17. Shelter, Energy, Heat & H2o

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The house is a passive solar design, meaning no heating/air con bills! It utilises the direction of the sun’s energy to maintain certain temperatures. The back of the house is South facing with lots of windows allowing maximum light. In the Summer, the doors, windows and blinds are closed during the day, and opened at night. This means that the house stays cool when it’s baking outside, and vice versa. The process can then be reversed during the winter. The windows allow the maximum amount of light in through. Also, the use of plants in and outside the greenhouse area can also help to adjust/maintain temperatures through growing and cutting back.

The house is made from locally produced mud bricks, which are then sealed with PVA to prevent them from going dusty. The wood used throughout the house is sourced sustainably and locally. The house is functional. It’s not too big, and not too small, and has everything a small family might need; 2/3 bedrooms, bath/shower room, kitchen/dinning/lounge area, a study/office, and a greenhouse area. It seems that a lot of people who decide to build their own houses have these grand ideas, and end up biting off more than they can chew. Su and David have definitely made a success of their (ongoing?) project. But I suspect that, however you choose to do it, it can’t be easy!

The cooker/oven is an Italian design, and runs off wood. The flue (pipe) goes straight out the back wall so that the heat is disposed of outside, although for colder climates, it could be re-designed to keep heat in.

The Solar panels on the outside of the house are used to heat the water, and run electrical equipment (I think!). If I remember correctly they are on grid, but buying and selling back and forth.

They have a very small fridge in the house, which is mainly used for goat’s milk & yoghurt, and a small freezer for meat in the garage. They have also intergrated a cooling cupboard into the kitchen design. A cooling cupboard is an ingenious way of creating a cool space to store veggies etc. without using power. It works by placing a large tube between the cold base of the house, up through and out of the roof. The cool air is naturally sucked up, cooling the cupboard as it runs through. I’ve also heard that you can also paint the top of the tube black on the outside to assist the airflow.

As you can imagine here in Australia, irrigation and water reduction is another major issue to tackle. Rainwater here at Su and David’s is collected in two reservoirs and then pumped up to two large tanks at the top of the property. This is then fed down through carefully placed drip lines to irrigate the land. It’s a great system. A lot of emphasis is put on water reduction and reuse though, again nothing is wasted. A lot of Australians now use a bucket whilst showering to collect water for re-use, which is what we’ve been doing here. Anything else, like the washing up water for example is collected and used on the plants in the greenhouse near the kitchen. They are currently in the process of getting the grey water system put in.

Rainfall and temperature data is recorded on a chart in the kitchen. I presume that long-term observation and documentation enables you to understand any changes occurring to climate and the land. Meaning you can adjust and adapt your design. The continuous cycles of action learning:

Reflect - Research - Plan - Act - Reflect - Research - Plan - Act - Reflect -Research - Plan - Act - Reflect -Research - Plan - Act - Reflect -Research - Plan - Act - Reflect -Research - Plan - Act - Reflect -Research..

The Zones and Sectors tool is obviously in practice here. Herbs and plants used on a daily basis are close to the house in zone 1, veggies and salad crops zone 2, fruit trees zone 3 & 4 etc. Overall a well designed abundant functioning plot, as you’d expect it to be! ;c)

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