Green Technology For Flooded Homes

FLOOD damaged districts of Brisbane and Ipswich should be rebuilt using resilient and sustainable building methods, said Green Cross Australia managing director Mara Bun. Ms Bun used the American town of Greensburg in Kansas as a reference point for Queensland Devastated by a tornado in 2007, it now has the mid-west's only Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)  Platinum accredited hospital, city hall and business hub, utilising advanced green technologies. "There is a lot of pressure to do things quickly [during recoveries]," she said. "Thinking 'business as usual' can lead to a short term focus on cost, but it is possible to have a broader view towards innovation and value for money." The company's Build It Back Green initiat­ive was instrumental in working with com­munities following the Victoria bush fires of  2009. With clear thinking and motivation, a program focusing on small projects in affec­ted areas like Ipswich, Grantham and Bris­bane could come out of the recovery, said Ms Bun.Green Cross International was launched in 1993 by former Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev and now has a global network of 30 offices plus an affiliate in America. Global Green USA is responsible for The Holy Cross Project located in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, which features five homes and 18 apartment units. By logging on to Globalgreen.org, visitors can watch real time easurements of energy, electricity, gas and water consumption.Ms Bun said that it was proving to be a great tool for  community education."It is not just in the aftermath of disasters that we can employ this," she said. "There is a big discussion on population growth [in Australia] given the predicted impacts of climate change, and  predictions of further floods and storm serge."Over coming weeks and months, we will open dialogue with local government to discuss a vision that might be possible,  and find areas where local appetite for this work is real."

» For more information, visit www.greencrossaustralia.org

Green Technology For Flooded Homes

FLOOD damaged districts of Brisbane and Ipswich should be rebuilt using resilient and
sustainable building methods, said Green Cross Australia managing director Mara Bun.
Ms Bun used the American town of Greensburg in Kansas as a reference point for
Queensland Devastated by a tornado in 2007, it now has the mid-west's only Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)  Platinum accredited hospital, city hall and business
hub, utilising advanced green technologies. "There is a lot of pressure to do things
quickly [during recoveries]," she said. "Thinking 'business as usual' can lead to a short
term focus on cost, but it is possible to have a broader view towards innovation and value
for money." The company's Build It Back Green initiat­ive was instrumental in working
with com­munities following the Victoria bush fires of  2009. With clear thinking and
motivation, a program focusing on small projects in affec­ted areas like Ipswich, Grantham
and Bris­bane could come out of the recovery, said Ms Bun.Green Cross International was
launched in 1993 by former Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev and now has a global
network of 30 offices plus an affiliate in America. Global Green USA is responsible for
The Holy Cross Project located in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, which features
five homes and 18 apartment units.By logging on to Globalgreen.org, visitors can watch
real time measurements of energy, electricity, gas and water consumption.Ms Bun
said that it was proving to be a great tool for  community education."It is not just in the
aftermath of disasters that we can employ this," she said. "There is a big discussion on
population growth [in Australia] given the predicted impacts of climate change, and
predictions of further floods and storm serge."Over coming weeks and months, we will
open dialogue with local government to discuss a vision that might be possible,
and find areas where local appetite for this work is real."

» For more information, visit www.greencrossaustralia.org

What is the ripple effect?

In short, the ripple effect is the way in which property booms begin in a central location and radiate outwards to influence surrounding areas, much like the almost hypnotic effect of concentric, ever increasing circles when you drop a pebble into the water.

  

According to the ripple effect, if prices rise in suburbs close to the CBD in the first instance, the ripple effect will soon see them spread to the middle suburbs and later on to outskirt areas and suburban jungles.

The ripple effect is such because buyers who are priced out of the booming area try to get as close to the action as they can, and therefore settle for lower cost properties close to the action, but not at the core of the boom.

These areas then start to gain popularity, and demand pushes prices upwards as they turn into the "next best" areas.

Benefits of the ripple effect

The ripple effect can be the chance for investors who missed out on the initial boom area to grab their slice of the pie -- investing in areas close to the prime area that has surged in price, but without paying exorbitant boom prices which often won't be recovered through cash flow or capital gain for some time.

In most major cities the ripple effect has already played out, and investors will find prices are already pretty high in the outlying areas surrounding the inner prime location.

But one way to find a ripple effect opportunity is to look for suburbs that have underperformed in 5-year growth averages that are located in close proximity to areas with high growth rates for the same period.

Eventually, these under-performing areas will experience a catch-up -- and there could be some very good bargains worth picking up.

Finding the right suburb to invest in - using the idea of the ripple effect

As always, property investors will need to do their research.  If you can find suburbs near the cbd that have underperformed compared to other comparable suburbs then you are on the right track.  Once you have identified the suburb, then the search for a suitable property could begin.

Downsize and Enjoy Life

Brian and Trish Allen describe themselves as "empty nesters".

They moved from Victoria to Queensland around six years ago to be closer to their children and grandchildren and after that their large family home developed into something resembling "Paddington Station".

Several family members moved in and out as all that extra space afforded by the larger home was utilized whenever it was needed. But it wasn't long until that need died down.

And eventually the couple found themselves alone in a four bedroom house with a study, pool and basketball court, along with all the work to maintain the property. It was then they started looking at downsizing. We already lived in a townhouse in Melbourne, so to downsize wasn't a big emotional issue,

We decided to do it now because we've started travel­ling a bit more with the caravan and friends, and by not having as much work to do around the property it freed our weekends up to give us more leisure time." After a month of searching the couple settled on a new townhouse.

Brian said he was look­ing forward to not maintain­ing their yard. He suggested couples look­ing to downsize set out exactly what they're looking for early on, and start their search from there.

The first thing you need to do it sit down and look at what you've got, and what you really need,"

'We had too much of things we didn't need and didn't use. We didn't use two-thirds of the house.

Therefore we started look­ing at what were the essen­tial things, a checklist of the 10 most essential things, that we want from a home and that ticked all the boxes.