Koroit House 2025

Koroit House

Our home is a sustainable, all electrical home in South West Victoria that has been built to achieve our goals of an affordable, comfortable and sustainable home that works for us now and into the future with our young family.

The home is a solar passive design with a focus on the external envelope of the building which includes maximum insulation levels to floor, walls and ceiling, an airtight vapour permeable building wrap to walls and roof and battened cladding and roofing for ventilation of the wrap. We also utilised locally made uPVC windows and doors from Thermosmart Windows and a polished concrete floor throughout for thermal mass.

Our builder and their designer worked closely with us through the brief and concept design phases to ensure we gained the best sustainable outcome without impacting our overall budget, with a particular focus on efficiency of trades on site given the COVID restrictions during the build. Another key part of the design was an external sustainability review of the concept design by Megan Norgate (BNE) that helped reduce the homes overall footprint and improve the layout. We then worked with our energy assessor to fine tune the NATHERS modelling to right size eaves and window sizes to maximise the thermal performance.

We also focused on reducing maintenance, selecting low maintenance materials for the external façade and high traffic internal surfaces, limiting external painting and using a timber-look film on uPVC windows.

The house has achieved an 8.1 Star NATHERs rating and a net positive operational carbon footprint based on first 12 months of us having our new PV system and has only needed the additional heating from our single reverse cycle A/C a few mornings in the depth of south west Victorian winter.

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2024
2025
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Draught proofing
      Efficient lighting
      Efficient appliances
      Energy monitoring
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Cross ventilation
      Deciduous planting around house
      Passive solar designed home
      Shading
      Thermal mass
    • Active heating cooling:
    • Ceiling fans
      Split system airconditioner
    • Water heating:
    • Hot water heat pump
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Rainwater storage - Above ground
      Low flow shower heads
      Low flow taps
    • Average water consumption per day:
    • 75L/person/day
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • Poly tanks
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 10,000L
    • Energy Efficient Lighting
    • LED lights throughout
      Natural daylight
    • Electric Vehicle
    • Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV
    • Window Protection:
    • Blinds
      Deciduous tree/vegetation
      Drapes/curtains
      Eaves
      Solar pergola
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Sustainable materials:
    • • Exposed polished concrete floor (waffle pod) as thermal mass that includes additional insulation to underside and perimeter of slab • uPVC argon filled double glazed tilt and turn windows and cam locking external uPVC doors • Builder included insulation (50mm insulation board) to back of all timber lintels and bulk insulation to external corners and blind gaps prior to building wrap installation. • Vapour permeable building wrap to walls and roof, fully taped to form air tight envelope. Roof and walls include cavity between external linings and roof iron via battens. • Gap sealing of all external penetrations in wrap and all cable holes in top plates to reduce air movement for occupied space to wall and roof cavity. • No recessed lights to internal ceiling to minimise interruptions to ceiling insulation. • Taped, caulked and sealed all window and door penetrations • Door drop seal to internal garage door to living areas to reduce leakage to and from garage. • Building pressure test – Achieved a blower door test result of 2.25ACH@50Pa - Ventilation by Panasonic ceiling exhaust fans with integral 24hr low speed operation. • Thermal camera insulation audit after plaster install
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Appliances
      Bricks
      Paving
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Ceiling
      Internal walls
      External walls
      Floor
    • Ceiling Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
    • Ceiling Rating:
    • 6.0
    • Floor Type:
    • Bulk - polystyrene board
    • Floor Rating:
    • 1.5
    • Internal Walls Insulation Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
    • Internal Walls Insulation Rating:
    • 2.5
    • External Walls Rating:
    • 2.5
    • External Walls Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • All-Electric Home?
    • Yes
    • Renewable energy used:
    • Solar PV grid connect
    • Size of PV system:
    • 4.5 kW
    • Average Daily Energy Consumption:
    • 3.5 kWh per person
COSTS AND COST SAVINGS
    • Total cost of home when constructed:
    • $520,000 (2021)
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 205sqm (incl. 29sqm garage)
    • BAL Rating
    • BAL – Low: There is insufficient risk to warrant specific construction requirements
    • Roof
    • Metal (Colorbond)
    • Wall Materials
    • Brick veneer
      Lightweight construction (timber frame)
      Metal (Colorbond)

    • Wall Materials
    • Weathertex Weathergroove cladding
    • Window and Door Types
    • Awning
      Double glazing
      Low-e, films
      Sliding windows/doors
      Stacking windows/doors
      Tilt and turn
    • Universal Design Features
    • Hobless showers
      Lever handles for doors (no knobs)
      No stairs/steps
      Shower head on rail for various heights
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 4
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
    • Healthy Home Materials
    • Airtight house design
      Carpet free - tiles/concrete/timber flooring throughout
      Cross flow ventilation
      Natural light and ventilation
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Chickens
      Composting
      Drip irrigation
      Edible garden
      Native plants
      Water wise plants
      Worm farm
    • Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Compost all food scraps
      Recycle
      Swap with friends and neighbours
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Airtight house design
      Carpet free - tiles/concrete/timber flooring throughout
      Cross flow ventilation
      Natural light and ventilation
Location
Koroit VIC 3282
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • New Build
    • Builder
    • Bolden Constructions
    • Designer
    • Bolden Constructions

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