Archive for the ‘Visions’ Category
Visions refer to ideas for a sustainable future in Melbourne. Visions links in strongly with the overall Victorian Eco-Innovation Lab (VEIL) project, which designs visions to change our current direction towards a more sustainable future. Posts here on Sustainable Melbourne relate to visions produced by people and organisations based in Melbourne, while more information can be found about the VEIL visions on the VEIL website. If you are involved with a local environmental visioning project you are welcome to post information about your work on Sustainable Melbourne. To do so visit the “How to use this site” page and follow the prompts.
Australia’s Premier Handbook on Sustainable Homes Design
Posted in Research, Visions by sashashtargot on May 9th, 2011
From the Passive Design Section: Solar shading in Summer and heating in Winter using trees or eaves.
The updated fourth edition of Your Home Technical Manual is now available.
Your Home is a thorough compendium with 340 pages of environmentally sustainable solutions for designing and building a home. For people who are building, buying or renovating, it shows how to make a more comfortable home that has less impact on the environment – one that will also be more economical, healthier to live in and adaptable to changing needs.
A project of the Federal Government in collaboration with the building and design industry, Your Home is written by architects, designers and builders and edited by award-winning architect Paul Downton. The fourth edition has updates on insulation, lighting and solar hot water.
Your Home is a comprehensive guide to:
- Building with sustainable materials
- Passive solar design
- Designing and building for your climate
- How to collect and save water
- Insulation products and installation
- Shading and ventilation
- Energy-saving appliances
- Solar hot water
- Energy-efficient lighting
- Renewable energy for home
The manual is available for download (section by section) from the yourhome.gov.au website. Hard copies are available for purchase from The Alternative Technology Association’s Online Shop or contact the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) on (03) 9631 5401.
Your Home Technical Manual is distributed by the ATA, Australia’s leading not-for-profit organisation promoting renewable energy, green building and water saving in the home.
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Visioning 2032: Short Films on a Sustainable Future
Posted in Visions by Kate Archdeacon on February 23rd, 2011
The Victorian Eco Innovation Lab (VEIL) has launched a series of thirteen one-minute films at Federation Square, which will run within the regular content on the Big Screen over the next few months. The films are responses to some of the questions VEIL has been asking since the project started in 2007:
What could a sustainable neighbourhood in Melbourne look like? How could we transform a number of our existing urban communities through design ‘interventions’?
If we are to develop low-carbon resilient suburbs in Melbourne, we need to have some vision of what a desirable future living scenario is, and the changes we can make today to set us on a path there. The films are a glimpse of that potential future. The animated films are a culmination of four years’ worth of work by students and staff from Swinburne University, RMIT University, Monash University and the University of Melbourne, as well as from Melbourne design professionals. Each presents a different area of sustainable design innovation. These include new infrastructure schemes for water, food, energy and public transport, along with innovative design strategies for suburban development and new local employment opportunities.
The films can be seen here, on the VEIL website, or they can be downloaded from Vimeo (once you log in).
Sustainable Melbourne is a project of the Victorian Eco Innovation Lab.
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Melbourne’s Greenest Landlord
Posted in Models, Visions by sashashtargot on January 11th, 2011
Melbourne’s Greenest Landlord
Shane Merrick is not your typical cost-saving landlord. He has gone out of his way to turn his investment property in Hampton into a model of sustainability.
Shane has installed a greywater system that feeds water from the shower and roof into the garden, a rainwater tank, solar hot water system, energy-efficient lighting, and insulated the roof and walls, including double insulation in the attic.
He has won the Green Landlord Award from the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) after a competition in its magazine, ReNew. The ATA is Australia’s leading not-for-profit organization promoting renewable energy, water saving and sustainable design in the home.
Shane is proud his tenants have free hot water during Melbourne’s sunnier months thanks to the solar hot water unit he installed.
“My wife and I are very keen to help the environment as much as possible where we can,” he says. “We decided to reduce the footprint of our Hampton investment property for future tenants.”
Jacinta Cleary, editor of ReNew, says the number of landlords going green is increasing. Some are spurred on by strong environmental awareness, while others are attracted by incentives like tax breaks, rebates or increasing the overall value of their property.
“Either way it’s good news for tenants struggling with utility bills and a great step towards making all properties more environmentally friendly.”
Jacinta says Shane is a worthy winner of the Green Landlord Award due to the range of energy-saving measures he has put into his investment property.
“A lot of them are just commonsense. The most important thing he did was install insulation so the tenants don’t need to use the heater as much. This is what everyone should do first.”
ReNew editor Jacinta Cleary: (03) 9631 5415/0403 679 428
Melbourne 2032: Short Films at Fed Square
Posted in Visions by Kate Archdeacon on December 27th, 2010
The Victorian Eco Innovation Lab (VEIL) has a series of short films currently showing on the big screen at Federation Square. Images from the work of students and their lecturers from four Melbourne universities show what a low-consumption, sustainable life could be like in Melbourne 2032. Films currently screening are “Urban Food: Neighbourhoods“, “Urban Food: School Gardens“, “Future Trams” and “Slow Travel Connects to Fast Rail“.
Check them out over summer, or visit the VEIL website to see many more student works: www.ecoinnovationlab.com/design-studios
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“Control Your Carbon Dioxides”: Future Shots Winning Film
Posted in Movements, Visions by Kate Archdeacon on December 16th, 2010
Eleven-year-old Cara Thomas of Deepdene has taken out the Sustainability Victoria Award for Best Film at Future Shots 2010, along with two other major awards on the night. Cara’s film Control Your Carbon Dioxides was named the best sustainability-themed film by a young Victorian at last night’s Future Shots awards, held at ACMI Cinemas. The Carey Baptist Grammar Junior School student won $2000 for the award and also picked up the best film in the under 12 category ($350 cash prize) and the Smart Energy Film Award, which includes an energy audit of her school. Cara spent hours painstakingly moulding and filming her claymation tale of the green, beret-wearing EnviroMan who refuses to be devastated by people’s overuse of CO?.
Other films featured a talking can who desperately wants to be recycled, a raindrop whose mission is to be treated preciously by the school it lands in, and a moving documentary about a man whose dying wish is to be buried naturally (not cremated), encouraging a return to sustainable burial.
Twenty-six of Victoria’s best young filmmaking teams gathered at ACMI cinemas for youth environmental filmmaking’s night of nights. Among the awards presenters were Faustina “Fuzzy” Agolley from Video Hits, Chris Judd (Visy Environmental Ambassador and Carlton Football Club captain), and the CEO of Sustainability Victoria, Anita Roper. “All of the entrants showed great passion and knowledge of sustainability. I was very inspired by the filmmakers’ creativity in expressing their hopes about our future,” Mrs Roper said. “It was a fantastic night.”
For the second year running, Future Shots challenged Victorians under 25 to make a film of under three minutes addressing the theme of sustainability. Winners received over $10,000 in cash and prizes with films received by young animators, documentary and fiction filmmakers from across the state.
Visit the Future Shots website to watch the award-winning films.
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Climate Communities grants – first list of funded projects
Posted in Models, Policies, Visions by Kate Archdeacon on November 16th, 2010
 Image by donkeykart via flickr: CC license | A list of the first projects to funded under the Climate Communities grants has been released on the Climate Communities website. There are 18 projects from Ballarat to the Mallee and the Surf Coast amongst others from all over the state.
Share, learn and connect at Briar Hill Gippsland innovates with carbon education
Warrnambool action a cultural change Sustainable practices, the Wonthaggi way |
Mt Buffalo Chalet re-opens under a ‘community enterprise model’
Posted in Models, Visions by Rob Eales on November 3rd, 2010
The Minister for the Environment and Climate Change, Gavin Jennings today announced that a north-east-based company, Mount Buffalo Community Enterprise Pty. Ltd (MBCE), has been set up to investigate a community enterprise model to take over the lease of the Mt Buffalo Chalet.
Following an 18 month tender process to find a new operator, MBCE has entered into a 12 month ‘exclusive negotiation period’ with Parks Victoria to explore the community enterprise potential for the Chalet.
Social Traders is one of the 16 foundation shareholders in the fledgling company. It is chaired by John Brown from Brown Brothers Wines in Milawa. Also involved as shareholders are Tom O’Toole from the Beechworth Bakery and former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer of Mudgegonga, previously Boree Creek.
At the Company’s inaugural meeting held at Mt Buffalo Chalet recently, its Chairman, John Brown, said: “This is an exciting and innovative project for our region. It’s something that all the communities of the Alpine Valleys and North East can be involved in.”
David Brookes, Managing Director of Social Traders said, “The proposed redevelopment of the Chalet by the North East community has the potential to create an iconic social enterprise for Victoria and we welcome the opportunity to support the business planning process over the next 12 months.”
If, as a result of the feasibility assessment and business planning over the next year, they decide to proceed, MBCE will need to look at capital raising options that will enable others to invest in the MBCE.
For more information and to keep in touch with developments, visit the MBCE website:
www.mountbuffalocommunityenterprise.com.au
Further information contact:
MBCE Media Coordinator
Birgit Schonafinger
Ph: 0459 281 814
Via Social Traders e-bulletin.
Environmental Film Festival Melbourne
Posted in Events, Movements, Visions by Nicholas Aberle on September 8th, 2010
| 16 September , 2010 | to | 19 September , 2010 |
From the 16th to 19th September 2010, Melbourne will see the launch of its only dedicated environmental film festival.
This smorgasbord of feature length documentaries on cutting-edge environmental issues will entertain, inspire and frighten even the most hardened environmental cynic. Covering topics from the social unrest in Nigeria caused by Big Oil, to the consequences of our society’s obsession with The Plastic Bag, to the philosophy and dinner plates of Californian dumpster divers, there is something to whet everyone’s appetite. Many of the films will be having their Australian premieres at the festival, and have won numerous awards at international film festivals.
The team responsible for putting together the Environmental Film Festival Melbourne (EFFM) hopes that people who share their concerns about environmental issues will help make this event a fixture in Melbourne’s cultural calendar. “Everyone knows about things like climate change and protecting old-growth forests,” says Festival Director Nicholas Aberle, “but this festival will also draw attention to other really important issues and details that don’t get much air time, like ocean acidification and the mysterious disappearance of bees around the world.”
Each night of the Festival there will be an expert discussion panel to explore issues raised by the films, providing a local perspective on these global problems. In future years, the organisers plan to provide a forum for young Australian film-makers to showcase work on local environmental issues.
The festival will be held at the Kino Cinemas in Collins St. For more info, check out:
or
www.facebook.com/envirofilmfestmelb.
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Solar Power Bulk Buying Neighbourhood-closes April 22nd, 2009!
Posted in Visions by solar.homes on April 16th, 2009
Melbourne residents may have recently heard of our fantastic solar power offer on ABC 774 Radio or seen our editoriials in the Whitehorse Leader Newspaper in the past two weeks.
From our own search for affordable solar power for our own homes, we have formed our own bulk buying solar group-Whitehorse 2 Solar Neighbourhood – which we would like to invite our community neighbours to join us. (Residents of the City of Whitehorse -Melbourne-and surrounding areas).
Our solar neighbourhood takes advantage of huge savings from bulk purchasing and installation of solar power systems as well as making the most of the $8000 Government Rebates before the cut-off time at the end of June.
Timing is crucial as April 22nd is the close-off date for the solar neighbourhood to ensure that all paperwork is submitted to the Government in time to claim the rebates.
Please contact us at solar.schools@ hotmail.com or healthvitalitynow@ gmail.com or phone: 0414 656 590 for more information.
VOTING ON THE FUTURE – Audiences responses from the ECO-CITY Melbourne Exhibition
Posted in Visions by Ferne Edwards on March 24th, 2009
At the recent Sustainable Cities Round Table on Sustainable Sharing, 26 February, which was held in collaboration with the ECO-CITY Melbourne Exhibition by VEIL, the audience was asked to identify from the posters “What is the most exciting, positive and desirable aspects / ideas of what life could be like?“. Their responses – a sporadic list of vibrant topics and themes – can be read below. To learn more about the VEIL ECO-CITY Melbourne exhibition read this article in The Age and check out the VEIL website here.
1. Water solution – storm water recycling, wetlands
2. Water solution – visible water tank
3. Eco-business – “more than onceâ€
4. Office-farm
5. Vertical farm
6. Community initiatives e.g. nature strips/rooftop gardens –reducing food miles, encouraging interaction + public health initiative all in one
7. More than once eco-friendly supermarket
8. Visible water tanks and pipes
9. EBD mobility
10. Fridge
11. Bikes
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