Designing 5 Star homes and renovations:

An introduction to energy smart design

The Moreland Energy Foundation, with funding from Sustainability Victoria and in partnership with the Australian Institute of Architects, Building Designers Association Victoria and the Building Commission Victoria, is running a series of professional development workshops for the building design industry in August. The workshops are pitched at an introductory level and aim to build participants’ skills in designing energy smart buildings that comply with the 5 Star standard.

The workshop program is as follows:

Workshop 1, 4pm-7pm, 7th August 2008, Sustainability Victoria Function Rooms, Level 28/50 Lonsdale St

Principles of Passive Design

Presenters: Alan Pears (RMIT University and Sustainable Solutions), David Hallett (Archicentre), and Natasha Palich (SENSE Architecture)

Workshop 2, 4pm-7pm, 14th August 2008,, Sustainability Victoria Function Rooms, Level 28/50 Lonsdale St

Complying with Regulations and Understanding Energy Rating

Presenters: Dennis Hogan (Building Commission Victoria), Wayne Floyd (ABSA Consultant and Energy Rater)

For more information please go to www.mefl.com.au and follow the links from the home page.

Places are limited so book early to avoid disappointment.

Please find message below from John at BLEEP ! Blackburn Lake Environmental Education Park, www.bleep.org.au.

This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for your business to help save 5 hectares of some of Australia’s rarest bushland the “Valley Heathy Forest” and become involved in an exciting “Sustainable Living Centre” project.

Located in the heart of Melbourne’s suburbs this bushland is a vital part of a fragile lake and river eco-system and offers:
- Teeming Birdlife. Including Powerful Owls, Parrots and Kookaburra’s
- Over 400 native trees.
- 15 different native grasses.
- Fungi, Lichen & Mosses.
- Native reptiles.

This magnificent bushland contains some existing buildings that will be converted into one of Australia’s leading, not for profit, community - business based sustainable education centres.

Your business’s “Green Dollars” are urgently required to assist the community with the public acquisition of this endangered bushland before the bulldozers carve it up into a residential development.

This is a rare chance for your business to demonstrate its genuine concern for the environment by re-directing some of your marketing budget in an innovative and environmentally friendly way. Your involvement now may allow you to participate in:-
- Board level management.
- Perpetual naming rights.
- On-Site display of products & services.
- Founding member recognition.

For full details on this sensational leading edge approach to protecting our planets fragile environment contact John on 03 9893 6775 or email bleepnow @optusnet.com.au
More Info – WWW.BLEEP.ORG.AU

Thanks from BLEEP ! Blackburn Lake Environmental Education Park

for-sale-rare-melbourne-eco-system.doc

Please see the message below that was posted on the Food Security Network email listserve - an awesome service for project officers, councils, community organisations and others who are addressing food security issues in their local areas in Melbourne. It is to facilitate discussion and the sharing of resources. To join visit http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Content.aspx?topicID=151#cs_783.

VicHealth - Learning From The Field
Friday 1st August 2008
9am – 4pm, Sunshine Convention Centre, Victoria University, 460 Ballarat Road, Sunshine

This forum will present a range of contributions from food security projects across the state funded through VicHealth’s Food for All program. Other complementary VicHealth funded projects will also be participating. VicHealth has published a set of case studies highlighting the strategies implemented by these projects, which will be launched on the day.

Food for All aims to increase regular access to and consumption of a variety of foods by people at risk of food insecurity. The nine participating local government authorities are: Brimbank City Council, Cardinia Shire/City of Casey, Greater Dandenong City Council, Frankston City Council, Maribyrnong City Council, Melton Shire Council, Swan Hill Rural City Council and Wodonga City Council.

Attendance for this FREE event is strictly limited and by registration only. You will receive information about the program and registration details during the week of 7 July.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for this forum, forward your contact details to scooper @vichealth.vic.gov.au
www.vichealth.vic.gov.au

Please see the report below from Amadis Lacheta, Village Well, about the outcomes from the Judy Wicks workshop on the localism movement. It’s fantastic to see the outcomes from one of the many events we promote on SustainableMelbourne.com!

Going Local: Creating sustainable and resilient business networks and communities Workshop, Thursday 22nd May 2008, 100 Mile Café, Melbourne

Thanks to all of you for your enthusiastic participation in the Going Local workshop. Seventy people attended on the day, from a variety of backgrounds including business, environment organisations, local and state government, community, developers and urban design professionals. What follows are the notes that were collated over the course of the day:
1. Panel discussion notes
2. Issues and Opportunities workshop notes
3. Further notes
4. Where to from here? FAQs & further information & resources for setting up sustainable business networks

1 Panel discussion notes- issues and opportunities:
• What support is available to assist ethical enterprises to be successful?
• Home business efficiency network
• Supporting small farming practices – ethical sustainable slaughter of animals
• Growing slowly, organically
• Farmers markets – connecting customers with the people who grow food – directly
• Keeping the values and practices in the take over of independent business by corporations
• Losing $$ from local communities when we invest in corporations
• How can community/environment sector become more business savvy – to continue to do what they do better?
• Social venture networks to support ethical business challenges
• Common market – food distribution business
• What is sustainable growth?
• Community funds- what’s available?
• Sustainable investment- where, with whom?
• The gifting economy- business bartering
• Price discrepancies for local produce- the reality of rural and urban differences in pricing
• The failure of centralised distribution systems – doubling/ tripling transport of goods
• Loss of local produce from local communities- export to city markets
• Government subsidises agribusiness, not small-scale sustainable farming practice
• The real ‘wealth’ of community and the importance of relationships to support ethical enterprises
• How do we encourage local business and trading in an export/import oriented market?
• The importance of building strong relationships between local government and green, local businesses
• Initial government support for ethical business and business enterprises – then business becoming self supporting
• Using the social/ economic structures that already exist to support ethical enterprises

2 Issues and Opportunities Workshop Notes:
2.1 Issue – Getting people to change behaviour
Opportunity – Active participation in alternative models
• Living juicy- fully is an attraction
• Understanding who your local community is
• Having a sense of place – meet, understand history
• Maintaining identity and community through change
• Identity – connectedness (work, sports, friends, schools, cultural)
• Expansionist model (not less – more) – direct feedback; attractive consumption; education
• From belongings to belonging
• Use community leaders- mentors, change agents
Read the rest of this entry »

Please see the message below that was posted on the Food Security Network email listserve - an awesome service for project officers, councils, community organisations and others who are addressing food security issues in their local areas in Melbourne. It is to facilitate discussion and the sharing of resources. To join visit http://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/Content.aspx?topicID=151#cs_783.

Environment Victoria has developed a new plan for its future, setting new strategic priorities and ways of operating. We believe very strongly that Victoria’s environment is at great risk and while Environment Victoria has achieved some excellent outcomes over its 40 years, we need to change the way we work to urgently combat climate change and its devastating impacts on our rivers, biodiversity and land.

More information about the plan can be viewed on our website www.environmentvictoria.org.au.

The section below is republished with permission from the Going Solar Transport Newsletter #65, 23 June 2008, compiled by Stephen Ingrouille. Going Solar, www.goingsolar.com.au/transport. This newsletter provides an excellent commentary on local sustainable transport issues in Melbourne.

2008 Banksia Award Finalists
Tindo the Solar Electric Bus (Adelaide)
“The Adelaide City Council has set a new international standard for sustainable commuter transport with the introduction of Tindo – the world’s first solar powered electric bus. Harnessing the power of the sun, Tindo is a carbon neutral vehicle that’s recharged using solar energy generated by a unique solar PV system installed on the roof of the Council’s new Adelaide Central Bus Station. Tindo was built by respected New Zealand bus and coach manufacturer Designline, and operates every day on the Adelaide City Council’s free Connector Bus service, carrying up to 40 passengers in air conditioned comfort. At the heart of Tindo’s cutting edge technology are 11 sodium-nickel chloride Zebra batteries, which are lightweight and virtually maintenance free, are designed for long life, aren’t affected by external temperatures, and deliver an operational range of 200 kilometres between charges. Tindo represents a significant investment by the Adelaide City Council into a sustainable future for the City of Adelaide.”

Inner Northern Busway (Brisbane)
“The Queensland Government’s $333 million, 1.2 km, Inner Northern Busway, stretching from Queen Street to Upper Roma Street (INB), is the critical link in a network of busways that will eventually span Brisbane. The Translink-owned INB will give buses a safe, direct, traffic-free run through the most congested parts of the inner city, help reclaim Brisbane’s heart for pedestrians and cyclists and underpin new ‘walkable’ urban developments. It will also facilitate unparalleled integration of transport services by placing a cycle centre within a busway station and a busway station within a rail station. Nationally, the INB is one of the first heavy, civil infrastructure projects to holistically address sustainability, incorporating carbon-saving measures into the busway’s design, construction and operational plans and setting a new industry benchmark. The INB will offer commuters compelling new reasons to swap their car for the bus each day and join the fight against climate change.”

Metro Transit Awards
“The Metro Awards - created to recognize leaders in the mass transit industry around the world - are used to reward systems that have shown an ‘unparalleled ability to succeed.’ Calgary Transit (Canada) won the Special Merit Award for Contribution to the Environment for its Ride-the-Wind program. The program … uses wind-generated electricity to power the city’s light-rail transit system. It has increased power costs by less than one-half of one per cent per passenger - a cost transit officials argue is nominal considering the benefits to the environment. The award was one of 11 announced by a panel of judges in Copenhagen, Denmark. Others initiatives include: car heaven, which encourages Alberta drivers to turn in their older, polluting vehicles for six months’ worth of transit passes; bus wash water recycling, which uses recycled wastewater; and low-sulphur diesel fuel.”
Ref: Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald 9/4/08