Sustainable House Day, Blaxlands Ridge, NSW

This house is not connected to the electricity grid, mains water or sewer. Our intention was to build a simple but comfortable home for a small family that needs very little energy for heating or cooling. It's smart design features keep it warm in winter and cool in summer. This house features many local & recycled materials. It's simple post & beam structure offers an attractive, flexible & affordable building solution.

New Build:   Purpose built & designed by architect, Ray Trappel.

Climate Zone: Western Sydney – BCA Climate Zone 6, Nathers Climate Zone 28

Unique Sustainable Elements featured in this home

Water Harvesting Systems
Self sufficient in water with a 108,000 litre concrete water tank filled by rainfall only supplying all water needs. A small pump transfers water to a 2250 litre header tank on 6 metre tower for gravity pressure.
Grey and black water via standard septic tank then through an absorption trench & subsurface movement to a young orchard.

External Walls
Mud Brick for most of the house and two panels of corrugated iron for utilities areas. Corrugated iron panels on external walls with wool/poly insulation in hardwood timber frames.

Internal Walls
Most of the internal walls are local hardwood timber frame with typical plasterboard sheeting.
As the house is not fully complete there is an opportunity to see it inside and out.

Roof
Roof is zincalume, forest green in colour set at 22.5 degree pitch with wool/poly insulation batts and cathedral ceilings from plantation pine.

Floor
Raft slab floor construction with earthy colour concrete colour finish to provide thermal absorbent surface.

Window Treatments
Re-used double hung sash windows and four sets of re-used double glass doors to allow for lots of winter sunlight. Eaves overhang to shade the windows and doors in summer with shade sails to supplement the north and west faces. Plus large glass triangles in gables for additional sunlight.

Solar or Wind Power Generation
1920 Watt remote area power system. 16 x 120 watt PV Solar Panels. A 24 volt 1100 amp hour battery bank provides the 240 watt 10 amp inverter. This house is not connected to the grid. Our house is supplied fully by the panels  & batteries. We have wired up our house for standard domestic 240V fittings.

Heating & Cooling
A small slow combustion stove for heating using fallen trees from our property and standard ceiling fans for cooling. In summer we put up the shade sails and open up our ventilation.

Water Heating
300 Litre solar hot water system mounted on roof with an LPG gas instant back up system.

Appliances
We have a standard fridge with a DC compressor retro-fitted & our transfer pump is a small 24volt DC pump.

Landscape
The property is a 65 Acre bush block inside the Wollemi National Park at Wheeny Creek. The block offers 5 distinct plant environments including a protected wetland on the western boundary. It is just over one hour to drive here from the city. About 20 minutes from Windsor.