We were living in a very thermally inefficient, oversized home for years, thinking it was our dream home. Then we discovered the world of sustainable homes through our own research and desire to live lighter on the planet. We started our project in 2019 when we bought the land and approached our architect, Mountford Williamson.
The orientation had to be right, with the right external shading, as did the flow and size. Our vision was to build a home that could sustain itself, without going to Passiv Haus standards and cost, that was also beautiful and fit on a small block.
We found our builder, Adelaide Green homes, and worked on a number of other sustainable features. Solar was a must, including the amount and orientation. Double glazed windows throughout, including low-E applied to west facing windows.
One very important and distinctive aspect about Oakley is that it’s designed to be as airtight as possible without going to the level of Passiv Haus. That means sealing areas well, ensuring the building wrap is sealed well and vapour permeable as well and importantly, given its airtight nature, it needed to be ventilated right. So we researched, designed the fitting and installed a HRV system. We have heat pump hot water and air conditioning that make best use of the solar, being turned on mainly during peak production.
Water retention on site was also important, so roofing angles, orientation and storage were all important. We also installed water diverters that pump not-yet-hot water into the tank (that feeds toilets and garden) to make better use of the water we have and use. We have installed a battery and our inverter and garage are ready for a future EV.
Also very importantly, we included lots of natural colours and materials that make it beautiful to look at as well as live in!
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