Talking Sustainability
In the September 2011 issue of DirectBuild’s Newsletter, we commented on the Federal Government’s proposed introduction of mandatory disclosure of the environmental performance of residential homes in Australia.
With this in mind and the ever increasing importance of energy efficient building practices, two of DirectBuild’s personnel have recently completed a course to become ABSA accredited Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) Assessors. During the course, important key elements were highlighted which may help with your design and product selection process.
Of late, there has been much talk about increasing power bills and rising living costs. Unfortunately just like many things in life, rising costs are unavoidable but with good home design and good material use, the cost increases can be limited. It is important to look critically at passive design alternatives and to select high energy efficient building products.
From a building perspective, it highlights why research, knowledge and good preparation are paramount in any type of construction work. By taking the time to research new, innovative products you can gain a greater understanding on how they may not only shorten your construction time, but in the long term, provide greater thermal efficiency for your building thereby helping to reduce your energy consumption.
Passive Design
Passive Design in effect is designing your new home/extension to maximise your natural environment.
It means making sure the design best suits its orientation as well as its positioning. This could include such elements as minimising windows to the south and/or maximise shadowing on your western elevation to try to reduce heat gain during summer.
Another option may be the correct placement of masonry (brickwork) to an internal “thermal mass feature wall”. Not only can the internal exposed brick wall aesthetically look good, but through the correct location of key windows in an adjacent external wall, it will absorb the warm winter sun and slowly radiate the stored heat, helping to warm the room without using any additional energy.
All of this should be done in accordance with local regulatory requirements and also, importantly, within your budgetary expectations.
Energy Efficient Building Products
Choosing the right type of building products for the right area of your home will help to improve the thermal efficiency of your project as a whole and should be applied in conjunction with your design. You could consider using double glazing in your windows on your southern elevation, to try to reduce heat loss during the winter months.
There are a lot of newer products and systems which are not only designed to improve thermal efficiency but also reduce overall construction time. These products are more common in external cladding systems which can be rendered and painted to achieve a look like traditional systems.
These alternative systems may initially cost more. However, you will not only save money in the long (run through greater energy efficiency), you will save money in construction time through using fewer trades and shorter rental periods (eg shorter scaffold hire).
In summary, no one will understand your project better than you. By taking time to research new products and understand how they work you will see the benefits. This in turn will help you to communicate to your designers what you want in your new/renovated home.
In closing, it should be said that your new home does not have to be a poor energy performer. With the correct passive design to start, combined with correctly placed bulk insulation, your new home can be an effective thermal efficient home.
The team at DirectBuild would be happy to meet with you to discuss your design ideas and help convert those ideas into conceptual designs with passive design principles and energy efficient building options raised for you to consider.
Scott Frear
Marketing and Building Consultant
DirectBuild Australia Pty Ltd
(02) 9713 7428
