Thursday, December 17, 2009

Sustainability Declaration Explained


Section one of the new Sustainability Declaration is all about the Energy Efficiency of your home:
Questions like how many out of the total number of lights in your home are energy efficient.
Do you have solar power, Gas, air conditioning, pool or spa, what type of hot water system, insulation where and what type, window glazing , roof colour, roof ventilation and ceiling fans.
Section two is aboout Water and has 7 questions:
Is there a rainwater tank and what size?, greywater, water recirculation,shower heads, type of taps,dual flush toilets,garden irrigation.
Section three is about Access:
and has six questions - entry level, steps etc, level access to bathrooms and toilets and living areas, grab rails in bathroom and level entry to shower, toilet grab rails, wide doorways and wide hallways. Very pertinent for an aging population
Section four:
Safety five questions :
Smoke alarm installed (on standard REIQ contract anyway), Electrical safety switch also on standard REIQ contract, Pool fence maintained, Hot water system tempering device installed, Property number clearly visible from street (for emergency services)
The questions are set out simply and are easy to answer and very logical and the type of things we should know about our new homes.
There is also a column on the right that tells you what the savings for various things are.
As I mentioned before there has been some opposition to this form and there are petitions circulating right now to stop or curb it - I think we all need to get on board and support this initiative it takes not too long to complete (yes my husband and I did it for our house - it took about 20 minutes plus a few minutes searching receipts and paper work to confirm a few things and fill in the kilowatt usage from which you calculate your green house gas emissions).
Go to the website and check out the form and then give it a go fill it in and see how your house rates. Then get back here or go to my facebook page and let me know how you did.
If you have joined The Green Streets forums you will have no problem answering these questions.
Until next time
Angela

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome back... long time no see.

xxxxx

Joolz said...

I am trying so hard to be green ('I' being the operative word!). I came home the other day after having a 'ladies evening out' and found 4 items in the bin that should have been recylcled in the bin...um, 15cms away in the recycle bin! No hope!

Can we have an update on the Daisy family - what are all the kids up to?

XXXXXXXX Joolz

Caroline said...

Happy New Year daisymum hope it is a great year for you, both work & family wise.

Joolz said...

Hello Daisymum, about time you started blogging again!

Joolz :)