In article ,
gardenlen wrote:

yes planting in the right place using the right plant for a purpose,
unfortunately like the yuk factor brigade and the water issues
indoctrination has got too much of a hold, someone commented that
retro fitting is better than rebuilding i dunno lots of variable
there????
snip
so what of all the old inefficient homes?

natural progressinon would mean it could take oh i dunno 100 years for
the change to take effect on our resource useage?

Here in NSW there is now a programme called BASIX (building sustainability
index, I think). All new buildings put up in the last few years have had to
measure up on this index with things like good passive solar design, water and
energy conservation features, etc. It has also come in for extensions as of
last October.

The positive side is that at last developers have to do SOMETHING apart from
putting up badly-designed energy-sucking monstrosities. The negative side is
that they don't have to do MUCH, and in some cases it's just putting in
energy- and water-efficient appliances -- ie, no improvements to the structure
at all. The other problem is that it adds the need for yet another
consultant on to any building project. Even though our reno is a retrofit and
would pass BASIX easily, our architect advised us to lodge the DA before BASIX
came in for additions, just to avoid that extra set of consultancy fees.

With the McMansions -- from what I've heard, they are disposable houses.
Horribly expensive to maintain, but relatively cheap to build, and put up by
cowboys. THey'll all be knocked over in 50 years because they will be falling
apart at the seams... my house will still be going strong!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue