Enmore worker’s cottage, built by Eden Projects Australia
This renovation of an 1880s worker’s cottage in inner-city Sydney has snapped up this year’s HIA GreenSmart Home of the Year award for showcasing cost-effective environmental features.
The judges praised the location of the windows to capture natural light, recycling of the existing building materials and improving the building’s thermal performance with double glazing.
“The objective was to add another bedroom and vastly improve interior spaciousness and function, whilst minimising both the physical and environmental footprint of the renovation,” Architect Caitlin McGee said.
SolaMate, Solar air heating
A novel solar panel that can heat, cool and ventilate a building using solar energy has won the HIA GreenSmart Product of the Year award.
The clever system heats the air on cold days by drawing fresh air through the panel then, using solar radiation, it heats the air quickly and efficiently. On hot summer nights, cool fresh air is drawn through the panel and into the home.
SolaMate inventor Stuart Elliott is a mechanical engineer who used to work as a R&D manager with a large biomedical company. Needing a change from corporate life, he left his job to become a stay at home dad and look after his young children. It was during this time that he developed the concept.
Lochiel Park, Land Management Corporation
Lochiel Park is just eight kilometres from Adelaide’s CBD alongside the River Torrens in the suburb of Campbelltown. It combines natural parklands linking directly to the River Torrens Linear Park, together with a small area of housing development, that SA premier Mike Rann declared “exemplar of the state government’s commitment to sustainable living”.
The site has been transformed from a former education institution to a model green village, incorporating a raft of best practice sustainable technologies.
The HIA judges agreed that this project ticked all of the boxes for a GreenSmart Community Development award. They were particularly impressed with the acknowledgement of both European and Aboriginal history.
