Green homes awarded

A green roof garden, straw-bale construction, on-site power generation and a rotating home that optimises sunshine all year round: these are just some features of the homes that were declared winners of this year’s Greensmart awards.

The outright winner was Forest Lodge Eco Home with its combination of the latest technology with age-old principles of utilising earth, sun, rain and air. Built on a small inner city allotment, the house features a garden-green roof to collect energy, heat and water.

What’s more, the entire house is automated to allow for complete monitoring of energy consumption and to provide an instantaneous overview of current power use.

It was an 8.5 star energy rating, also, that won the Display Home Award for MyStyle Homes from North Queensland. The house’s environmentally sustainable footprint is achieved through the use of on-site power generation that allows the home to go off the grid.

Right Homes of Western Australia won GreenSmart Townhouse/Villa Development for four solar passive townhouses, including one made of straw-bale.

The Renovation award went to Your Abode of NSW for creating a light-filled home that is responsive to seasonal climate changes. The house has two gable roofs running north south with windows in each end, providing natural light and passive solar heat gain in winter.

A rotating home in Canberra that optimises on sunshine and provides constant comfort for the occupants won the Energy Efficiency award for MAG Constructions, DNA Architects and Karin McNamara Design of the ACT.