While the Gardens are connected to grid electricity, energy consumption is minimised through solar design & use of energy efficient and alternative appliances & technologies together with energy conserving behaviour.
Building & landscape materials are sourced as locally as possible, with consideration to durability, maintenance and lifespan.

Technologies at Djanbung include:

• Rainwater harvesting in tanks
• Water conserving appliances & fittings
• Wood-fired Cob Oven, B-B-Q & Chula, parabolic solar cooker
• MSU - Mobile Solar Unit
• Composting toilets & biological wastewater treatment systems
• Use of hand tools & non electrical appliances where practical

Interim technologies with lower greenhouse & energy implications are being employed (e.g. gas hot water service) until funds or sponsorships for preferred technologies are received.

Transport
Djanbung Gardens location within comfortable walking distance from the village was a conscious decision to reduce motor vehicle use and fossil fuel consumption. The average Australian household uses almost as much fossil fuel with motor vehicle usage as with electricity consumption, hence reduction of motorvehicle use is an important factor in reducing our personal ecological footprint and greenhouse emissions. The use of bicycles is actively encouraged at Djanbung Gardens for local transport. Robyn now has a motor-assisted trike (photo left) for its extra carrying capacity for shopping  and collecting supplies from the village.

Become a sponsor or donor to the ERDA Institute Earthwise Technology Fund to install:

• Public Composting Toilets
• Solar Water System
• Vertical Greywater System
• Solar Grid-Interactive Electricity
• Solar Water Pump

BUILDINGS
Education & Resource Centre
The hub of Djanbung Gardens, this building houses the resource & training centre with administration office, seminar/function room, canteen & library. Designed by Robyn Francis the structure features passive solar design & natural building techniques.
The hexagonal main training room uses pressed earthbricks for the walls and floor. Over 80% of the soil for the pressed earth bricks came from the property. Natural renders made with sand, clay and cow manure. The earthbrick floor is saturated with linseed oil for durability.
The main room has a natural air-conditioning system for summer, which ducts cool air into the building through underground pipes.
Packed sawdust-sand-cement panels for office & canteen walls utilise sawdust, a waste product from local timber mills, as a durable and energy efficient building material.

A key consideration in the design and construction stage was reducing building waste. The 240 square meter building generated approximately 1 cubic meter of waste that required off-site disposal, plus several wheelbarrow loads of off-cuts which have all been recycled on site.
The surrounding edible landscape supports the passive solar design with deciduous trees to the north and windbreaks to the south-west. Soil removed for levelling the site and excavating drainage has been incorporated into the landscape design as raised beds and planting mounds. Garden themes include cottage & culinary gardens.

Railway Carriages - Residential Area
Three weatherboard camp wagons (ex-Qld Rail, built 1930's) are placed in a U-formation with verandas and decking, creating a suntrap for winter and provide protection from afternoon summer sun & cold southerly winds in winter. The verandas face into a central courtyard which provides ambience and privacy for residents. The outdoor entertainment & cooking area features a fire pit, wood-fired B-B-Q and cob oven. A Closet Deposit Composting Toilet is installed at the end of the western veranda. The carriages provide accommodation for residential interns, with 2 carriages for sleeping and the other as the communal kitchen.

Greywater Wetland Treatment System
This Rivercare 2000 Award-winning system treats greywater from the railway carriages kitchen sink, shower, handbasin & laundry tub, as well as excess urine from the composting toilet.  The reedbeds are filled with gravel and planted with high-performance wetland plants including Cyperus prolifera, Iris spp and Cyperus papyrus. Treated waste water flows into the holding pond where aquatic plants are grown for mulch and livestock feed.

Blackwater Reedbed Treatment & Flow Forms
This system treats waste water from the main building canteen kitchen and disabled-access flushing toilet. All waste initially flows into a septic tank for solids to settle out and waste water gravity feeds through the reedbed system planted with Phragmites australis, which takes up nutrients and eliminates pathogens and worm eggs. The holding pond is fitted with a set of flow forms for aeration and oxygenization as the final treatment.