The Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living doesn’t just dispense practical advice on all things sustainable, it uses renewable and recyclable building materials itself, including extensive use of recycled steel.
Situated in Mount Annan Botanic Garden in Western Sydney, the Macarthur Centre for Sustainable Living provides education and practical advice on all aspects of sustainable living. This is a non-profit, community-driven project with federal funding from the Sustainable Regions Program.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Macarthur Centre demonstrates environmentally sound design and construction methods, utilising renewable and recyclable building materials, including extensive use of recycled steel.
The Centre solely uses solar power and a closed water cycle, which captures rainwater, treats it after use and releases it safely back into the environment. As demonstrated at the Centre, efficient rainwater management is crucial to effective sustainable living today and one already being adopted by many homeowners across Australia.
Steel plays an important part in ensuring long-term durability, not just on the roof collecting the rainwater, but as gutters and downpipes that take the runoff to the steel water tank, donated by BlueScope Water.
“We are extremely pleased to be working in partnership with BlueScope Steel, as well as BlueScope Lysaght and BlueScope Water,” said Centre Coordinator Kathy Giunta.
“The Centre has been designed for deconstruction, incorporating whole sheets of steel for the roofing and much of the walling, so as to maximise opportunities for those sheets to be used again in future,” Gunta said.
Steel is a recyclable product so even when the sheets have reached the end of their use and reuse they can be recycled into another steel product.
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