We live in McLaren Vale south of Adelaide and are looking for a good designer to help us conceptualise our passive design house. We have downloaded the yourhome technical manual (www.yourhome.gov.au - get it! it's worth the download and it's free) and we are getting lots of good ideas. We now need someone to help us take our guiding principles and get them on paper and start to inspire us. We aren't looking for an architect. We don't want to pay those types of fees. For now, we need someone that can convert our guiding principles into something workable and perhaps then come up with a set of drawings we can take to the council for approval for about $7-8K. Any thoughts?
Sustainable designers in Adelaide
(6 posts) (5 voices)-
alfresco24
MemberSuggest you try Energy Architecture in Adelaide. John and Maggie have done some of the most efficient (and nicely livable) homes I've ever come across.
In Sydney there's Michael Mobbs (not a designer/builder) who is great for modifying his inner city home to be almost completely independent of utility and sewage services.Posted Monday 23 Apr 2012 @ 11:54:06 pm from IP # -
i may be able to help. i am an architectural draftsman (not an architect) specialising in energy efficient design. based in byron bay but used to working on sites miles away email me if you want to know more . davelawrence@exemail.com.au
Posted Tuesday 24 Apr 2012 @ 6:22:32 am from IP # -
dymonite69
Memberjholata said:
We live in McLaren Vale south of Adelaide and are looking for a good designer to help us conceptualise our passive design house. We have downloaded the yourhome technical manual (www.yourhome.gov.au - get it! it's worth the download and it's free) and we are getting lots of good ideas. We now need someone to help us take our guiding principles and get them on paper and start to inspire us. We aren't looking for an architect. We don't want to pay those types of fees. For now, we need someone that can convert our guiding principles into something workable and perhaps then come up with a set of drawings we can take to the council for approval for about $7-8K. Any thoughts?Incorporating passive solar elements is a fairly easy thing to do without breaking away from a lot conventional materials or techniques. You could even modify a project home to achieve those aims. All of the ideas can be found in the Technical manual.
We pretty much designed our own house with only a little help from the designer. Most of our design was conventional apart from using Timbercrete.
e.g.
Find a design where the living areas are on the north side and the bedrooms on the south.
Ensure the roof design allows enough north roof for placement of Solar HWS and/or PV systems
Alter the window schedule to improve north facing glazing and decrease W,E and S glazing
Increase the insulation levels above usual spec
Add further shading to west and east facing.
Add internal mass either by using a slab and/or internal mass wall or reverse BV
Modify plumbing to allow for grey water and/or septic system
Modify lighting layout to eliminate downlight fixtures
Add lighting fixtures that allow for CFL/fluorescent equivalentsRemember the hardest thing isn't to design it. It is usually trying to find trades who will be happy to do some of the more unusual things e.g. internal mass, reverse BV, skillion/uptilt eaves/butterfly roof or use exotic materials that require different kinds of detailing.
Eco doesn't need to mean weird or unusual.
Posted Wednesday 25 Apr 2012 @ 9:51:19 am from IP # -
Dymonite said
"You could even modify a project home to achieve those aims. "
in theory yes ,but in practice this is seldom the case ,and even when project home companies agree to variations ,often the cost savings of going with them are eroded.
i agree 100% with his comment that ...
"It is usually trying to find trades who will be happy to do some of the more unusual things e.g. internal mass, reverse BV, skillion/uptilt eaves/butterfly roof or use exotic materials that require different kinds of detailing."
it is always easy on the drawing board !!Posted Wednesday 25 Apr 2012 @ 8:29:28 pm from IP # -
Russell Moore
MemberAlso it will make the building of the house a whole lot easier if you base your house dimensions on standard lengths of common building materials. That is usually multiples of 1200mm, 1800mm, 2400mm etc.
Posted Wednesday 25 Apr 2012 @ 11:19:34 pm from IP #
