More Feature Properties Here...

n July 1 this year, new environmental standards became applicable to all apartments and homes being built in Victoria.
For just over two months, new homes have had to comply with a five-star environmental rating which judges the building fabric and water-saving measures.
One company, however, has been helping vendors and buyers find environmentally sound properties, using a 25-star rating, for seven years.
Using five categories -- land, built environment, community, energy and water -- EcoProperty rates the home or property on how sustainable it is. Now, it also incorporates any state-based environmental requirements, such as the five-star rating in Victoria, or the requirements for organic farming accreditation.

Where it differs from the current rating system in Victoria is that EcoProperty's ratings are based on the circumstances of each individual property, rather than arbitrarily established guidelines, and focus on completed homes rather than the planning stages.
EcoProperty's founder and managing director, Catriona Jane MacDiarmid, started the business after building her own eco-friendly house in Daylesford. She felt she had found a way to combine her business background with her environmental concerns.
The point, MacDiarmid believes, ``is to protect and promote ways of life that are sustainable''.
``It is a means of identifying and assessing a property, and once those features are promoted, people will choose to buy them,'' she says.

MacDiarmid believes the public will eventually become more aware of the benefits of an environmentally sound house and seek them out.
The EcoProperty ratings examine the whole area affected by construction.
If it were ranking a suburban home, for example, the community category could cover such diverse factors as proximity to schools and public transport -- reducing the need for a car -- and general community attitudes to the local environment. The other, more traditional, categories examine such aspects as the proportion of native plants in the garden, whether organic or minimal-chemical-use practices are followed, whether non-toxic surfaces are used, the installation of solar panels, water retention and recycling practices.
EcoProperty offers advice on how to improve a home's environment and can even help to facilitate a sale.
EcoProperty will run an Eco Building workshop in Daylesford on the weekend of November 20. Ph: 5348 1546 or visit www.eco.com.au