We recently attended a fantastic event – the Hot Hot Hot Hypothetical, where Susan also helped out at the Climate Ready Champions stall.
The hypothetical was well presented and very relevant as Adelaide had just broken its hottest day record. The hypothetical predicted a 3 week heat wave in 2024 peaking at 48.1˚C, with very scary consequences to health, emergency services etc.
One of the factors that the panel of experts brought up was the inaccuracy of the current residential housing energy rating schemes, such as NatHERS (the National Home Energy Rating Scheme). Our house was originally rated (from the plans) at 7.7 stars. For more on this look us up on https://sustainablehouseday.com/
In our most recent electricity bill we received a $200 credit! The bills that we have received since our PV panels were installed equate our house to at least a 9 star NatHERS rating. This difference, I think, was partly because the rating tool was unable to accurately assess some of the latest advances that we put into the house.
The only disappointment with the Hot Hot Hot event was that not enough time was spent on practical solutions to help people adapt to the changes that are happening. However a Climate Ready Forum to be held in March will provide lots of information on this; see https://climatereadyforum.eventbrite.com.au/
Over the years we have developed many practical solutions which only need simple equipment like an indoor/outdoor thermometer plus keeping an eye on weather forecasts to help us cope with extreme weather.
We also use active management techniques, such as opening windows in the evening to capture the local cooling breezes when the outside temperature drops below the inside temperature.
Susan and I are presenting at the Climate Ready Forum and other events are planned in the future. Keep an eye on our Events page for more information.
And we are happy to provide individual or group consultations into any aspect of sustainable home planning or gardening.
