Piggery Road Permaculture 2019

House Notes – Piggery Road Permaculture

Established in 2018, Piggery Road Permaculture has a vision to teach permaculture and foster community-supported agriculture in the Latrobe Valley.

PLEASE NOTE: Piggery Road is still effectively a building site. Wear sturdy shoes and be mindful of mud and uneven ground. The driveway is muddy so unless you are in a 4WD or front-wheel drive, please consider parking on the street. It is about 80m to the house from the road.

We seek to provide a working demonstration site for permaculture enthusiasts and designers, providing clean, healthy local food to the community. Garlic and seasonal vegetables are currently the major focus of crop production.

The site is also the home of Jack Spira Guitars, offering fine, hand-crafted stringed instruments and lutherie tuition. The household has been set up to have minimal ongoing costs and maximum self-sufficiency, allowing the inhabitants to pursue their passions rather than work off-site to pay bills. The workshop and house are powered by stand-alone solar. Five large water-tanks and a spring supply household and irrigation water.

The house is almost entirely recycled, having been relocated from Melbourne and retrofitted with improved insulation and a hybrid solar/wood-fired system for heating, cooking and hot water. Piggery Road’s Permaculture plan is still in a relatively early stage, allowing visitors to see the work in progress.

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2019
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Efficient lighting
      Energy monitoring
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Cross ventilation

    • Passive heating cooling:
    • House oriented to NE so that most windows and courtyard face north
    • Active heating cooling:
    • Ceiling fans
      Heat pump
      Hydronic
    • Water heating:
    • Hot water heat pump
      Water heated by PV system
      Wood fire wetback
    • Water harvesting and saving features:
    • Above ground rainwater storage
      Worm farm septic tank system
      Stormwater management
      Low flow shower heads
      Drip irrigation
    • Average water consumption per day:
    • 66L
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • Tanks, dam (under construction), 5ML groundwater licence, stock and domestic river water licence
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 110,000L tanks, dam TBA
    • Storage connected to
    • Whole house
    • Energy Efficient Lighting
    • LED lights throughout
      Natural daylight
    • Window Protection:
    • Awnings (external)

    • Window Protection:
    • Plantation shutters
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • House frame, floor, weatherboards, some plasterboard.
    • Sustainable materials:
    • All new insulation batts are made from recycled glass bottles. Underfloor insudlation is yet to be installed.
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Appliances
      Basins/sinks
      Bathroom cabinets
      Copper pipes/fittings
      Doors
      Glass
      Insulation
      Kitchen cabinets
      Timber
      Windows

INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Under-roof
      Ceiling
      External walls
      Floor
    • Ceiling Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
    • Ceiling Rating:
    • R4.1
    • Floor Type:
    • Reflective foil
    • Floor Rating:
    • Unknown
    • Under Roof Insulation Type:
    • Fibreglass roof blanket with foil
    • Under Roof Insulation Rating:
    • R1.3
    • External Walls Rating:
    • R2.0
    • External Walls Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • All-Electric Home?
    • No
    • Renewable energy used:
    • Solar PV off-grid
    • Size of PV system:
    • 5kW solar panels, 10.5 kWh battery storage
    • Average Daily Energy Consumption:
    • 4kWh
COSTS AND COST SAVINGS
    • Total cost of home when constructed:
    • $237,000
    • Cost estimate of sustainable home/features:
    • $52,000
    • Estimate of annual savings:
    • $2400
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 175m2
    • BAL Rating
    • BAL – 19: Increasing levels of ember attack and ignition of debris with a heat flux of up to 19kW/m2
    • Roof
    • Metal (Colorbond)
    • Wall Materials
    • Timber
    • Window and Door Types
    • Sliding windows/doors

    • Window and Door Types
    • Standard doors with glass panels, sliding, sash and winding windows
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 4
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Worm farm effluent field used to grow mulching materials and bee graze
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Bee keeping
      Composting
      Drip irrigation
      Edible garden
      Organic
      Permaculture
      Native plants
      Water wise plants

    • Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Compost all food scraps
      Recycle
      Repair
      Swap with friends and neighbours

    • Other Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Worm farm, many material obtained at local tip shop
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Chemical free cleaning products used
      Cross flow ventilation
      Natural light and ventilation
      No carpets
Location
Boolarra VIC 3870
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • Relocated house
    • Builder
    • Owner builder post relocation
    • Designer
    • N/A

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