Sands House 2024

Sands House

The Sands House is a newly constructed (September 2023) 3 bdrm + study/multi-purpose room, 2 bathroom, all-electric family home on the beautiful Fleurieu Coast, South Australia.

Building a sustainable home has been a dream ever since I researched and designed an off-grid house as part of a Year 9 science project! Visiting Jenny Edwards’ home (Light House Architecture & Science) during a previous Sustainable House Day was also a huge inspiration.

I worked with a great team of Fleurieu professionals – designer (Lachie McEwen from Harmonic Design Studio) and builder (Sam Foutoulis from 35 South Building Company) – to create a simple but highly functional, comfortable, energy-efficient home. The excellent air-tightness result (1.208ACH) reflects thoughtful design, intentional choice of high-performance products, and careful and skilled construction.

External materials are a mixture of recycled red brick, Weathertex Weathergroove Woodsman, and James Hardie Fine Texture cladding, with zincalume roofing.

Sustainable features include –
Air-tightness: House is wrapped in Proclima vapour permeable membrane and achieved an excellent level of air-tightness (1.208ACH)
Ventilation: Ducted mechanical ventilation with heat recovery
Windows: Double glazed uPVC windows and doors. Window placement and use of tilt & turn style windows allows for excellent cross-ventilation and passive cooling.
Insulation: R2.7 batts to external walls, R2.0 batts to internal walls, R6.0 batts to ceiling
Flooring: Polished concrete for thermal mass.
Heating/cooling: Ceiling fans to all rooms. Single RCAC split-system in living area.
Hot water: Heat pump hot water system.
Shower heads: Efficient Methven Kiri Satinjet ultra low flow shower head (efficiency rating 7.5L/min)
Solar: 13.2kW system w/ 10kW inverter (3-phase power)
Water tanks: 2 x 2500L rain water tanks

Sustainability Features

Years Open
2024
ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES
    • Energy efficiency:
    • Draught proofing
      Efficient lighting
    • Passive heating cooling:
    • Cross ventilation
      Heat recovery ventilation system
      Passive solar designed home
      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
    • Above ground rainwater storage Type:
    • 2 x 2500L slimline tanks
    • Above ground rainwater storage Size
    • 5000L
    • Energy Efficient Lighting
    • LED lights throughout
      Natural daylight
    • Window Protection:
    • Eaves
      Honeycomb blinds
SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS
    • Recycled and reused materials:
    • Bricks
INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS
    • Insulation Type:
    • Ceiling
      Internal walls
      External walls
    • Ceiling Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
    • Ceiling Rating:
    • 6.0
    • Internal Walls Insulation Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
    • Internal Walls Insulation Rating:
    • 2.0
    • External Walls Rating:
    • 2.7
    • External Walls Type:
    • Bulk – glass wool
RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS
    • All-Electric Home?
    • Yes
    • Renewable energy used:
    • Solar PV grid connect
    • Size of PV system:
    • 13.2
HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS
    • House Size
    • 152
    • BAL Rating
    • BAL – 12.5: Ember attack with heat up to 12.5kW/m2
    • Roof
    • Metal (Zincalume)
    • Wall Materials
    • Brick veneer
      Lightweight construction (timber frame)
    • Window and Door Types
    • Awning
      Double glazing
      Sliding windows/doors
      Tilt and turn
    • Number of bedrooms
    • 4
    • Number of bathrooms
    • 2
GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION
    • Garden / Outdoors
    • Edible garden
      Local indigenous plants
      Native plants
      Water wise plants
    • Waste Reduction Practices:
    • Book exchange/library
HEALTHY HOME FEATURES
    • Healthy home features
    • Airtight house design
      Cross flow ventilation
      Heat recovery ventilation (HRV)
Location
Normanville SA 5204
    • Housing Type:
    • Standalone House
    • Project Type:
    • New Build
    • Builder
    • 35 South Building Company
    • Designer
    • Lachlan McEwen - Harmonic Design

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