Tag Archives: solar passive homes

Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage

Mike Hulme recently sent this update on the Foxcliffe land development at Witchcliffe.

Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage

Image retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/24/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/24farmli.html

Dear Friends of Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage,

I am delighted to inform you that the Augusta Margaret River Shire Council unanimously passed the amendments to the Witchcliffe Village Strategy and Local Planning Strategy that are required to enable the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage project to proceed to WAPC for approval.

This is the first time in two and half years, since purchasing the property, that I can write to you with some confidence that the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage will proceed!

The approval will enable up to 180 homes to be built on the 160acre farm. This will enable around 80% of the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage to be utilized for public open space, community vege gardens, dam, orchards, vineyard, recreation, community centre, backpackers/tourist accommodation, etc…

We are confident that we can achieve all of this and 100% self sufficiency in energy and water at an affordable price point of around $400,000 for house and land.

For those of you that haven’t had the opportunity to visit the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage it is a magnificent property with an abundance of water and great soil, immediately abutting the wonderful little town of Witchcliffe (at the intersection of Redgate Rd and Bussell Hwy, 10k’s south of Margaret River & 6k’s east of Redgate Beach).

We are hoping to receive WAPC approval by around January 2013, after which we will still have to rezone the town planning scheme (TPS), which will take us the best part of 2013. However, once we have received WAPC approval the project will have the certainty required to complete the detailed planning during 2013, so that we are ready to lodge subdivision and development applications as soon as the TPS amendment is formally gazetted.

We are very excited to be moving forward and thank the Shire’s planning officers and Council for their solid support.

We now have over 200 people who have registered interest in the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage; I look forward to keeping you all informed of our progress.

Kind regards,

Mike Hulme

Foxcliffe has it Right: A Land Development for the 21st Century

If most Australians were aware of what was going to happen to Planet Earth this century, they would be lining up to buy a house and land package from Mike Hulme. His Foxcliffe development at Witchcliffe, near Margaret River, Western Australia, has it all. Having worked with Mike for many years on many land subdivisions, I know he is fully aware of how to design a sustainable residential subdivision and set guidelines that work.  It is imperative that solid guidelines are attached to property developments to deliver outcomes that are a win for the residents, the community and the environment, by reducing energy and water and conserving the natural world.

Foxcliff Farm Ecovillage - Witchcliffe

Foxcliff Farm Ecovillage - Witchcliffe

Joining forces with a real estate development giant with such high ethics as the Perron Group is also a smart move for all involved. It gives the project the financial clout it needs to succeed. Whilst so many dream, very few successfully act and deliver. Mike Hulme is one of those people. Hulme always commences his developments in the right way. He starts by considering the needs and best interests of the community.  In Margaret River, not everyone is a retired real estate agent or doctor, or has a large bank account.  They may not be rich in financial resources but they are good, down-to-earth people who greatly appreciate nature and want to help co-exist with it. Unfortunately the huge explosion in the demand for large expensive houses by those mainly benefiting from the mining boom in Western Australia, has pushed up consumption, energy use and the sizes of houses. Refer to our article ‘Politics of Housing in the Western World’.

Affordability and the Environment

With building costs skyrocketing over the last few years, many people have had the dream of owning their own home all but destroyed.  Mike Hulme decided from the beginning when buying the land, to not only to do something for the environment, but to also tackle the issue of affordability.  By producing correctly designed, small blocks as part of a wider community, he has combined economies of scale and collective action to reduce the costs of a house and land to within the reach of the average person in the region, as well as to make it attractive for similar people in the city to opt for an alternative style of living. His timing is impeccable as usual, with energy use set to increase by 50% world wide just compounding the greenhouse effect, and producing huge increases in energy prices in the next couple of decades, as all known sources of energy are depleted. His planned lifestyle for the residents may be ‘alternative’ now, but won’t be  for much longer. If the world keeps going the way it is, then we are going to need more of this style of living.  The growth of energy use and the depletion of the world’s energy resources will ensure that conventional lifestyles will not be afforded by anyone except the ‘stupid’ rich, and those lacking public consciousness. Refer to our article on world energy and population trends for the rest of the century: ‘Energy Consumption Growth

Healthy food and fresh clean water is the key to a healthy life and through cutting-edge water technology and productive landscaping, Foxcliffe will deliver these  precious commodities to all of it’s residents and food and water bills will be kept to a minimum.  This will be a great environment to bring up children and create a generation of socially and scientifically, sustainable people.

Sustainable Community Living

Perron & Hulme Developments have had the good sense to enlist Josh Byrne, environmentalist and expert sustainable landscaper and gardener, to ensure that the gardens and landscape are designed in detail to complement Mike Hulme’s vision for the estate. Asked what was the vision for the development Mike Hulme answered as follows: “The vision for the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage is to create a world leading sustainable community in Witchcliffe.  The village will comprise 180 strata titled home sites with an extensive range of onsite infrastructure and services to create a world-leading example of sustainable development that achieves:

  • 100% net power generation on site with solar PV and wind turbines,
  • 100% self sufficiency in water through onsite rainwater harvesting,
  • 100% production of seasonal fresh produce on site,
  • Class A recycled water for household garden and toilets,
  • all homes to front expansive open space and community gardens,
  • high efficiency, solar passive homes,
  • affordable house and land packages,
  • onsite wind turbines to provide free charging for up to 100 electric vehicles,
  • a  local energy grid that employs smart grid technology.

Solar-e endorses Foxcliffe

We at solar-e.com are pleased with this initiative and wish Mike Hulme every success for the project.  Solar energy in the forms of passive solar design of the houses, photovoltaic panels and solar water heating will form a lynch pin to make this development a truly ‘micro solar’ economy, when combined with the organic approaches to water collection, grey water and waste recycling, and the generation of bio fuels courtesy of the greatest energy gift, the sun.

The consequences from this development will be far reaching.

Foxcliffe Hhas Iit Right A Land Development for the 21st Century

By Garry Baverstock AM

If most Australians were aware of what was going to happen to Pplanet Eearth this century, they would be lining up to buy a house and land package from Mike Hulme. His Foxcliffe development at Witchcliffe, near Margaret River, has it all.

Having worked with Mike for many years on many land subdivisions, I know he is fully aware of how to designlay out a sustainable residential subdivision and set guidelines that work. It is imperative that solid guidelines are attached to property developmentsto property buyers, d to deliver outcomes that are a win for the residents, the community and the environmentenvironment, their comfort and energy efficiency and the community in, by reducing energy and , water and conserving the natural world.

Joining forces with a real estate development giant with such high ethics aslike the Perron Group is also a smart move for all involved. It gives the project the financial clout it needs to succeed. Whilst sSo many dream, very few successfully act and deliver. Mike Hulme is one of those people.

Hulme always commences his developments in the right way. He starts by considering the needs and best interests of the community. In Margaret River, not everyone is a retired real estate agent or doctor, or hasve a large bank account. They may not be rich inhave much financial resources but they are good, down to earth people who greatly appreciate nature and want to help coexist with it.

Unfortunatelytely the huge explosion in the demand foreconomy of large expensive houses byfor those mainly benefiting from the mining boom in Western Australia, has pushed up consumption, energy use and the sizes of houses. (rRefer to our article ‘Politics of Housing in the Western World’ http://solar-e.com/articles. ).

With building costs skyrocketing over the last few years, many people have had the dream of owning their own home all but destroyed. Mike Hulme decided from the beginning when buying the land, to not only to do something for the environment, but to also tackle thehe has decided to crack the issue of affordability once and for all. By producing correctly designed, small blocks as part of a wider community, he has combined economies of scale and collective action to reduce the costs of a house and land to within the reach of the average person in the region, as well as to make it attractive for similar people in the city to opt for an alternativee style of living.

His timing is impeccable as usual, with energy use set to increase by 50% world wide just compoundingexasperating the greenhouse effect, and producing huge increases in energy prices in the next couple of decades, as all known sources of energy are depleteds.

His planned lifestyle for the residents may be alternativee now, but won’t be not for much longer. If the world keeps going the way it is, then we are going to need more of this style of living. The growth of energy use and the depletion of the world’s energy resources will ensure that conventional lifestyles will not be afforded by anyone except the “stupid” rich, and those lacking public consciousness. (R refer to our article on world energy and population trends for the rest of the century (refer to: Energy Consumption Growth http://solar-e.com/articles ) ,for the projections for energy and population by the end of the 21st century)

Healthy food and fresh clean water is a the key to a healthy life and through cuttingedge water technology and productive landscaping, Foxcliffe with the help of Josh Byrne will deliver these precious commodities to all of it’s residents, every well and food and water bills will be kept to a minimum. This will be a great environment to bring up children and create a generation of socially and, scientifically, and sustainableility people.

Perron & Hulme Developments have had the good sense to enlist Josh Byrne, environmentalist and expert sustainable landscaper and gardener, to ensure that the gardens and landscape are designed in detail to complement Mike Hulme’s vision for the estate.

Asked what was the vision for the development Mike Hulme answered as follows:

The vision for the Foxcliffe Farm Ecovillage is to create a world leading sustainable community in Witchcliffe. The village will comprise 180 strata titled home sites with an extensive range of onsite infrastructure and services to create a world-leading example of sustainable development that achieves:

100% net power generation on site with solar PV and wind turbines,.

100% self sufficiency in water through onsite rainwater harvesting,.

100% production of seasonal fresh produce on site,.

Class A recycled water for household garden and toilets,

aAll homes to front expansive open space and community gardens,.

hHigh efficiency, solar passive homes,.

aAffordable house and land packages,.

oOnsite wind turbines to provide free charging for up to 100 electric vehicles,.

and Aa local energy grid that employs smart grid technology.

Solar-e endorses Foxcliffe

We at solar-e.com are pleased with this initiative and wish Mike Hulme every success for the project. Solar energy in the forms of passive solar design of the houses, photovoltaic panels and solar water heating will form a lynch pin to make this development a truly ‘micro solar’ economy, when combined withto the organic .

approaches to water collection, grey water and waste recycling, and the generation of bio fuels courtesy of the greatest energy gift, the sun.

The consequences from this development will be far reaching.

Passive Solar Homes Design Creates 300,000 New Jobs

Designs of passive solar homes, incorporating advances in recycling building materials from demolition, water and waste water design should be the focus of progress in our search for answers to reduce our domestic energy consumption.  New advances in solar water heating, grid connected photovoltaic systems and the integration of other renewable energy systems should be incorporated  into the built environment.

Passive Solar Homes to Create Opportunities

Solar Passive House Image - solar Umbrella

Passive Solar Homes with Solar Umbrella

Passive solar homes, adapted to become energy and water efficient such as this house shown with a solar umbrella, could create 300,000 new jobs in the building industry – this growth would take place over 20 years and be in key industry areas.

The growth in new jobs will only take place if we are serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and introducing policies and practices to ensure we only construct and reconstruct energy and water efficient homes.

Australia’s built environment constitutes 33 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and this figure increases to 40 per cent when infrastructure and embodied energy are taken into account.

These amounts could  be reduced if energy consumed in existing homes is reduced by between 30 and 50 per cent and by 80 per cent in all new homes. This is why passive solar homes are the only realistic solution to our residential built environment energy problems.  However not all designers and architects specialise in energy efficient design and a ‘near enough is good enough’ attitude will not bring the best results in reducing energy consumption. Contact passive solar homes specialists for the best advice and outcome and ask them for proof of their expertise before you enter any contracts.

Retro-Fitting Existing Homes

Of the 7.5 million houses in Australia we know most need to be retrofitted to become more  energy and water efficient. Many of these will eventually need to be replaced with new state-of-the-art passive solar homes because it will be too costly to retrofit them.

Homes to be demolished will have to be carefully recycled and this will entail the introduction of procedures and policies to ensure wastage is kept to a minimum.

Building Codes Needed For Recycling Existing Homes

National building codes and other relevant legislation in Australia do not require home owners and builders to comply with energy and water efficiency principles when demolishing, retrofitting or renovating homes.
Legislation is lagging and up until now lay people and industry groups have led the way in the instigation of innovative and necessary change.

The idea of adapting a home to become more energy and water efficient is normally decided by home owners, who place pressure on designers and builders to trial new methods.

Once these techniques have been found to be effective, builders adopt them into mainstream practice and political parties follow by introducing them into legislation.

This means the general public and industry professionals will continue to lead the way in the push for important change, but this may not be enough if we are to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the impact of climate change.

Demand For Passive Solar Homes

Many people in Australia want to live in passive solar homes and work in buildings that have been designed and built to comply with energy efficient and climate sensible principles.

While it’s good news people that people  want to live in energy efficient homes, there are barriers to these lifestyle changes which include money, industry know-how and legislative amendments. This is because the cost to retrofit a property may initially be outside a home owner’s budget despite the investment eventually being offset in energy savings while also reducing each of the occupants’ carbon footprints.

Legislation Lags Consumer Demands

Industry know-how and current legislation are also not at the level desired by consumers.   In the interim, young people, tradespeople, homes designers and architects could extend their skills’ levels by enrolling in sustainability courses  and placing pressure on landlords and employers to implement climate sensible and energy efficient principles in the rental market and the workplace.

However retrofitting and building new passive solar homes by home owners is probably the most likely and definitely the most effective response to our domestic over-consumption of energy.

 

Image: Courtesy Wikipedia