The Cape Sustainable Housing Community Will Open Homes for National Sustainable House Day

The Cape, a ground breaking sustainable community overlooking the ocean at Cape Paterson on Victoria’s Bass Coast, is proud to announce its participation in National Sustainable House Day on April 21, 2024. As part of this event, The Cape will open a suite of homes to the public, including the innovative Coast, Karkawarri, Eco Beach House and Strait homes, alongside the innovative Cape Community Farm. 

Brendan Condon, Director of The Cape, says, “National Sustainable House Day provides an excellent opportunity for visitors to experience first hand the sustainable living solutions we’ve implemented at The Cape, where homes are averaging 8 star NatHers energy efficiency across the community, a national first. We have designed and built over 130 homes so far, and all Cape homes feature passive solar, efficient all electric fitout, solar power and rainwater harvesting. Collectively, the community is in energy surplus and acts like a clean energy power station by exporting a surplus of renewable energy each year to the grid. Our homes are also highly adapted to climate change, designed for year round comfort, remaining cool in Summer and warm in Winter with minimal heating and cooling requirements.”

Another standout feature of the Cape is that all homes are wired to accommodate electric vehicle charging, which complements the Cape community owned EV fast charger. This combination has been a hit with engaged residents, supporting a nation leading take-up of electric vehicles, with over 20% of the homes at the Cape now paired with electric vehicles. The combination of passive solar design, all electric fitout, solar power and EVs combines to create super bill busting Cape homes that save over $5000 per year by eliminating petrol and gas bills altogether, while slashing electricity bills.  Research from leading think tank Rewire Australia has demonstrated that if all Australian homes were built and fitted out in this way, the combined savings to Australian households each year would be a staggering $40 billion per annum, which would be very welcome in the current cost of living crisis. 

At The Cape, designers and builders have worked with energy efficiency experts to ensure that every home achieves nation leading energy efficiency standards, and every home is blower door pressure tested once complete to ensure homes are built and perform as designed and give homeowners peace of mind. 

The Cape is one of Australia’s first “agrihoods”, pioneering local food production and urban farming, with an innovative large scale water efficient community farm growing tonnes of fresh food per annum for residents, helping to improve nutrition, health and exercise and create a place for residents to meet and socialise. The Cape Community Farm features hundreds of Australian made highly efficient Foodcube wicking beds and trials at the farm have shown that Foodcubes can produce over 25 kilograms of fresh produce per annum, helping reduce food bills for members. 

“From energy-efficient homes to our pioneering community farm, we’re very excited to invite visitors to see integrated sustainable living and experience a community that shows how Australia can transition away from fossil fuels on to clean renewable energy using todays technologies, while having a high quality of life, a healthier home and saving significant money in the process.”

Coast, Karkawarri, Eco Beach House and The Strait: Leading the Way in Sustainable Living

Coast, Karkawarri, and Strait House designs stand as prime examples of innovative, eco-friendly architecture, setting new standards for sustainable living.

Coast home: Designed with coastal living in mind, the 8.1 star all electric Coast home seamlessly blends modern aesthetics with sustainable features. This architecturally stunning four-bedroom home features passive solar design, excellent orientation, shading and insulation, solar power, 10,000 litre water storage, battery energy storage, 32-amp EV charging and energy-efficient appliances to minimise energy and water consumption and reduce environmental impact. 

With spacious living areas, abundant natural light, and enveloped in an inviting biodiverse coastal landscape, Coast sits in harmony with the coastal elements and maintains comfortable year round temperatures with minimal heating and cooling. In increasingly hotter Australian summers, Cape homes like Coast are thermally stable and very rarely have to turn on an air conditioner. The health, economic and environmental benefits of these homes are compelling as Australia experiences a hotter climate.

Coast also features a large, innovative, water efficient and productive home farm, that can grow over half a tonne of fresh produce per annum, with 100% of household organic resource – food and green waste – being composted and cycled through the home farm each year to grow food. In two years of living in Coast, the residents are yet to send a green bin out in a council collection, diverting and composting all organic resource into the productive home farm to grow an abundance of fresh food and herbs. 

Australian made Foodcube wicking beds, the leading home farming and home food growing system available in Australia, were selected for Coast home farm due to their high performance, with each 1 square meter Foodcube able to produce over 25 kilograms of fresh food per annum, as well as their long lasting durable design, built to last in Australian conditions. With the cost of fresh food on the increase, home farming saves money for households, while providing connection with nature, gentle exercise and better nutrition.

Cape Director Brendan Condon said today “Coast points to the reimagining of the future for Australian homes where every home can also be a clean energy power station, a clean energy petrol station and a productive farm all in one.”  

Karkawarri home: The brief for this architecturally designed home was to be low maintenance with minimal energy costs and a small footprint while still allowing space for family and friends. The result is a 7.9 star all-electric, passive solar design that provides a compact yet functional space that includes 3 bedrooms and 2 living areas, maximises light, embraces solar angles and has created a comfortable, easy living home where family and friends can gather. Solar power, a battery and electric vehicle charging point combine to enhance the sustainability and a naturally landscaped garden ensures Karkawarri blends seamlessly with its environment.

Strait House: Inspired by the rugged beauty of the Bass Strait coastline, The 8.4 star Strait home epitomise sustainable luxury. These thoughtfully crafted residences feature cutting-edge design elements, such as cross-ventilation systems, thermal mass construction, and rainwater harvesting capabilities, to optimise energy efficiency and enhance occupant comfort. From the use of locally sourced materials to the incorporation of renewable energy technologies, every aspect of Strait House reflects a commitment to environmental responsibility and ecological stewardship.

Eco Beach House: This beautiful beach house has solar panels and battery storage, double glazing, optimal solar orientation, and 10,000 litres of rainwater for watering the garden and toilet flushing. The home started with one of the original pre-approved designs at the Cape by architect Adam Dettrick, and was modified with the input of the residents, designer and builder. The end result is a home filled with light, with great views and comfortable year round temperatures and close to zero electricity bills.

The Cape Community Farm: The heart of The Cape beats the vibrant Community Farm. Spanning a lush 5000-square-metre expanse, this horticultural oasis boasts an array of features designed to nurture biodiversity, local food production and community connections. From the 370 water conserving Foodcube wicking beds, to the sprawling member farmer plots and compost hub, the farm produces tonnes of fresh produce per annum from the community managed garden beds, with nearly $15,000 worth of produce donated to local food charities in its first full year of operation. A full time farmer is on hand to teach residents and visitors the intricacies of healthy soils, composting and food growing. 

Brendan says, “Coast, Karkawarri, Eco Beach House and Strait House exemplify healthy sustainable living without compromising on style or comfort. By opening our doors on National Sustainable House Day, we hope to inspire individuals and communities to embrace sustainable living practices, and help shift Australia on to a clean energy, carbon neutral future and build a more resilient, healthy world. The Cape is part of a growing national movement of households seeking to ditch expensive fossil fuels and move to a cleaner future powered by renewable energy for homes and transport. It’s wonderful to see momentum build for real change as more Australians implement these solutions, with examples such as the juggernaut of 115,000 people now part of My Efficient Electric Home community on Facebook implementing the same solutions we have put in place at the Cape. We hope this becomes the new normal in Australian housing.”

To find out more details on opening hours for homes, visit sustainablehouseday.com and learn more about The Cape at liveatthecape.com.au