Product Description

Issue Contents:

Issue 130 is hot off the press and full of advice for your sustainable home this summer. As always, ReNew comes overflowing with articles to satisfy both the technically and the not-so-technically minded. Regardless of whether your interest is solar cooling, greywater systems, energy-efficient cooking or DIY low-cost retrofitting for energy efficiency, there is something for everyone in this issue.

ReNew 130 has ‘sustainable cooling’ as its focus. Inside you’ll find:

Special feature: sustainable cooling

• The state of solar cooling

  Can you use the sun to power your cooling system? ANU’s Mike Dennis takes us on a tour of where the solar cooling market is now and where it’s headed.

• Pre-cooling your home

  Does running your air conditioner to pre-cool your home make environmental or economic sense? ATA’s Andrew Reddaway examines the issue — with a little help from Sunulator.

• COOLmob

  With cooling being the biggest contributor to household energy use in the tropics, an innovative new project is finding smart, simple ways to change that. Jessica Steinborner from COOLmob explains.

• Design for a changing climate

  Heatwaves are already becoming more frequent, and are likely to increase exponentially as the climate warms. Dick Clarke and Chris Reardon look at how we need to rethink the way we design our homes.

Guides

• AC vs DC coupling

  Off-grid solar systems are steadily moving towards AC coupling topology. Lindsay Hart explores the pros and cons.

• Know your renewables: meter matters

  Lance Turner presents our ‘basics’ article on how meters work and which ones you need in your renewable energy system.

• Greywater system buyers guide: save your garden this summer

  With water a precious resource in a country as dry as Australia, greywater systems let you use water at least twice. Our buyers guide looks at what systems are available.

Other Features

• The Greeny Flat experiment

  Andy Lemann shares the principles, materials, results and lessons learnt in building a low-cost, high-efficiency home. Seven months into a one-year trial, the outcomes are promising.

• Energy-efficient cooking

  What do you need to consider when looking at the energy and environmental aspects of cooking? Alan Pears begins the discussion.

• Are we still cooking with gas?

  ATA gas report author Kate Leslie gives the lowdown on the research and its findings.

• Food vs fuel

  Does biofuel production contribute to global food shortage and hunger, or not? Dr Seona Candy steps us through the pros, cons and complexities of the debate.

• Light Up Timor-Leste

  It’s not just about providing solar lighting— the Light Up tours provide training and could seed a solar industry. Dave Carlos from Timor Adventures describes their latest tour.

• Kael Rail

  Involvement with the ATA brings great variety and enjoyment. A good example of this was a chance phone call with Danielle and her seven-year-old daughter Kael. Doug Rolfe explains.

• Solar sports car

  Clint Steele investigates the tricks and traps of body design for a solar car.

• Holiday reading guide

  From the practical to the visionary, ATA members review some books to fuel New Year’s resolutions.

• The Pears Report

  Alan Pears considers why coal seam gas is not the answer and, when it comes to energy-efficient homes, why the cooling side of the equation needs some attention.

• Member profile: (Not) cooking with gas

  ReNew fan and environmental consultant Kyle O’Farrell puts his knowledge to good use in building his new Melbourne home, as Sasha Shtargot discovers.

DIY

• Off-grid in the suburbs

  A ReNew reader has used his electric vehicle battery to take most of his energy consumption off-grid. He explains how he did it.

• Efficiency on a budget

  Alan Cotterill takes us on his journey retrofitting a standard brick-veneer home for energy savings.