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Green Factsheet

Feb 04
Love1190

Granny Flats, Studios and Secondary Residences

By Green architecture, Green Factsheet, Modular housing & Granny flats
Are you considering building a studio? Lots of people are interested in putting a studio or a granny flat (GF) onto their property and we thought it would be helpful to run through some of the issues that need to be considered when doing this. Common reasons for a granny flat or smaller ‘secondary residence’ (ACT planning term for a granny flat) include; generating additional rental income, accommodation for ageing parents or separation from teenage children. Building a secondary residence can be thought of as a sustainable exercise, as rather than purchasing additional land, you can utilise existing infrastructure and provide housing diversity by introducing new contemporary suburban houses. Sadly, many secondary dwellings don’t eventuate due to the expense involved in complying with sometimes onerous legislation, particularly in the ACT. Secondary residences in the ACT Secondary residences in the ACT must comply with the Residential Zones Development code and the Single Dwelling Housing Development Code.There are two ways to go about putting an additional residence on your block in the ACT; either as a dual occupancy or a secondary residence. A dual occupancy must comply with the Multi Unit Housing Development Code and is only possible on blocks bigger than 800m2 in RZ1 (Residential Zone 1) A secondary residence (GF) can be built on any block larger than 500m2, may be less costly in terms of government fees and cannot be sold separately. A secondary residence must also be designed…
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Aug 17
Love0

Solar Power – What is the return on the investment?

By Green architecture, Green Factsheet, Solar power
Solar energy (energy from the sun) can be used in a passive (see our Fact Sheet on thermal mass) or in an active way. Solar electricity (active) is often referred to as Photo Voltaic (PV) power as it is produced by PV cell collectors. The most common active uses of solar energy are for solar hot water heating and for solar electric power. Solar hot water heaters are usually roof mounted and can be flat-plate collectors with either an integrated hot water storage tank or a separate tank, or evacuated tube collectors with a separate tank. We asked local industry expert David Payne from SOLARGAIN to write an information sheet on solar hot water heating and solar electric power for us as we have dealt with him over many years, and value his industry knowledge immensely. David Payne: Investing in Solar (the facts behind the myths) Today more than ever investing in solar electric power & solar hot water is one of the best investments one can make. Dramatic reductions in the capital cost of solar systems have been seen over the past 5 years and coupled with the ever increasing cost of energy means anyone with access to capital should really consider solar has a part of their investment portfolio. ‘But with the removal of government high feed-in Tariffs, I’ll never see my money back’ This is a common opinion within the public when it comes to solar and…
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Mar 21
Love266

Thermal mass – How it works to heat and cool your home

By Green architecture, Green Factsheet, Thermal mass
In the recent heat wave conditions of early 2014 where temperatures reached the mid-40s, our houses did not need air conditioning to maintain a constant temperature of around 25 degrees effectively making them ‘climate proof’ The use of thermal mass significantly reduces energy usage in residential buildings and provides the ability to maintain a comfortable internal temperature in a house with no mechanical cooling and minimal mechanical heating. This is important as the cost of electricity rose approximately 94% between December 2007 and March 2013. Thermal Mass is a measure of the heat storage (thermal) capacity of a material. High thermal mass materials take a long time to heat up and a long time to cool down ( Thermal Lag). When exposed to external (solar) heat, materials with high thermal mass (heavier and denser materials like concrete, stone, solid brick) can store more heat than their light weight low thermal mass (straw bale, timber, brick veneer) counterparts. This means that it is possible for high mass buildings to suppress or ‘dampen’ maximum indoor temperatures. Time delay and Damping (Decrement factor) Time delay or thermal lag plays a large part in thermal efficiency. Thermal capacity means that a material takes a long time to heat up and a long time to let this heat through and to release the heat; this delay is known as thermal lag. For instance, Concrete 100mm thick has a 4 hour lag and concrete 300mm thick…
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Feb 22
Love567

Concrete and Embodied Energy – Can using concrete be carbon neutral

By Concrete embodied energy, Green Factsheet, Reduce heating & cooling costs
Concrete is the most widely used building material in the world. There is now approximately 2 tonnes of concrete for each person on the planet earth. The small amount of embodied energy (carbon) in one tonne of concrete, when multiplied by the huge amount of concrete used, results in concrete being the material that contains the greatest amount of carbon in the world. Justification for higher embodied energy in buildings A higher embodied energy level in buildings can be justified if it contributes to lower operational energy over the life of the building. For example, large amounts of thermal mass, high in embodied energy, can significantly reduce cooling and heating needs in well designed and insulated passive solar buildings, particularly In climates with greater cooling or heating requirements and significant day/night temperature variations (like Canberra and region). (1) As the operational energy of a building over its life cycle far exceeds its embodied energy, using the high thermal mass of concrete to virtually eliminate heating and cooling energy requirements results in saving lots of energy that creates a carbon neutral outcome over the life of the building. How to reduce the impact of embodied energy The single most important factor in reducing the impact of embodied energy (EE) is to design long life, durable and adaptable buildings. Buildings should aim to use materials that have lower EE. (1) The choice of construction material should depend on all of the benefits…
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Feb 15
Love384

Single Glazing or Double Glazing – Which is better?

By Energy Efficiency, Glazing, Green Factsheet
The question of single or double glazing to the north is an interesting one. Naturally, double glazing provides better insulation, but it also reduces the amount of solar radiation (heat) coming in to the building, so there is a trade-off. The amount of glazing in a Strine home is maximised on the north elevation, to achieve as close as possible to 100% of the north facade. This is most unusual when compared to standard housing designs. It means that there is a lot more glass in a Strine home. Maximising the glazing to the north takes full advantage of the solar heat gain in winter. The figures below indicate that single glazing is better than double glazing on the north face of a well-designed passive solar house. They explain why in Strines three decades long experience that single glazing (of course with drapes for insulation) to the north works well in the Canberra region climate and doesn’t warrant the extra expense of double glazing. In fact, we always get comments that our homes are lovely and hot in the middle of a sunny winter’s afternoon! That’s when the high thermal mass of a Strine concrete home is essential to store all that free solar heat. The Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) for Canberra winter days is very significant because of the clear skies and sunny days. Around noon Canberra gets approximately 800 watts (that’s 0.8 of a kilowatt) per square…
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Feb 14
Love40

If passive solar design is so good why isn’t everyone doing it?

By Green Factsheet, Green living, Passive Solar, Reduce heating & cooling costs
Here at Strine Environments, we are sometimes asked by new clients why, if passive solar design is so good, isn’t everyone doing it? To which we say good question! We believe it comes down to a few key issues, which revolve around a lack of education and misconceptions. Misconceptions A common misconception is that if a house is sustainable, then style will have to be compromised. Surely they can’t coexist because eco-friendly, green energy homes are the provenance of dyed-in-the wool greenies who are not concerned with sharp, contemporary architectural design. Right? They just want to save the planet, which is all well and good, but surely it can’t be beautiful too? Well leaving the stereotypes that surround ‘greenies’ to one side, the answer is of course no. Strine’s passive solar designed homes have been fine-tuned over many years by owner and director Ric Butt, a highly awarded architect in Australia and internationally.  Strine’s homes are about creating comfort for the owners by keeping the inside temperature close to 20º in winter and summer, but the science that goes into this is not visible to the naked eye. To achieve year-round temperature stability, we have developed our own insulated precast concrete panels that allow us to provide high performance thermal mass. If you went into a Strine home you wouldn’t be able to pick if the walls were concrete or plasterboard as you have the option to paint or leave…
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