Sat 26 Feb 2011, 11:00am – 3:00pm: Sustainable Living Festival Event

This day will include tours of the House to see what measures we have taken to improve this older style weatherboard house. The day will also include information on how you can live more sustainably in the community by growing and sharing produce, creating food co-operatives and other initiatives. The day will include offering free bike checks and children’s activities.

Sunsmart made easy

Check out the new Sunsmart UV Alert on our News & Events page to get:

• a daily reminder of the times that sun protection is required
• the maximum UV level for the day
• minimum and maximum temperatures
• general weather forecast information

Great for ensuring that you have appropriate protection from the sun (and the other weather conditions that Melbourne is famous for!) before heading outside.

Holden Street – Doing our bit for the environment

During 2008 and 2009 a number of works were undertaken at the Holden Street Neighbourhood House to improve its environmental performance and comfort for visitors. The works were funded by the City of Yarra and the Department of Planning and Community Development, and added value to the existing features and practices already in place, including skylights, good draught seals, a worm farm, flyscreens and security measures to encourage opening of windows, and well established office and program practices in recycling and reusing materials.

To find out what was done and the effects on our House, download the Environmental Features brochure on our A Green House page.

Water Saving

Water tanks have now been installed and we have already noticed a huge drop in our water usage. Hooray! Shading, draught proofing, natural light tubes, ventilation, solar energy – the house has been retrofitted. Look out for details and prepare for summer Water Saving.

Sat 13 Feb 2010; 11:00am – 2:00pm: Sustainable Neighbourhood House Open Day

128 Holden St, North Fitzroy

North Fitzroy’s Holden Street Neighbourhood House has been retrofitted to become an eco-demonstration house.

Come along to the open day and take a tour of the House. See what changes have occurred in our House.

We look forward to seeing you!

Contact us for further information.

Chillin’ Out at Holden Street

Come and visit the House to see the changes we have made to reduce our energy and water use. The House is a good place to come and ‘chill out’ on a hot day, so bear us in mind, especially if you are feeling hot, bothered and lonely at home in a heatwave… come early and beat the heat.

06 – 21 February 2010: Sustainable Living Festival

Look out for our Sustainable House Tour during this period.

Environmental Progress at the House

Holden Street Neighbourhood House has had a worm farm to compost food scraps, used dual flush toilets for a number of years, and a great history of recycling and re-using paper and other materials. However, our real move towards being an environmentally sustainable House came in 2008, when we created a herb garden with sponsorship received from the Bendigo Bank. The produce from the garden is used each week in our programs.

Additionally, between June and September 2008, the City of Yarra carried out a number of works on the House which included: 

• 8 solar panels (1.32kW) funded through the Solar For Schools program and linked to a Smart Meter
• Window tinting on the east windows
• Two opening skylights
• A light tube in the cleaners cupboard
• Water tanks in both the house and childcare for educational purposes
• Energy efficient hot water system
• Provision of a bike hoop

These environmental additions presented an exciting challenge to us. Therefore to keep environmental issues in the forefront, it was added as a regular agenda item to the various team meetings, helping us become more aware of our environmental practices.

Starting simple, we quickly discovered how easy it was to make small changes to have a significant environmental effect. We quickly changed all our cleaning products and methods to be environmentally friendly. The lone bike hoop seemed to attract bike riders, and now we have five hoops getting regular use. Also the idea of sharing resources, by encouraging local people to take time to cool off in the House during the 2009 heatwave, rather than all needing to install air conditioning units at home.

We were amazed by the reduction in our power bills which we soon realised was as much to do with changes to staff practice as with solar power production A chart was started to show our use of electricity, gas and water, encouraging people to be more aware. We have purchased a lux meter and powermate to measure light and power usage respectively, which are available to borrow. Also, a digital room thermometer helps to assess the effectiveness of various measures we try, to maximize or minimise heat in the House.

Teachers soon included environmental practices into their classes. The computer class  measured the power used when computers and monitors were in stand by mode – and when one considers the number of computers this can certainly mount up. Student computers are now linked to a switched powerboard making it easy for people to ‘do the right thing’. 

In 2009, Holden Street applied to the Department of Planning and Community Development to build on what we had now come think of as Stage 1 of our  environmentally sustainable works.  We were keen to get on with Stage 2 and become a demonstration House to show a range of different measures people might take in their own homes. Being an older weatherboard residential property, it could provide a good example of what measures can be taken.

The City of Yarra assisted once again by including us in their small facilities water and energy audit which provided the basis of our successful submission. We also received sponsorship from HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilation System). We are now progressing with our plans for:

• Sola tubes in the office, where an electric light is needed every morning
• an additional Sola tube and skylight in the toilets
• a passive heating and ventilation system
• additional water storage and plumbing to toilets
• replacement of roof insulation
• replacement of casement windows with sash windows as the original casement windows were unable to be opened due to security bars. The glass used will be low – e  a type of insulating glass
• insulated blinds for the east facing windows currently without an awning
• external blind to reduce heat
• additional shadecloth including over the rear office to reduce the heat
• changing taps in childcare so children can turn taps off more easily
• additional weights in toilet cisterns to further reduce water use.

Appreciating that education is  an  important tool to encourage change, we held information sessions on environmental sustainability, and we were one of the properties visited during a tour of environmentally sustainable houses in Yarra in 2008.

Looking to the future, as we replace equipment, furniture and fittings there is a growing awareness of using sustainable practices. For example, changing light fittings to T5 (high efficiency light tubes). When the time comes, we will change to a more efficient oven and stove top, fridge and moveable tea and coffee urn.

We are involved with other local or like services, learning from and supporting each other in this ongoing process. Our Childcare service is involved with Environmental Education Early Childhood (EEEC), and the House is a part of the Yarra Environmentally Sustainability (YES) Network.

Although Holden Street is yet to formally adopt an environmental policy, our concern regarding environmental issues continues to grow and our decisions and  practices will be made with these in the forefront of our mind.

Future ideas are to:

• Redesign the garden to increase areas for food production
• develop a vegetable garden for Childcare
• assess effectiveness of air conditioners
• investigate maximum/minimum temperature settings for air conditioners.

Thursday 19 November 2009, 1:30pm: Beat the Heat – Community Information Workshop

Download: Flyer [PDF, 240Kb]

Is your local community facility or home prepared for the heat this summer? Want to make your home cooler without contributing to greenhouse gases and costing the earth?

Yarra City Council is holding two Community Information Workshops on keeping your home and community facilities cool this summer—one of which is right here at Holden Street Neighbourhood House. The workshop will cover energy efficient cooling, heat health promotion and preparing for extreme situations. There will be presentations by Yarra City Council and Red Cross, and plenty of time for discussion and questions.

RSVP: Email jared.osborne@yarracity.vic.gov.au or call (03) 9205 5093. Places are limited.

Monday 07 September 2009, 2:00pm: Water Wise Workshop

• How much water am I using?
• Can I be more water efficient?
• Want some tips?

Come to this workshop to find out more.

(We are also having a great Community Lunch – Spring Meal
just prior to this workshop. Come earlier and enjoy a lovely meal.)

Bookings essential