Environmental Technology Centre

The Environmental Technology Centre occupies a 1.7 hectare site on the Murdoch University campus at which over fifty environmental technologies have been combined to form an integrated demonstration system. The technologies used and researched at the site include climate-sensible buildings, renewable energy systems for power supply and water pumping, aquaculture systems, organic waste management, and permaculture. The integrated approach allows research to be carried out on the important interactions between different technologies, rather than just the effect of a single technology. This gives the ETC a considerable advantage over other research institutions that focus on single technologies in relative isolation.

The ETC's focus is on small-scale environmental technologies, which are low-cost, robust, efficient, and easy to operate and maintain. The aim of this is to maximise the opportunities for user communities to "own" the technology, resulting in greater and more sustained uptake of the technology, higher levels of community awareness and involvement, and ultimately a more successful operation. This approach is highly applicable to communities in developing countries, as well as to urban communities worldwide, particularly when applied in collaboration with industry and government