Sustainability at home

Do you want to be more energy efficient at home? Installing solar power could be the solution you're looking for, and it can be possible for apartment blocks too. 

• SunSPOT is a great tool to help you calculate how much electricity and money a solar PV system could save your home.

Have you considered switching to a greener electricity plan for your home?

Switching to GreenPower is one the best things that you can do for our planet today! GreenPower is the only government accredited and audited green energy program and it's ideal for those who can't install rooftop solar. 

If you switch to a 100% GreenPower plan, your energy provider will purchase your electricity from renewable sources in Australia. GreenPower will mean more of our area's electricity comes from the wind and sun.

Not sure how to make the switch? You can call your current energy provider and ask them if they have a GreenPower plan available. It's also a good idea to shop around using Energy Made Easy to find the best deal for you. 

For more information and tips, visit collaborate.canadabay.nsw.gov.au/greenpower

Need other resources?

• Inner West Community Energy group provides free advice and information about solar installation process through our Energy Efficiency for homes program.
• NSW Home Solar Battery Guide helps households interested in buying battery systems.
• Energy Rating is a Government website which assists people in explaining the star rating program.
• Department of the Environment & Energy this Government website assists people by allowing a comparison of products.
• NABERS for apartment buildings program assists in reducing energy use in apartments, and Council recommends that strata committee investigate joining.

As of May 2024, 1,105 electric vehicles were registered in the City of Canada Bay  and electric vehicle were 8.4 per cent of new cars sold in Australia that month. 

Transitioning to EVs has potential to dramatically cut the carbon emissions and local air pollution caused by petrol and diesel
vehicles, especially if recharged with renewable electricity. Filling up a car with electricity is also much cheaper than increasingly costly petrol and diesel and reduces the international supply chain risks of imported liquid fuel.

Need more information?

• NMRMA Electric Vehicle Hub advice on buying and owning an EV.
• NSW Government's guide for electric vehicle ready strata buildings has information and tools to guide owners’ corporations, residents, facilities and building managers prepare their building for electric vehicles with a simple 5-step approach. It also includes a costing tool.
• The Electric Vehicle Council represents the electric vehicle industry, and their official website offers handy information about EVs.
• The Australian Electric Vehicle Association is a volunteer not-for-profit organisation dedicated to switching Australia's transport network to electric vehicles. They offer car fact sheets, as well as other information and resources
• City of Canada Bay Council EV Strategy and Action Plan articulates Council’s role in supporting City of Canada Bay’s residents, organisations, and businesses to transition to EVs in a timely and effective way.
• City of Canada Bay Council Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Policy defines Council’s role and standards for electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) installed on Council property within the City of Canada Bay.

Cool roofs reduce the amount of heat held and transferred to the building below, keeping the building cooler and at a more constant temperature on warm days. Cool roofs have additives in the base material or paint that reflect the sun’s heat and emit absorbed radiation back into the atmosphere at a higher rate than standard materials.

Urban areas like the City of Canada Bay can experience the urban heat island effect where infrastructure absorbs, maintains and then reradiates heat. As a result, inner city areas can be a number of degrees hotter than surrounding rural areas.

Using cool roof products and surfaces decreases the impact of the urban heat island effect on our city. Designing our infrastructure to minimise heat absorption will make the City of Canada Bay more resilient to increasingly extreme heat conditions as the climate changes.

Want to know more?

• Click here to check out the Victorian Government's cool roof webpage with links to a guide and research.
• Energy Star's website shares information about the benefits of cool roofs.
• WSROC Urban heat planning toolkit can be found here.
• Read the City of Bayswater's research paper here. 

Extreme heat or heatwaves are periods of unusually hot weather. In Australia, heatwaves are our deadliest natural hazard. Climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense heatwaves. 

Now more than ever, it is important to know that heat can be dangerous for your health, who is at risk, how to prepare, and how to protect ourselves and others. The following NSW Government fact sheets might help. 

• Beat the Heat: it is important to know that heat can be dangerous for your health, who is at risk, how to prepare, and how to protect ourselves and others.
• Get Prepared: it is important to make decisions ahead of time by completing a personal emergency plan, so you can take care of yourself and your loved ones.
• Heatwatch: provides individualised health advice based on inputs like age, location, health, medications and activity levels.
• Heatwave preparation and safety measures: it is important to prepare your home to make it cooler, know where cool spaces and places are located, and keep in touch with friends, neighbours, and relatives, particularly if they’re unwell or isolated.
• Heat Smart Western Sydney: Heatwave preparedness materials including pamphlets, social media tiles and videos in 10 languages.

These programs are supported by Council's Environmental Strategy and Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which sets a target of net zero emissions from the Canada Bay community by 2050.

This is supported by other Council strategies:

• Resource Recovery and Waste Strategy focuses on reducing emissions at home by reducing the volume of waste in the red bin - which goes to landfill.
• Electric Vehicle (EV) Strategy and Action Plan 2023 establishes a place based plan for electric vehicle (EV) charging across the City of Canada Bay.