story RATING |
 5.00 (Highly recommend) from 1 votes (961 Visits) |
Sustainable House Day 2009 - Please see Sustainable House Day 2010, Werribee, Victoria (link below) for the 2010 information on this house
“The Gathering Place”
The intent was to build a home that would:
· Be a family-friendly gathering place for our five children, spouses and grandchildren;
· Facilitate and serve our well-being as we move into the last 20+ years of our lives;
· Minimize our 20-year costs (eg. maintenance, energy and water consumption)- hence being environmentally and socially responsible.
· Positively contribute to the neighbourhood streetscape.
New Build: Designed and owner-built by owners. Completed July 2008.
Unique Sustainable Elements featured in this home Siting The 560 sq. m., semi-corner block was selected because of 1) its east-west alignment (block faces west) 2) which could never be overshadowed from the north, and 3) is within walking distance of the train station and shops. The three bedrooms and Gathering Space all have northern exposure, protected from the summer sun by 600 mm eves.
Water Harvesting System All roof water is collected in an underground 10,000 lt. concrete tank after passing through an in-ground double filtration unit. This supplies the garden taps, toilets and washing machine cold water. An above ground storage tank can hold an additional 7,900 lt.
Special Garden Features The heavily mulched yards have been planted with various Australian drought-tolerant natives. In the back yard are several fruit trees. A dripper system is available to the front yard and the two 1.2 x 6 m raised (600mm) vegetable garden beds. There is no lawn.
External Walls The construction is conventional brick (pressed clay) veneer with pine frame. Heavy duty sisilation (R 1.3) (taped and sealed) was fixed to the frame and R 2.0 poly batts fill the cavity. All window and door frames were sealed with DuPont ‘Straight Seal’.
Internal Walls Sound insulation (Noisebloc 75) was used in two bedroom / living area or entry walls.
Roof The roof is ‘Ironstone’ Colorbond steel over sisilation. R 5.0 fiberglass batts are laid over the ceilings of all but the garage.
Floor The concrete, on-the-ground slab provides the thermal mass. In all north-facing rooms (except the carpeted master bedroom and a portion of the Gathering Space), it is covered with sun-absorbing porcelain tiles.
Window Treatments All windows, sliding doors and front entry are double glazed in hardwood frames (vic ash). The windows and sliding doors are aliclad externally. The north facing windows and doors have low e glass to reflect heat radiated from within back into the house. All windows and the double sliding door in the Gathering Space are covered with roman blinds
Power Generation and Lighting A 1 kW solar grid-connected system with a 2.2 kW inverter is being installed. (Presently all electricity purchased is 100% Green wind power.) All internal and most external lights are low energy or fluorescent fixtures. Solar tubes or a sky light illumine the 3 windowless spaces.
Heating & Cooling The home was designed to not require air conditioning. The highly effective sealing of all windows and external doors and the airlocks for the main entries minimize ‘leakage’. 600 mm eves, and 3 external roller shutters minimize summer sun and radiant heat entry. All opening windows are casements and all internal doors are 2340 mm to maximize cross ventilation. Ceiling fans (2700 mm ceilings) circulate room air over the moderating effect of the slab. Winter heating is supplemented by hydronic heating with 7 radiators, plus a 5 star gas log heater.
Water Heating Water is heated by a Hills evacuated tube Solar HWS, backed up with an instantaneous gas unit.
