Phil and Donna’s Place 2016

House Notes – Phil and Donna’s Place

After designing, admiring and seeing the benefits of passive solar designed homes, we decided we needed to build and live in one ourselves. The outcome? Our home – a simple, no-frills approach to passive solar design, relying on core principles to achieve an 8.1 energy star rating in the Hills climate zone (8.9 stars in Perth zone). While the options are endless when building a “sustainable home,” our priorities were; efficient/passive heating and cooling, water catchment (100% rain water dependent), and connection with the outdoors. Our design makes use of our block’s north facing aspect, maximising Winter sunlight and Summer cross-ventilation. A polished concrete floor and full-height brick fire-place provide ample thermal mass to regulate temperature throughout the year. Our timber-framed walls are packed full of insulation and then lined externally with a fibre cement sheeting, followed by additional insulation and finishing cladding.

A low, skillion pitched roof maximises passive shading, with computer modelling assisting in determining window placement to maximise the shading benefits.

We have installed different glazing throughout the house to suit the room, aspect and our budget. 90% of the external doors and windows are timber joinery that was either old stock or discarded frames which benefited both the supplier and us.

With the help of a friend, we designed our own unique gutter system constructed in the concrete paving which then is directed into storage tanks before making its way to the main tank.

We look forward to sharing our home with you on SHD 2016.

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2016
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Efficient lighting
      Draught proofing
      Efficient appliances
      Energy monitoring
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Shading
      Cross ventilation
    • Active heating cooling:
    • Ceiling fans
    • Water heating:
    • Solar hot water (evacuated tube)
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Underground storage
      Above ground storage
      Low flow shower heads
      Low flow taps
    • Underground rainwater storage type:
    • 2 x concrete storage tanks
    • Underground rainwater storage Size:
    • 2 x 2000 Ltr
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • Corrigated Iron tanks
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 1 x 80000ltr, 1 x 20000 Ltr
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Sustainable materials:
    • Timber windows reused unwanted frames, recycled brick and concrete pavers
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Windows
      Paving
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Ceiling
      Internal and external walls
    • Ceiling Type:
    • Ceiling Batts and Anticon
    • Ceiling Rating:
    • Ceiling R3.5 and roof R2.0
    • Internal / External Walls Type:
    • Soundscreen wall insulation
    • Internal / External Walls Rating:
    • Internal R2.0, external R3.1 + Aircell Sisalation
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • Energy star rating:
    • 8.1 stars
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 204
    • Window and Door Types
    • Double glazing
      Low-e, films
      Louvre windows
      Clerestory windows
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 3
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Drip irrigation
      Water wise plants
      Native plants
      Chickens
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Low VOC floor sealer, 3 stage water filter with UV light filter
Location
Mundaring WA 6073
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • New Build
    • Builder
    • Custom Lifestyle Homes

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