Our home is owner built, taking approximately 7 years from start to finish (in 2007) working on it part time. We are in a cool climate, near Canberra, so winter heating is necessary, as is summer cooling. It is a basic rectangle, with two upstairs bedrooms joined with a central catwalk.
While not orientated directly north, the east/west orientation makes excellent use of summer breezes to cool the living areas, with shading either side to protect in summer. The walls are built with a reverse brick veneer style, with corrugated iron on the outside frame and rendered besser block inside, providing thermal mass in the walls as well as floor slab.
We have lots of windows and french doors that open for summer breezes, with heavy curtains and thermal mass for winter warmth.
Our composting toilet is just outside our house, and saves on water usage. It was the first construction job and has been working continuously for the past 25 years.
Heating in winter is from a wood fire, with wood sourced locally from fallen farm trees. The thermal mass in the floor and walls holds the heat, maintaining an even comfortable temperature. The upstairs bedrooms are toasty warm in winter, but can overheat in summer, requiring some further planning and retrofitting.
We have a 7.9kw of solar panels facing north, providing most of our power needs through summer. We have low power bills in winter, and do not consider the need for battery at this point.
We have planned our garden carefully to provide shade on the west side of the house, as well as a covered deck with additional umbrella shade. We have a pergola and shade on the eastern side for morning shade in summer. We enjoy being outdoors and the house has many doors and windows, connecting the garden to the house. We have 1 acre of garden around the house and frequently have at least one door open every day in the warmer 6 months of the year - no chance of a passivhaus rating here!
This property has wheelchair access.
