Sustainability and accessibility

Cootharinga home, 11 Leila Avenue, Rasmussen
Three of the five residents in this home didn’t use air conditioners last summer. For architect Ken Tippet that’s a sign of a successfully designed home. This is one of six homes NQ Dry Tropics is opening on Sustainable House Day Sunday September 11.
The Cootharinga block construction house has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and living areas, a kitchen and a shared living area. It’s a model of sustainability and accessibility. Yes it’s larger than your standard home but its design principles can be applied to any new house. It’s designed so that it will see its residents into older age with or without limiting physical abilities.
Cootharinga supports people with disabilities. Five people supported by their services live in this house. It’s orientated for coolness - the long access is east west exposing the shorter ends of the building to the sun.
Clerestory windows and louvres throughout face prevailing breezes, drawing breezes and light into the house. 
Cootharinga CEO Brendan Walsh said the residents are extremely house proud, “They love this place. Their families are equally as proud. It was designed to be a comfortable and economical place to live. We’re particularly happy that it’s designed in a way that residents can choose to have their privacy and their social time.”
Fluoro sensor lights switch on when you move through the house at night, a solar heat pump heats the water with heat traces (or sleeves) on hot water lines, overhanging eves stop the sun coming into the home in summer and skylights light small rooms. The house is fitted with low energy use appliances including energy efficient and safe induction stove top.
The roof has no gutters to water surrounding gardens, large native trees were retained to shade the house and efficient strip irrigation is installed on all garden beds.

This home was built with the Australian Government’s Nation Building EconomicStimulus funds for just $1.05 million dollars – good value when you consider it has five bedrooms and bathrooms and great energy efficiency.