Hermans Family

Becoming Climate Positive in December 2006, Hermans Family offset carbon emissions with accredited emission reduction projects, with additional investment in the Strzelecki Ranges replanting site.

John, Robyn, Jill & Ben Hermans

Where do you live? Clifton Creek, East Gippsland on a 42-hectare bush block.

How many in your household? For 18 years there were four, but recently Jill has moved to Melbourne to study.

Describe your home and energy systems.

Our house has been built as a high-efficiency solar design. It incorporates both passive and active solar principles, with few compromises to this end. The main solar design includes:

• Building facing due north
• Two storeys with the long axis twice that of the width
• The north face of the house is 90% glazed
• Eaves are a minimum overhang of 30cm
• All non-opening large windows are double-glazed.
• All external walls are compressed earth, cavity brick, having 10 cm mineral fibre insulation, R3
• All internal walls are earth brick, adding up to create a total thermal mass of approx. 200 tonnes
• Roof is earth covered with rigid foam insulation of R3.

The active solar component of the building includes the entire lower level north-facing roof, which has been used to support a solar hot water collector (owner built), providing hydronic heating to the floor slab.

These solar and efficiency features give us a year-round temperature range of 18 to 28 degrees Celsius.

Cooking and domestic water heating is done on an old restored AGA wood stove in the cooler months. In Summer, LPG gas is used for cooking. Gas use is minimal. Our household and workshop has been using renewable electric energy for 25 years. Having frontage to a small river has allowed us to tap into hydro-electric power, which gives us the ability to use all of the appliances that we need, including ducted vacuum, microwave, daily bread baking and a multitude of power tools. Reliability of supply has been constant for many years. Second-hand deep cycle batteries were sourced from the local scrap yard.

Water pumping to 100 m head is achieved by the use of a hydro turbine and pump combination.

A large concrete water tank is sited high (12 m) above the house, and is filled at times of high river flow. This water supply is used for all domestic, garden and emergency fire fighting hoses and sprinklers.

A productive organic vegetable garden and fruit orchard of half a hectare forms a fire break to the north of the house. The garden is completely covered to exclude all native mammals and large birds. Small, beneficial birds are not inhibited.

Whole fruit is preserved by drying and bottling, and apples are juiced into 2-litre flagons for winter use. Cider is another easy option for preserving apple juice. An assortment of fruit is fermented into wine at the end of each fruiting season. We have hens for a constant supply of fresh organic eggs, while free-range chickens are occasionally reared for meat. I have a suitable licence and rifle to cull the pest Sambar deer which are browsing on our native vegetation. This meat is then processed and used as our main protein source.

What have you done to reduce your greenhouse emissions?

Other ways that our household has managed to further reduce CO2 emissions are:

• Buying only small 4-cylinder cars
• Buying cars no newer than 10 years old
• Converting to LPG straightaway
• Keeping these (2) cars for a very long time
• Minimising their use, making infrequent trips to town
• Not using air travel as a way of getting around; having holidays based on camping
• By constantly going to the local scrap yard and markets looking for second-hand or even broken goods that can be repaired and renewed
• Having carbon-neutral hobbies, such as gardening, tennis, windsurfing, kayaking and skateboarding
• By remaining a whole, happy and loving family unit
• Placing all of our savings into three distinct categories of Australian Ethical Investments Ltd.
• Keeping our combined annual income to an absolute minimum, whilst still maintaining a high quality of life. Our family actually lives very comfortably on one part-time job (below the official poverty line). I stay at home doing work which could be collectively called 'cost of living minimisation'. This is our preferred choice as I decline offers of outside work
• Being a member of the Greens, and actively lobbying to assist in bringing their policies on environmental sustainability into action
• Being a supportive member of a number of environmental organisations and president of Gippsland Environment Group
• The placement of a 'Trust For Nature' covenant on our 40 hectare block of native bushland, so it remains in this natural state, with a high level of sequestered CO2.

What are your future plans to save energy?

• Make efficiency gains in the micro hydro system which is already supplying 100% of our current needs
• Using renewable generated power to provide energy that can propel our transport vehicles. The current options are either electric charging or electric-assisted conversion of biomass to methanol and retaining our current internal combustion engines, but becoming carbon neutral. I'm still researching this latter option.

Why have you become climate positive?

We have become climate positive because we are lovers of the natural world and understand the enormous biodiversity loss that may occur. We are concerned for the massive human hardships and inequalities that will result from the selfish behaviour of a minority of high resource and energy consumers on our shared spaceship earth.

How do you think we, our leaders and broader community should tackle Climate Change?

We and our leaders need to start to act in an effective, coordinated, Climate Positive way, and not flounder around the edges, pretending, as Mr Howard has been doing. Sign the Kyoto Protocol, get carbon trading happening and give strong support to those industries and programs that are most effective in reducing our CO2 footprint.

The Herman family recently featured on ABC Gippsland

John has a future wish-list for carbon saving (which is dependant upon raising some funds!). John's projects include the following 

• Biodiesel and micro hydro upgrade
• A grid interactive system for the mother in-law.
• A battery storage, hydro charge, electric car.
• More home grown food.