestion was made to install a couple of 10 kL tanks on each side of the house to collect rainwater, and have a pressure pump to feed water from these tanks to the main tank (e.g. 230 kL). A pump will be required as there is a slight upward slope from the back of the house to the proposed rainwater tank location. All plumbing delivering water to the house would then come from the main tank.
We are also looking to put up a shed behind the house, which will be able to gravity-feed water straight to the main tank. The space either side of the building envelope (indicated by the red square) are the 20-metre setbacks required by our local council.
As there are trees in the proposed building envelope, we will need to convince the council that in removing these trees we will make up for this in planned permaculture projects on the currently cleared land at the front of the block.
3. Is there any major difference between poly or steel-lined tanks: Both types of tanks are considered tried-and-true. The larger tank will need to be steel-lined as poly tanks aren't built to this capacity. I am unsure about whether one type or another has an advantage during the threat of bushfire, though the sales representative suggested that the heat from approaching bushfire will likely affect both types equally severely.
4. Various accessories: I enquired about the following -
Pumps: Delivery of water from the smaller tanks to the main tank can be achieved with a relatively small pressure pump that can deliver about 25 litres per minute (cost approx. $260). The larger tank delivering water to the house will require a larger pump capable of about 80 litres per minute (cost approx $1,100).
Filtering: The sales rep recommended that a high-quality sediment filter be installed for all water pumped from the main tank to the house (i.e. domestic use). This will remove any smaller items of suspended sediment in the water, having an obvious improved effect on taste. Carbon filters can also be installed which further improve the quality of drinking water, though this is a personal choice.
Flow meter: The sales rep was quite amused when I asked if flow meters can be installed to measure what has actually been pumped from the main tank to the house (apparently had never had anyone ask before!). While living in my previous house (on mains water), I would take weekly meter readings to see if water use had increased (we have 4 children – including 3 teenagers). As we will be relying on rainwater for all domestic needs, it will be important to me to see that water is being used responsibly.
All up this is looking to be quite costly – likely up to $20,000 for tanks and other equipment. Although there will be no water rates from the council. I wonder if there is a better strategy.
I've been working on a raised garden bed in the backyard of my in-laws house in suburban Perth which we're hoping will return a year-round supply of herbs and vegetables.
We have designed it so that a rectangular vegetable garden will receive close to full sun, and a curved section that receives considerably more shade will be good for herbs and flowers. The following photos show the partially constructed structure.
Raised garden bed under construction – November 2009
Rectangular Garden Bed (vegetables)
Curved Garden Bed (herbs and flowers)
Since finishing the main structure in November 2009, the past couple of months have been spent adding reticulation, paper, lawn clippings, other general garden waste and fill sand (excess from another part of the yard). Next will be to take a trailer down to the garden supply yard to pick up some compost for the top.
The photos below were taken today (7 January 2010), which show that the garden bed is roughly half-full, reticulated, and only needing a little fill sand and compost before we start planting. The white buckets with blue lids are our attempts to create 'worm towers' within the garden bed. For the worm towers we've followed Leonnie Shanahan's interesting YouTube video. By the time that topsoil and compost has been added, only the top inch or so of the worm towers should be visible.
Getting ready to compost (January 2010)
Worm Tower bucket – holes drilled for worms to enter/exit
Father-in-law showing bottom of bucket cut out
Garden bed with three worm towers
Now that the hardest of the work is done, it's time to add top-soil and compost, and get set for planting. We have 12 Isa Brown chickens in a coop to the left of the vegetable garden, so will circulate soil from the coop to the garden.
Unfortunately there is no mains water supply to our block, so we will need to put in a rainwater storage tank or two.
With an average annual rainfall of around 700mm in the Bullsbrook area we'll have to make the most of rainwater storage, water re-use and perhaps a bore. With one square metre of roof-space producing one litre of water for each millimetre of rainfall, this equates to approximately 700 litres of water per square metre of roof area on an average rainfall year.
However, we are aware that we can not rely on average rainfall every year, and should look to maximise roof area to provide the required amount of water during the drier years. Naturally, the house design will aim to achieve this, while also being supplemented by the additional roof area of a shed.
The main questions for us will be:
What capacity of water storage should we looking at when it comes to purchasing water tanks?'.
Given that all household water will be reused by water recycling (that is, grey-water use and sub-surface irrigation to plants), apart from normal domestic needs, how much water will we need to support our aims?
Is it best to install one large tank alone next to the house, or smaller tanks on either side of the house that feed into the main tank (which may be further away)?
In addition to domestic water needs, we'll need water for:
Vegetable gardens,
Fire protection,
Yard maintenance.
It is our plan to install water-wise devices when we build our home, such as taps and shower heads, and to limit showers to a minimum, though I suppose that only time will tell.
While looking into this issue I have stumbled upon a helpful resource from the Australian Commonwealth Government Environmental Health Council. Though it's a bit technical in places, I didn't find this to be a heavy read, and it may provide some assistance on a few of these questions if you are in the same position as us. Follow this link to the 'Guidance on use of Rainwater Tanks'.
We've spent the past few months looking at so many building designs, and find that whilst many have some advantages over others, until now none have managed to capture everything that we're looking for.
The main things that are important to us are:
Long north-facing house design, with a minimal east/west exposure.
Ability to ventilate the house naturally from southerly breezes that come through the trees.
Maximise use of natural lighting into living areas.
Outdoor living areas to the north and south sides of the house to take advantage of weather conditions.
Zoned living areas achieving:
Adults area at one end of house for master bedroom, study and cinema;
Kids area including all other bedrooms, activity room and bathroom; and
Shared/common living area including kitchen, dining, lounge and access to front and rear alfresco.
Many builders that we've spoken with also either don't build in Bullsbrook, or insist on adding 1-2% to the building cost as a premium simply for the pleasure of doing so. However, those who are forward-thinking enough to anticipate the future urban sprawl of Perth are beginning to see the possibilities of providing a professional building service to those building in the Bullsbrook/Chittering/Muchea area.
This being said, one particular building company we've stumbled upon seems to have a design that can be modified to achieve this wish-list. The salesperson who we're working with appears to have a very good approach towards the customer, and we get a good feeling. Further, this builder seems to have a common-sense approach towards involving other contractors that will be needed to install other infrastructure such as rainwater tanks and grey-water recycling systems.
If this eventuates we'll post this information as plans take shape.
As temporary custodians of this Earth, we're just starting to understand what Bill Mollison and David Holmgren were onto back in the 1970's on the issue of permaculture.
If you're eager to dip your toe into the water of this fascinating and common-sense approach, then the following videos (courtesy of YouTube) may be somewhere to start. This link to the Permaculture Research Institute should also be helpful.
This introduction to permaculture introduces concepts including:
The disaster of agriculture,
The importance of biodiversity,
Design in planting, and
The connection between plants and animals.
This concept makes so much sense, it's a wonder that it's not taught in every school.
Most of us can understand the benefits of home-grown produce, whether it's vegetables straight from the garden, fruit trees, free-range eggs. We want to teach our children of the rewards of giving to the earth in order to receive from it.
In preparation for life on our block, we are experimenting in a relative's backyard in building a raised garden bed. The garden bed will span the entire backyard, making the most of full-sun and semi-shade areas. As this comes to fruition we will add photos and share our experiences.
