Environmental actions - water use and air conditioning

From a discussion on our mailing list (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Climate_Action_Brisbane/).

I would like to address all such concerns and raise them at a community, council, state, federal or international level politically. I always thought Climate Action Brisbane would become this inbetween organising Walk Against Warming. Here are some things I'd like to see addressed:

1. Air Conditioning our cities - places like Queens Plaza in the Brisbane CBD have MASSIVE openings that release air conditioned air thus forcing the machinery to work harder and thus consume more energy. I would like to see petitioning done at such shopping centers and presented to Building Managers and Brisbane City Council. We'd need to get statistics for this to be effective.
2. Mens toilets in public buildings, RSLs and Clubs etc... still set to auto-flush every couple minutes (for perhaps 24 hours a day). These should be changed to waterless urinals or at least have sensors installed.
3. Air conditioners in the city that are more than a couple years old (on top of multi-story buildings) use megalitres of water a day. WHY does the QLD government want to build an unwanted, unnecessary, corrupt and expensive (financially, environmentally and with climate change) dam given that they haven't even tackled these easier to solve problems?

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Prof Ian Lowe: Rainwater tanks better than dams

From ABC News (Aust)

A new study commissioned by three environment groups has found that rainwater tanks are a more cost effective alternative to other water saving measures.

Rainwater tanks better than dams, desalination: report

By Sarah Clarke

A new study commissioned by three environment groups has found that rainwater tanks are a more cost effective alternative to other water saving measures.

The study conducted by economists, Marsden Jacob Associates, found that rainwater tanks are more than five times as energy efficient as a desalination plant per kilolitre of water produced.

It also revealed that if governments rolled them out to 5 per cent of households in Sydney and south-east Queensland, big water projects like dams could be delayed for up to a decade.

The independent report commissioned by three environment groups found tanks are more cost effective and energy efficient than a desalination plant or a dam.

Nearly 40 per cent of Adelaide households have installed them, but only 5 per cent of households in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney have them.

Professor Ian Lowe from the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says governments should seriously consider rainwater tanks as an alternative source of water.

"There's a very big saving in putting in rainwater tanks instead of infrastructure," he said.

"Just to give a classic example - for what the Queensland Government is proposing to spend on Traveston dam you could give every house in south-east Queensland a rainwater tank and have money left over.

"We should be developing innovative financial solutions to ensure the take up rainwater tanks".

Ms Noble says the findings provide a clear message to state governments.

"If we install rainwater tanks to 5 per cent of households what we are doing is creating a virtual dam from the rooftops across our suburbs and we need to invest in that in the same way as we invest in infrastructure," she said.

Currently 17 per cent of Australian households have installed them.

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