CONSTRUCTION OF THE NEW ‘RAL’ HOUSE

FEATURES INCLUDED TO IMPROVE SUSTAINABILITY

We aimed to build a house that was inherently more sustainable that the average modern Australian brick veneer McMansion. The house includes the following features:

1. Water tanks fed from the roof guttering. We have 20,000 L of water for bush fire fighting and 25,000 L for supply to the house. To date we’ve used no water from the mains (although we have a mains connection).

2. Photovolataic panels to generate electricity. There are 27 panels each with an output of 60 W. Maximum daily production is about 8 kWh. Our house is grid connected meaning we export any excess generated by the panels and import power when the panels aren’t generating. Our summer / autumn power bill for 2007 was zero.

3. Hot water is generated using a heat pump (similar to a fridge running in reverse). This isn’t as efficient as solar hot water heating with a gas back up but is about 60% of the cost and more efficient that gas only and way more efficient that immersion heater systems.

4. Lots of insulation. It is common in Victoria to see new houses built with a wooden frame and brick veneer with only a single layer of foil insulation. These houses, oddly, must meet a Five Star energy rating. The standards must be set low. Our house has glass wool batts located immediately behind the internal cladding and a second layer of glass wool immediately below the Colorbond roof. This second layer is backed with a foil insulation layer. The floors have similar insulation. All the windows and doors are double glazed too.

5. Wood heating. Heating is provided by a single wood heater and the fuel is all from our block. We have a wood heap with about five years supply and there are another six or seven standing dead trees around the block waiting to be used. We have planted more than 100 bushes and trees to replace those lost during construction and believe that the natural process of old trees dying and branches falling should allow us to be self-sufficient for years.

6. No air conditioning. All the bedrooms, the lounge and study are fitted with ceiling fans to make the house more comfortable on very hot days.

BACK TO THE MENU