Nangara Eco House Opens

The Nangara Eco House is now open to the public. After what seems an eternity to developer Ben Luffman - Nangara Natural Developments, he says "everything has come together and the house is ready to show the environmental, health and economic benefits of sustainable housing".

"The house has been designed and built to a budget, with the intention of showing how you can incorporate sustainable features that save energy, water and waste while improving comfort, for an affordable price. We hope visitors to the house are inspired to incorporate one or more of the features in their own homes" Ben says. As Ben explains, "conventional homes consume a significant proportion of our energy and water resources, so every little bit we can save helps".

To provide a practical demonstration of how the house does save energy, water, waste and money, Ben will be living in the house during the display period. It is expected that the house will save about 80% of the energy and water consumed by a conventional house.

The builder Mark Robinson - Robinson Building has embraced the project and says "it is great to see a house being built that demonstrates these ideals locally, right now".

Eco features that the house displays include climate sensitive design, solar panels, solar hot water, energy and water efficient appliances, sustainable materials, rainwater tanks, greywater reuse, energy efficient lighting and native landscaping. Many of these features have been provided by local companies committed to sustainability such as Solar Inverters (Solar Panels), Sawtell Glass and Aluminium (Low-e Glazing), Reece (Water efficient fixtures and bathrooms), Fletcher Insulation, Bercon (Expanded Polystyrene external cladding), Bluescope (colorbond roofing and cladding), Carpet Choice (Wool carpet and bamboo flooring), Morrisons Megastore (Energy and water efficient appliances), PlastaMasta (Plasterboard), Rockcote (Low VOC paints and Render), Apricus (Solar Hot Water), Duraplas (Rainwater Tanks) and Eurolight (Lighting).

The house will be open between 10am - 3pm until March 2011. The address is 14 Noomba Street, Toormina. If you would like further information go to www.nangara.com.au.