The seven Canberra homes featured in this year's Sustainable House Day

Every September, Australians flock to open houses for Sustainable House Day, a nationwide celebration of environmental homes. Not to be deterred by lockdown, this year’s event will see seven Canberra homes open their doors to the public virtually.

This will be the second year Sustainable House Day will be held online. From today, the event, run by not-for-profit organisation Renew, showcases some of the best environmentally-friendly homes across the country in a bid to inspire people to live sustainably.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing lockdowns in various states, Sustainable House Day has expanded into a month-long event, featuring four themed weeks of webinars with experts and homeowners.

This year, there are seven ACT homes that will participate in the month-long event, including the GX Ginninderry Display Village.

The village showcases 16 display homes, including the Mini-G Tiny House, which has been designed to “inspire, educate and innovate through the latest sustainability displays”, according to the Sustainable House Day website.

The website described the display village as “more than a collection of homes”, which could also be accessed by users via the GX app.

“Ginninderry’s vision is to be a sustainable community of international significance in the capital region,” Ginninderry sustainability manager Jessica Stewart said.

“The GX Ginninderry Display Village upholds this vision by showcasing a wide range of sustainability initiatives from individual features like smart lighting, habitat ponds, balcony gardens and grass cell driveways to a holistic approach via the Zero Energy Home.”

A light and airy renovation in Giralang, designed by Jenny Edwards of Light House Architecture & Science and dubbed the Little Loft House, is also featured in this year’s event.

The home has been recognised for a clever design that raised its energy efficiency rating from 3.8 to 7.7.

Innovation in sustainability was at the forefront of the renovation for Ms Edwards and the homeowners. Among the measures taken was a conversion to an all-electric household, the use of efficient LED lights and the installation of rainwater tanks that collected water for the toilets, laundry and garden.

“The house is still half the size of a typical new Canberra home, and it uses 20 per cent of the energy of a typical new Canberra home,” Ms Edwards told Allhomes in May.

“Since [the owners have] moved back in, their energy consumption has dropped by 70 per cent. So, it’s super comfy but super functional.”

Other homes featured in the Sustainable House Day include a Wright home dubbed Canberra Beach House, a low-energy shed in Fyshwick, a passive house build in O’Connor, a backyard retirement build in Macquarie and a renovated retiree’s home in Evatt. 

“Sustainable House Day is about empowering Australians to share their experience of sustainable living and inspire others to think about their impact,” said Renew chief executive Paul Bowers. “By facilitating peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, these events help bring new people along on the journey to creating a sustainable built environment.

“Our event last year showed how powerful online events can be in connecting people to new information and inspiring change. By hosting these events online for the second year, we hope to make this knowledge accessible to people across the country, including in regional areas.”

You can find out more information about the Canberra homes on the Sustainable House Day website.