Sustainability
Seaweed House
What do you think of this house? Roof look a little unusual? Well the roof, and the walls, are built using seeweed! The seeweed provides a long lasting external surface, which as well as being a natural renewable resource, has…
Read more
Bushfire Reserve – Volume
I have previously talked about Bushfire reserve supplies. . . . But how much? I see various minimum water volumes put forward for bush fire reserves. For example in early 2014 the following applied. Victoria, regulations for new builds require…
Read more
Thermal Mass for Heating
If you read up about energy efficiency you will come across the expression ‘Thermal Mass’ . . . . . . but what is it? . . . . . and how does it work? Materials with Thermal Mass The…
Read more
Understanding Ceiling Insulation
I frequently see comments like “Ceiling insulation is next to worthless in summer.” I have even heard people say “With a hot roof space it will be overwhelmed.” and “After the sun has gone off it stops the house cooling down.” Here…
Read more
Rainfall Intensity
When most people think about rainfall they think about the amount of rainfall . . . . . . . . . but it’s just as important to understand how hard it can rain, the ‘Rainfall Intensity’. The ‘Rainfall Intensity’…
Read more
Solar Electricity – Retirement Investment
Downsizing to a smaller new house for your retirement? Don’t forget to think about solar power. Last week I revised a post ‘Solar Power is it Worth It?‘ but if you are approaching retirement, like me, there can be an…
Read more
Solar Electricity – Is It Worthwhile? (2014)
There is a lot of marketing information around about Grid Connected Solar Panels but not many independant facts. Here’s an example of an evaluation of a basic system for a house. We use around 16kw hours (kwhr) of electricity per…
Read more
Rainwater Collection – Quality Issues
This is a fairly typical rainwater collection installation. Gutters discharging to a pipe which discharges onto a screen fitted to the tank access point, cheap and cheerful! I must have seen it hundreds of times . . . . ….
Read more
Charged Rainwater Collection
Thanks to SaveH2O, of Supadiverta This diagram indicates a charged rainwater collection system. These are sometimes called either a “wet” or a “pressure” system. NB. This diagram has been simplified for clarity. A leaf diverter, and an adequate overflow, must…
Read more
Insulation Basics – Double Brick Walls
I have previously carried out a worked example of the insulation of a Brick Veneer Wall, so as a comparison here is double brick wall. I have also shown (in brackets) the effect of using a hebel block in place…
Read more