As soon as John Boland moved into his house in inner-city Adelaide he got rid of the concrete and sheds and planted fruit trees. In the 30 years since, those trees have provided him with a third of his food and cooled his home so well he doesn't need air conditioning. Deciduous trees on the western side of the house bathe the house in shade in the hot South Australian summer while letting in afternoon sun during winter.
They also block hot breezes in summer and cold winds in winter. "We basically live in the jungle," Boland says. "We [sit] listening to birds singing, rather than listening to air-con belching away, and enjoy having a meal in a beautiful bush setting in the middle of the city.
" A 76-year-old professor of environmental mathematics, Boland lives with his wife, Chris Bryant, on a traditional quarter-acre block in Felixstow, 6km from the city centre. The couple have long had a keen interest in sustainability and started to make the house more efficient and comfortable shortly after moving in 28 years ago. View image in fullscreen John Boland's house in Adelaide where the front porch has been fitted with awnings that allow ventilation.
Photograph: Sia Duff/The Guardian "We try to pick the easy things first and see if they work," Boland says. "We know a lot of the principles – me from the climate side of things, and Chris from the food production side of things – and we're able to merge the two and just see how we go." Instead of knocking their 1940s weatherboard.