 400 Year Home
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Sliding shutter to shied the afternoon sun |
Sustainable Urban Design Case Study
Jane and John were workshop participants in the 2007 SUD workshops.
Cambridge Lifestyle Block
The 400 year home
When Jane and John started on the journey of researching their new home on top of a windy rise outside of Cambridge, they were originally thinking of building a rammed earth home.
However, after visiting several earth homes and hearing the challenges faced in getting a house of this type signed off by Council, they decided to build a more mainstream green home.
A key part of their design brief was to create a home that would last for generations to come, and cater for the needs of all ages. With this is mind, the ground floor has been future proofed to accommodate a wheelchair with wider door frames, a purpose built bathroom and more floor area to allow free movement.
In her role as project manager, Jane found she had to have great resolve to ensure the important aspects of their design were not compromised in moving from page to structure. Keeping the trades’ men on site in line proved to be a significant part of her role, with most being new to a green build.
However, some involved in the build appreciated the exposure to new ways of doing things and new products. Builder Graeme Giles was impressed with the new products he saw being used in the build, including Fusiotherm, which plumbers Singleton and Hansen used in this build. |
Polished concrete soaking up the sun |
Insulation Story
Jane and John’s first encounter with insulation was in 1976 when they built their first home in Matangi. At the time they were advised to get insulation put into the ceiling to make the TV sound better. Having recently returned from England, with few belongings and no TV, they decided against putting insulation into their new home.
However, not so when building this green home in 2009! The ceiling has been insulated above the standard, as well as the walls being insulated 140mm above the standard. But, the process turned out to require Jane’s project management skills to crank up a notch or two.
In order for insulation to work, there can be no gaps. On Jane’s request, the insulation installers had to return to do the job three times to ensure there were no gaps in the insulation.
Passive Solar Design
Having lived in the house over a summer season, everyone who visits comments how comfortably cool it is in summer. Jane and John are waiting to see how much solar gain comes from the polished concrete floor during winter. The site is windy, and the cross ventilation is good.
Both Jane and John spend a lot of time in the study so comfort in this room was of prime importance. The study has a west facing window, and there was concern of the room being too hot in the afternoon.
On a trip to Switzerland, they were so impressed with a simple idea they saw in practice, so they decided to incorporate a modification of it into their new home. A sliding shutter has been put on the outside of the window, and both have found it a brilliant way of keeping the radiant afternoon heat out. |
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Biolytix and drip lines
Water storage tanks
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Water systems
Water is captured and stored in three 25,000lt tanks, each filled with up to 16,000lt. Two are for the house and one is for the garden. As having a soak hole is impossible, the tanks can be filled to new more than 2/3 full.
Disposal of both grey and black water on site is done through a Biolytix system. Jane and John attended the Green Home workshop series in 2007 during their design stage, and were inspired to investigate the range of products available, after the presentation at the Water workshop.
The local suppliers are Singleton and Hansen Plumbing. While Biolytix wasn’t the cheapest, they felt reassured that the installer and back up service was local, and felt that with the understanding they had gained from the workshop, all were singing from the same song sheet. The drip lines are on the surface but will be planted up with natives and the area will be barked, effectively burying the drip lines.
When the driveway is sealed, they will install a kerb to channel the water runoff from the driveway which will be gravity fed to a tank for water storage for grazing animals on the land they lease to a nearby farmer.
A water saving device was installed in the second bathroom. A sensor is activated when someone walks into the bathroom, which then reticulates the water so that it is hot immediately. This removes the need to have to run the water for a period to bring the hot water through. |
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Macrocarpa door features
Depth of walls |
Illumination
Lighting includes a mix of energy saving bulbs and recessed LED lights installed to highlight art works. LED lights do not generate any heat so there is no need to have a 20cm cut away in the ceiling around the insulation. There is a 25year life expectancy on the LEDs. If there had been a need to cut into the insulation, Jane said that they would have had the lights surface mounted.
Of all the aspects they researched in the design of their green home, Jane and John felt that the lighting retail industry most challenging, with and apparent lack of knowledge of energy efficient fittings and bulbs.
Thermal mass
The entire ground floor is polished concrete. Jane and John did not see the point in having this thermal mass covered up with their furniture gathered over the years, and so they decided to ensure that their floor plan design had sufficient area to accommodate their many and varied pieces of furniture, as well has having room for the sun to reach in to make the most of the solar mass uncovered.
Other sustainability features in this house include:
- Polystyrene under the slab
- Footing around the edge is insulation in parts
- Rib Raft floor in the garage Rib Raft Floors
- Pergola for shading on both sides
- Underfloor heating through electric wires, was the cheaper option
- Solar hotwater
- Flued gas fireplace
- Wood finishings and windows is macrocarpa
- Cladding is Shist, plaster brick and Wanaka stone, wood and ply
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Looking forward
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Jane and John will be attending the SUD energy workshop in 2010 to build on their investigation into what type of microgeneration of electricity their site would be best suited to. Even though they are in a high wind zone they are interested to hear more about technology which enables wind turbines to operate safely in what were previously thought to be dangerous areas. |
Contact
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Strategy and Research
Level 2, Council Offices
Garden Place
Hamilton City Council
Private Bag 3010
Hamilton 3240
Phone: 838 6537
Fax: 838 6464
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