In Term 3, Year 7L was learning about the importance of managing our natural resources.  In particular, they studied the importance of reserving Australia’s non-renewable resources such as coal and natural gas, as these take millions of years to make, so they cannot be replaced once they are used.

After visiting the Griffith University Eco centre, the student’s in 7L undertook project work to design an environmentally friendly house. The house design was to show ways to conserve energy and other resources such as water.

First the students needed to prepare a house plan, which was then followed by building a model of the house where they were able to label many of the conservation strategies used within the house. Most of the students presented their homes with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation.

Some features of house construction that were considered by many of the models include:

• Environmentally friendly landscaping and awareness of climate, geography, natural resources and wildlife. This includes the orientation of the house on the block of land, that is, the direction the house is facing.

• Building materials, for e.g. some houses were made of the straw bail method recommended by the Eco centre.

• Roofing material to help collect run off water into gutters and rain water tanks.

• Use of grey water on garden, use of compost bins.

• Solar electricity and hot water panels which were oriented to receive maximum sunshine.

• Heating and cooling strategies, for e.g., many homes showed high ceilings with louvres placed high in the walls to aid natural air flow and a circular rotation of air.

• Waste management -- some homes employed a waste recycling system for extra garden water.

By the end of the term, all students were much more informed about the effect that poor resource management has our environment.  It is this future generation of home builders that will need to implement changes to our way of life so that our planet can sustain human life.

PAIGE & EMILY:
In our environmentally friendly house we included the following:

dual flush toilets solar panels gas water heating water tank onsite sewer treatment

vegetable garden recycled wood (housing, fencing) energy saving light bulbs water saving shower head chickens (fresh eggs)

COURTNEY & JOSH:
Our environmentally house has different features to save energy, water and resources.
Some energy-saving features are:
Solar panels, solar water heating, skylights, louvres, elevation of house, energy-saving light bulbs and large windows.
The water saving features are:
Grey water sprinkler, bore water, water tanks, proper guttering, dam, dual flush toilet, water wise shower rose (AAA), slanted roof and front loading washing machine.
Resource-saving features are:
Vegetable garden, recycled wood, rammed earth walls and compost bin.
 

JULIAN & BEAU:
Our house has tinted smart glass with wooden louvres. We have a water tank and a compost bin fro our vege patch in the back yard. Our washing machine water goes to the vege patch. Our driveway is made from recycled tyres. On the roof we have a solar hot water system, solar panel and skylight. And that's our house.

SAM:
My house is made out of recycled wood. It has solar panels, smart glass, water tanks, native plants, front loading washing machine, louvres for air circulation and 'AAA' rated shower heads.
 

CHENARA & MELISSA
In our house we included the following features:

louvres for air circulation fans - circulation AA taps top save water Whirly birds to get the hot air out of the attic

insulation to keep the house cool 3 bins - recycle, scraps, human waste 2 water tanks to conserve water solar panels to save money and collect electricity

JESSE & JOSH Mc:
Environmentally friendly products we used in our house are:

• smart glass

• smart louvres

• solar panels

• Solarhart hot water system

• water tank

• recycled rubber driveway

• skylight

• native Aussie trees

• water from washing machine used on plants

• dual flush toilets

• straw bale walls