Opening A Pathway To Sustainability
01 May 2007
Making environmental sustainability a practical part of everyday living and building will now be a lot easier for people in New South Wales with the opening in February this year of the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living.
Officially opened by Federal and State Members of Parliament at Mount Annan Botanic Garden in Western Sydney, the Centre will provide education and practical advice on all aspects of sustainable living for everyone, from school children through to homeowners and builders.
Supported by a range of sponsors, including BlueScope Steel, which provided COLORBOND® steel for its roof and wall cladding, the centre is a non-profit, community driven organisation with Federal funding from the Sustainable Regions Programme.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living includes interactive displays of renewable energy production and use, an organic cafe, nursery and education centre. Also, it will demonstrate environmentally sound design and construction methods, utilising renewable and recyclable building materials, such as COLORBOND® steel. The Centre uses only solar power and a closed water cycle, which captures rainwater, treats it after use and releases it safely back into the environment.
As demonstrated at the Centre, efficient rainwater management is crucial to effective sustainable living today and one already being adopted by many homeowners across Australia. To ensure the ongoing effectiveness of the process, COLORBOND® steel plays an important part in ensuring long term durability, not just on the roof collecting the rainwater, but as gutters and downpipes that take the run off to the steel water tank, donated by BlueScope Water.
In addition to its durability and functionality COLORBOND® steel has been recognised as a very 'future considerate' solution because steel is one of the most recycled materials on earth and all steel made by BlueScope Steel includes recycled steel in its manufacture. "We are extremely pleased to be working in partnership with BlueScope Steel, as well as BlueScope Lysaght and BlueScope Water," said Kathy Giunta, Centre Coordinator.
"The Centre has been designed for deconstruction, incorporating whole sheets of COLORBOND® steel for the roofing and much of the walling, so as to maximise opportunities for those sheets to be used again in future. Steel is a recyclable product so even when the sheets have reached the end of their use, and reuse, they can be recycled into another steel product."
"Also, the COLORBOND® steel cladding, in LYSAGHT MINI ORB® sheeting on the walls, adds to the dramatic aesthetics of the building. We want to teach people about sustainability and make it easy for them," Kathy explained.
"So we will continually host school excursions and community open days where people can come in and learn how to apply 'sustainability' to their own lives. People can come here and see a working example of a completely self-contained education centre."
For more information visit www.mcsl.org.au
