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Solaris

This is a classic passive solar home built in 1980. It has been retrofitted to reduce both energy and water consumption. It features living areas to the north and northeast, and sleeping areas to the south. It has north facing living area and clerestorey windows for winter warmth, adjustable shading and cooling via cross ventilation and the chimney effect. Thermal mass is used in the slate floor.

It was the first registered, grid connected PV system in Queensland, which has been upgraded from 1.4 to 2.8kW, generating about 12kWh/day. There is a small battery bank for power outages and the system can be run as a stand-alone power system if necessary.Demand is only 3 to 4 kWh/day, due to efficient appliances and lighting, and little need for heating or cooling. Excess solar PV energy is planned for charging an electric vehicle.

A solar water heater provides 92 percent of hot water, with gas as the back-up.

The house and extensive gardens and orchard are watered from mains (30%), rain water tanks (60%) and greywater (10%).

Sustainability Features

ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENT FEATURES

- Energy efficiency:
- Efficient lighting
  Draught proofing
  Efficient appliances
  Energy monitoring
- Passive heating cooling:
- Shading
  Cross ventilation
  Thermal chimney
- Passive heating cooling:
- Roller shutter over clerestorey windows
- Active heating cooling:
- Ceiling fans
- Water heating:
- Solar hot water (flat panel)
- Water harvesting and saving features:
- Above ground storage
  Greywater system
  Stormwater management
  Low flow shower heads
  Low flow taps
  Drip irrigation
  Storage connected to
- Above ground rainwater storage Type:
- plastic tanks
- Above ground rainwater storage Size
- 2 x 9000 Litres
- Storage connected to
- Whole house

SUSTAINABLE & RECYCLED MATERIALS

- Sustainable materials:
- On-site silky oak tree felled and milled for office bench top
- Recycled and reused materials:
- Timber
  Paving

INSULATION SPECIFICATIONS

- Insulation Type:
- Ceiling
  Internal and external walls
- Ceiling Type:
- Building blanket over cathedral ceiling and foil+bulk insulation over flat ceiling
- Ceiling Rating:
- R2.5 (Cathedral ceiling), R3.5 (Flat ceiling)
- Floor Rating:
- na in SE Qld.
- Internal / External Walls Type:
- Fibreglass and foil behind weatherboard walls
- Internal / External Walls Rating:
- R1.5

RENEWABLE ENERGY SPECIFICATIONS

- Energy star rating:
- 4.5stars
- Renewable energy used:
- Solar PV grid connect
  Energy storage

COSTS AND COST SAVINGS

- Cost estimate of sustainable home/features:
- $23,100
- Estimate of annual savings:
- $4,500 per year at current energy rates

HOUSE DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS

- House Size
- 180 square metres
- Window and Door Types
- Low-e, films
  Louvre windows
  Clerestory windows
- Universal Design Features
- Adaptive design
- Number of bedrooms
- 3
- Number of bathrooms
- 2

GARDEN AND WASTE REDUCTION

- Garden / Outdoors
- Drip irrigation
  Water wise plants
  Edible garden
  Organic
  Permaculture
  Composting
  Native plants
  Chickens

HEALTHY HOME FEATURES

- Healthy home features
- wool carpet, low VOC paints and oils

Solaris 2015

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Solaris

Sustainability Features

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