‘We basically live in the jungle’: how one couple cooled their home naturally

John Boland and Chris Bryant use their garden to shade their house from Australia’s hot summers – and it helps feed them as well

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 thirty years since, those trees have provided him with a third of his food and cooled his home so well that 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.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Flf5MCn