Choosing eco-friendly strategies to greenify your strata means more than just increasing the value of your property. With the right strategies in place, you’ll find you’re saving money with little effort or disruption, and in many cases, you will start seeing the reduction in energy and gas bills sooner than you realise. So, to get your strata environmentally friendly and saving you money, here are six ways to greenify your strata.
Lighting
Lighting, especially in common areas, can be a huge power-suck. So to save money on electricity usage, energy-efficient LED lighting is a great solution. With the correct kind of lighting, you could save up to 50% on energy bills and within two to three years, the investment will be paid off. Movement sensors are also a really useful investment, especially for lesser trafficked or unusual common areas that don’t need constant lighting.
Installing car park CO2 sensors
Although it’s a less visible, and far less glamorous way to greenify your strata, installing carbon monoxide sensors in your car park will end up saving a lot of money on energy costs. Although underground car parks are required by law to have ventilation systems constantly running, a CO2 sensor means that fans will only drive as hard as they need to. The reduction in power usage is considerable, making the return on the investment very worthwhile.
Sustainable landscaping
Planting Australian native flora not only looks great, it can also help cut down on landscaping costs and water usage. Water-efficient common gardens using plants that need less water helps keep your strata sustainable in any weather condition and keeps maintenance at a minimum. Food gardens are another great way to encourage sustainability and greenification for your strata as well as encouraging composting for use in the common gardens. Installing a rainwater tank for garden irrigation will also lower water usage dramatically.
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Saving water
Installing water tanks and a greywater system is a great way to save water and greenify your strata. Having water-efficient showerheads and taps in each apartment optimises water usage without compromising on the quality of water pressure. Having communal washing machines in your strata is another way of reducing the amount of water used.
Solar power
While the initial outlay may be a little more costly, installing solar panels to your property as well as using solar hot water is an excellent way to greenify your strata. The energy collected from solar panels can help power equipment and appliances in common areas and reduces overall energy costs.
Small, easy solutions
You don’t need to spend a lot of money to greenify your strata. In some cases, you may not even need to spend any money at all. Instead, you can just use what you already have available in a more efficient way. A few things worth considering is harnessing passive solar energy by opening the blinds in the winter to warm up common areas and closing blinds during the summer to keep areas cooler and protected from the heat of the sun coming in. You should also set your air conditioning cooling temperature to 25 degrees or above, and its heating temperature at 18 degrees or below to avoid overuse on days when common areas don’t need it.
For professional service and advice in running your strata efficiently or for more information on the best ways to greenify your strata, get in touch with the team at Jamesons today.
