Book Reviews

Book review by Peter Miller, Energy Strategies, Manuka.

The book follows in the genre of Sustainable House by Michael Mobbs, but differs in its approach. While showcasing what he has achieved in his own house, Derek also makes a concerted effort to present solutions and information so that the reader can replicate and build on his projects. Taking a first principles approach, he looks at the “best” way to shade windows, how to build your own simple grey water system, and what a photovoltaic system is likely to cost you. The emphasis is on working with the existing building structure and modifying/adding to it to improve its sustainability.
Not surprisingly the book’s two main foci are energy and water. Derek has used a mixture of passive (reflectors, gravity fed irrigation, rainwater tanks, lifestyle changes) and active (photovoltaics, grey water treatment) measures to cut his mains energy and water consumption to a veritable trickle. His rotating heliostat is well known in the Canberra “Energy Community” and its low-cost functionality typifies the book. Built from stainless steel panels and connected to an old car window-winder mechanism, this sculpture tracks the sun, flooding a southern room with light and warmth. It is not an idea that will appeal to everyone, but works very well and achieves good energy savings at a low cost. Indeed, another strength of the book is how it details the rationale, implementation and cost of each idea. This cost benefit/analysis is a welcome addition as the author includes a form of triple bottom line accounting looking at environmental and aesthetic aspects of the various projects as well as their financial outcomes.

While definitely technological in focus, the author also stresses the value of lifestyle changes; one minute showers, while ‘radical’ in Australia are the norm in many parts of the world and we should all be looking at our over-consumptive habits with that sort of perspective. The section on water takes a comprehensive look at just how much water we use and how we could reduce this quantity radically before delving into the possibilities of rainwater collection and grey water treatment.
Especially if you don’t have a lot of experience in this area, his list of suppliers, books, websites, and contacts will prove very useful if you are planning to build or renovate to make a more sustainable home. This is particularly true for the Canberra region where the author has done a lot of legwork that is often required for novel DIY projects.

In style, the book is readable but dense in patches, the author choosing to aim for comprehensiveness over simplicity. Overall the detail is welcome, as it allows for the inclusion of such gems as: how to improve the efficiency of your existing refrigerator, why Boston Ivy is such a good plant for western walls, and that cutting your grass is as polluting as driving 200km are examples.

Overall, this book should appeal to ReNew readers; Derek has written an excellent retro-fit case study of how to make a brick veneer house sustainable. The book’s wealth of detail makes it a practical and useful guide for all those who wish to follow in his footsteps.