We are building a new home that has been on the cards for five years. Our guiding principles are to create an energy efficient, low impact and future-proof home to cater for our changing needs.
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This has been a fantastic experience, developing my understanding on how we can leverage the natural environment through orientation, airflow, use of plants and types of materials we can use to create a sustainable home. Minimising waste during the construction process is also a key focus. This is well supported through our local shire transfer station, which has introduced many recycling streams diverting waste from landfill. Recycling is still not the answer and we need to minimise this also, but we are finding that through good planning we can reduce what goes to the transfer station.
Our new home is set on 1.3 acres and has a large deep dam. The aim is to create a haven for us, extended family and friends and the local fauna, creating a self-sustaining ecosystem. We will grow lots of food, so most plants we are using are either edible or drought tolerant. We’ve addressed the key guiding principles in the following ways.
Energy Efficiency
To achieve this we have incorporated:
Orientation – ability to capture the north facing sun in winter through double glazed windows
Heat bank wall – an internal stone wall will harness the north winter sun in the main living area
Thermal mass – floors on the north facing side of building are concrete again to harness winter sun
Green roof – will provide insulation in living area, filtrate storm water before entering the dam and increase biodiversity
Insulation – loads of it under floor, in the walls and ceiling
Cross & stack ventilation – window placement and fans to harness breezes
No gas – a 5 kilowatt solar system will power the house
Low Impact
I spent many sleepless nights on this one and had to give myself license to compromise at times. We took into consideration:
Choosing building materials with low embodied energy e.g. recycled timbers
Minimising our footprint on landscape by limiting excavation, planting lots of trees and aiming to be carbon neutral
Managing waste onsite through composting, bulk buying, preserving food and having space to store it.
Future Proofing
The design of the home always looked to the future. I often used the analogy that when the zombie apocalypse happens, our home will provide shelter, food and water for many. Future proofing we included are:
Energy generation – able to convert solar system to battery storage and get off the grid
Water capture and conservation – via the dam, water tanks and effective habits
Spaces – designed home to enable dual occupancy
Guttering – much wider than standard box guttering to manage future extreme rainfall predicted due to climate change
Electric car – designed the garage to ensure we can just plug in the car and let it charge free from the sun.
As we progress, I see where I have not quite got it right, but have to chalk it up to learning that I can share with others.
Some key pitfalls to be aware of include sloping land. It’s beautiful but the cost is high. People should also seek more “sustainability” expertise in the beginning to avoid going back to the drawing board on design, which costs more money. Not getting all the key professions into a room together at the beginning is also something to be wary of.
All in all it has been a wonderful experience so far, and I feel very lucky to be working with the wonderful local folk who are helping to bring this dream alive.
Michelle Stephenson is a consultant specialising in sustainability with BE Designs. Visit her blog at www.bedesigns.com.au/blog
