Jed and Claire’s Timbercrete Passive Solar Home 2020

House Notes – Jed and Claire’s Timbercrete Passive Solar Home

Claire and I built our passive solar design home on a 4 acre block in the Northern Rivers, just over the hill from Bentley, of “Bentley Blockade” CSG fracking protest fame. We bought the block as semi bush in 2003. We cleared many trees to provide a place to build our shed and house. Including a very big and beautiful redgum which has been lovingly turned into many timeless pieces of furniture and house timbers. We replanted many more trees and shrubs in the right places after. We built a 9 x 15m shed in which we lived, while we designed and built our house. The kids were little and the shed was fun for a while! The shed awning is now the home of “Yen Ceramics”, our daughters ceramics studio, and will soon be my music studio as well.

The house is a passive solar design. We designed it, and drew up mud maps which were drawn up by a draftsman for council. Nearly all of our ideas came from Bill Mollison’s Permaculture Handbook. Highly recommended! We also built the house, hands on with aid of tradies as needed.

The building sits on a concrete slab. The internal and external walls are made of “timbercrete” blocks, a mix of cypress wood chips, sand and cement. Has a rustic sandstone look and very good insulation. Easy to cut and lay. Termites won’t touch them being cypress! Very easy to work with and great thermal and sound insulation. It’s like living in a castle! But warmer! All of the windows are laminated 6mm glass for insulation.

The roof is a 150mm thick coolroom panel. Very good thermal insulation and quick and easy to install. Even for owner builder with a few mates! Keeps the house very comfortable all year round, along with the blocks, the glass and the passive solar design allowing the sun in to heat the tile and concrete floor on the northern half of the house in the cooler months. The passive solar design also means the hot summer sun is shaded out by the right size eaves and verandahs. The key to passive solar design is to keep the sun out in hot seasons, and allow it in to heat the thermal mass in winter. The thermal mass then keeps the house warm after the sun has gone down. In our case it is the concrete slab with tiles. So simple! And it works so well!
We have 5kW of solar panels feeding back to the grid. A battery coming soon I hope!

We have a vacuum tube hot water system which is SO GOOD! Almost zero cost for hot water after install. Vacuum tubes are the standard in Europe. Very efficient in all areas. Well worth the install cost! For us it has been nearly zero cost for hot water! A small pump circulates water from the tank in the laundry to the tubes on the roof and back. Very small power user. We have the backup heating element on an isolation switch which is only turned on after many days of cloudy/wet weather.

It’s simple and so comfortable! Passive solar and permaculture design is the future! : )

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2020
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Efficient lighting
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Passive solar designed home
    • Active heating cooling:
    • Split system airconditioner
    • Water heating:
    • Solar hot water (evacuated tube)
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Rainwater storage - Above ground
      Rainwater storage - Underground
      Blackwater system
      Stormwater management
      Low flow shower heads
      Low flow taps
      Drip irrigation
    • Average water consumption per day:
    • Not sure, but we have never had to truck water in, even in the last major drought.
    • Underground rainwater storage type:
    • Concrete tank
    • Underground rainwater storage Size:
    • 50,000L
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • Plastic tanks
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 45,000L
    • Energy Efficient Lighting
    • LED lights throughout
    • Window Protection:
    • Drapes/curtains
      Eaves
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Sustainable materials:
    • Passive solar design Solar panels Solar hot water High rating insulation walls and roof
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Basins/sinks
      Timber
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Under-roof

    • Other Insulation Methods:
    • Timbercrete block walls R1.02
    • Under Roof Insulation Type:
    • Insulated panels
    • Under Roof Insulation Rating:
    • R4.0
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • All-Electric Home?
    • Yes
    • Renewable energy used:
    • Solar PV grid connect
    • Size of PV system:
    • 8kW
    • Average Daily Energy Consumption:
    • 4kWh
COSTS AND COST SAVINGS
    • Cost estimate of sustainable home/features:
    • Cheaper than a conventional home.
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 300m2
    • BAL Rating
    • No BAL rating requirements at time of construction
    • Roof
    • Insulated panel (sandwich panels)
    • Wall Materials
    • Timbercrete
    • Window and Door Types
    • Clerestory windows
      Sliding windows/doors
    • Universal design accessability
    • Multi-generational
      Wheelchair accessible
    • Universal Design Features
    • Lever handles for doors (no knobs)
      No stairs/steps
      Self closers to all external doors
      Shower head on rail for various heights
      Slip resistant flooring
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 4
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Bee hotels/friendly
      Bird-nesting boxes
      Chickens
      Composting
      Drip irrigation
      Edible garden
      Frog friendly
      Greenhouse
      Green walls
      Orchard
      Organic
      Permaculture
      Native plants
      Swales
    • Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Book exchange/library
      Compost all food scraps
      Make jams/conserves
      Pickle and preserve food
      Recycle
      Repair
      Take own containers to the supermarket and for take away food
      Swap with friends and neighbours
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Natural oil sealer/finishes
Location
North Casino NSW 2470
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • New Build
    • Builder
    • Jeremy and Claire White
    • Designer
    • Jeremy and Claire White

Ask questions about this house

Load More Comments
Name
Email
Comment
Leave Comment