March3, 2017: Massive Erections

Did you know that Australians have the biggest erections in the world?

I’m talking, or course, about the size of our new homes.

When they say ‘acreage design’ I think they’re talking about the floor area but if you read the fine print, the good news is that ‘the layout ensures energy efficiency […]

Feb 24, 2017: PHEV Love

Our PHEV at a remote campsite near Yamba.

We’ve had our Mitsubishi Outlander Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) for over a year now and we absolutely love it. We charge it up from our solar panels during the day and do most of our local driving powered by our own renewable energy. We’ve […]

Feb 2, 2017: Every Home Needs This!

I have an idea for a gadget that I think every home could benefit from and that could also help provide valuable data to research organisations like the CSIRO.

Will Sydney beat the heat record tomorrow?

Right now Sydney is bracing for what is predicted to be the hottest February day on record. […]

Feb 3, 2017: Episode 11 – How To Make a Solar Air Heating Wall

This week we present Episode 11 in our series of short videos about the energy retrofit of the old fibro cottage next to the Greeny Flat. In Episode 10 we explained the reasons why we are turning the whole north wall of the cottage into a Solar Air Heater. In today’s episode we show how.

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Jan 20, 2017: Episode 10 – Why Build a Solar Air Heating Wall?

After a bit of a break over the holiday season we’re back in action on the Energy Retrofit of the old fibro cottage next to the Greeny Flat. This week we present the tenth in our series of short videos about the project. In our last episode we showed how we converted the old brick […]

Jan 13, 2017: Agents of Change and a New Local Brew

Hello again, I’m still working out the details of the Solar Air Heating Wall for the cottage retrofit so no video this week. Instead I’d like to share a couple of interesting developments which have just come to my notice in the last couple of days.

liveability.com.au Aims to Convert Agents of Real Estate into […]

Jan 6, 2017: Starfish and the Cost of Australia’s Poor Quality Houses

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you all had a relaxing break. Cintia and I had an amazing four days PHEV-camping down near Ulladulla which included getting soaked in the best thunderstorm I’ve seen for years; a night out on a boat on a lake under a spectacular moonless, starry sky; a ruined trailer tyre […]

Dec 23, 2016: Episode 9 – What’s a Trombe Wall?

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! It was a big day this week for Pagans and Passive Solar Designers everywhere as the sun hit its highest point in the sky. The sad news for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere is that, from now on the days start to get shorter and shorter…. Winter is Coming! […]

Dec 16, 2016: Episode 8 – Retrofitting Passive Solar

In last week’s YouTube Episode about the Energy Retrofit of the old cottage next to the Greeny Flat we were making our way around to the North wall of the house where replacing the windows and installing the new cladding is getting a bit more complicated. For one thing, in this part of the building […]

Dec 11, 2016: Episode 7 – New Windows in Old Walls

We’re getting close to Christmas and making slow but steady progress on the energy retrofit of the old fibro cottage next to the Greeny Flat. We were slowed down for a while by some tricky flashing and cladding details around the front porch and the curved wall next to it (see Episode 6 here). Plus […]