2006-2009 - Previous Program Case Studies

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Alphington (Unit/Apartment)
There is a lot you can do to make your unit or apartment more sustainable. Don Batson and Sophie Liu have embarked on this journey in their Alphington flat.

Darebin (3 Great Water Savers)
Three Darebin homes share their water-saving tips. How low can they go?

Fairfield (Free Standing House)
Sue and Phillip built their sustainable home in Fairfield from scratch. They have used a solar passive design, included a solar power system, solar hot water system, rainwater tank, greywater diversion and created an amazing garden, just to mention a few things.

Greenvale (Free Standing House)
The Jayawardene family and their children have a new eco-conscious home. Ensuring their home was energy and water efficient was very important right from the outset. They designed the home in collaboration with the architect, enabling them to have control over all design aspects, from the building materials used to house orientation.

Ivanhoe (Heritage Listed House)
The Young family are very passionate about taking a leadership role when it comes to Climate Change. Back in 1988 a 106 000 litre rainwater tank was installed. Then in December 2006 the Young family installed a large solar powered electricity system as well as a solar hot water system to show themselves and their community that it is possible to power a residential home without emitting greenhouse gases.

Lalor (Free Standing House)
Fulvio and Anna DiMarco moved into their Lalor home over thirty years ago. At that time the house was newly built and the backyard was hard, stony and treeless. Since then Fulvio has created an impressive market garden in miniature.

Lower Plenty (Sustainable Transport)
Renae bought an electric bicycle with her prize voucher from the 2008 Sustainable Transport event. It has really changed her daily commute.

Mernda (Free Standing House)
Ann and Troy's new home in Mernda was going to be a standard home design, until they realised how much heating and cooling it would need. So they made a few adjustments.

Mernda (Free Standing House on 85 Acres)
Anne Coulson’s family live on an 85 acre property in Mernda. Before they established their home and garden, the property was used as farmland and had been heavily grazed for decades. One of the reasons the Coulsons chose their property was to re-vegetate the land. The property now provides excellent habitat to thousands of indigenous bird, mammal, insect and reptile species.

Montmorency (Free Standing House)
The Henderson family were way ahead of their time when they built their environmentally friendly retirement home at Montmorency in 1991.

Northcote
Alistair and Christine have a great small backyard garden, complete with two chooks.

Northcote (Rental House)
Felicity's family have discovered great ways that renters can be sustainable, with energy, water, clothing and transport savings, amongst others.

Northcote Renovation featured in Issue 8 of Sanctuary Magazine - check out this great home in Northcote that was featured in Sanctuary Magazine!

Preston (Free Standing House)
Lexie Luly's family have been creating a sustainable home in Preston for over 25 years. Their home features a solar power system, passive solar design, a thriving vegie garden and composting system and more.

Preston (Free Standing House)
Since participating in the 2007 Sustainable Homes, the O'Brien family have made lots of small changes that really add up!

Reservoir (Free Standing House)
The Pfleiderer family in Reservoir have created a sustainable garden, installed a 10,000 litre rainwater tank, a solar hot water system and a range of other energy, water and waste efficient products.

Reservoir (Free Standing House)
S'hi D'Amour is one of the thousands of people participating in the Sustainable Homes Program. S'hi's first major sustainability project was to install a solar power photovoltaic system on her roof.

Reservoir (Free Standing House)
When the Shurey family moved into their house they had energy hungry down lights. One of the first things they did was remove all down lights and replace them with energy saving compact fluorescent lights.

Rosanna (Free Standing House)
Banyule residents Penny and Kevin have been interested in energy efficient building design, healthy living, and reducing their impact on the environment since their teens. Their actions extend beyond home improvements, to everyday choices that reflect their enthusiasm about consuming less energy, less water and fewer materials.

Rosanna (Free Standing House)
Barry has spent evenings and weekends insulating the family home, and made lots of other sustainable changes too.

South Morang (Free Standing House)
When the Barretts decided to build a new home in South Morang five years ago, it was the perfect time to integrate Paul’s renewable energy interest into the design of their home. The Barretts knew they wanted the design of their home to incorporate features that would be energy and water efficient.

South Morang (Free Standing House)
One local family committed to building a more comfortable home that has less impact on the environment and is more economical to run is the Santinons of South Morang. They moved into their newly built ‘eco-conscious’ home in 2006.

Thornbury (Free Standing House)
Setting up your own power station can happen even in Thornbury. Lawrence and Irene Parsons have tackled sustainability in their home through energy and water conservation, energy production (through a 2.5 kilowatt solar system) and more.

West Preston (Free Standing House)
Phil Bottomley and his family built their sustainable home. The length of the house faces north and Phil, who designed and project managed the building of the house, incorporated a number of features to make the most of the sun’s warmth in winter, whilst also reducing its impact in summer.

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