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This website aims to record our efforts to design and owner-build an efficient, affordable and livable passive solar design house in the ACT. The house will be an all-electric dwelling that aims to achieve an 8.2 star EER (consuming less than 1/2 the electricity of the ACT mandated 6 star rating for new dwellings). The house will have the ability to generate more electricity through PV solar than it consumes in a year. We also hope to generate enough surplus electricity to meet our transport/mobility requirements in the future with the purchase of an electric/hybrid car.
It is my sincerest hope that this resource will encourage people to realise that efficient and sustainable housing has more to do with design decisions than financial outlay and specialty materials/gadgets. |
In 2013 we (Mark and Hannah) were lucky enough to buy a little ex-government house in the charming suburb of Watson. After initially inspecting the house solo, my assertions that the place was perfect because 'there was absolutely nothing to recommend it' were not received with much enthusiasm.
It was a bleak, dark, overgrown block that had been given over to marauding bamboo and privet. The house stood under the shadow of a dominating 17m Atlas pine and the 92m2 house had not been touched/altered since the day construction finished on it at some stage in the early 60s. Luckily these things combined to scare off rival bidders and the rapid sale didn't give the re-developers time to assess it.
Essentially we bought the house for the land, and more specifically the orientation of the land. 664 square meters on a relatively flat block on one of the few streets in the inner-north oriented to allow uninterrupted northern access on the long side of the block. The existing house faced the street, placing all its glazing east/west- essentially turning the house into a hotbox in summer, and an icebox in winter. We lived the reality of bad Canberra housing design for 18 months in this house before relocating overseas for work. We used this time to research, save, and consolidate our plans for this project which will break ground in early 2018. You can follow our progress in the Build Blog and look at our research and design decisions in the other sections of the website to help inform your own housing ambitions!
I was familiar with passive solar design thanks to my father who built our own family home in the Central West on these principals. A lot of the more modern design considerations featured in this design were discovered through the Alternative Technology Association (ATA) forums which are a great resource and worthwhile checking out. The original research thread for this project can be found here: www.ata.org.au/forums/topic/29617