BREAZE

“I had GREAT day – well done to the team. Excellent info on the web-site and great information sheets at the houses.”

It was the 12^th of September, and after hitting the website people set off around the Ballarat area to check out some of the twelve sustainable houses BREAZE had organised.  60 people started the day at the Heinz Centre, a sustainable classroom block at Ballarat Grammar, and were very impressed with what was on offer there:

- A great talk by Phil Meaney (sustainable builder) on the basics of sustainability in houses.

-  A tour of features of the Heinz Centre, conducted by Headmaster, Stephen Higgs.

- A guide to the houses that were open in the Ballarat area.

The houses were all over the place - some in the local area (Wendouree and Soldiers Hill), others further away (Buninyong, Napoleons, Haddon, Lexton, Ballan) and more in between.

Numbers of visitors at the houses varied from 22 to 144.  With twelve houses available in our area, nobody could do justice to all of them, so we think most people chose the style of house or the features they were most interested in. There were two houses which had been built long ago, and retrofitted by the present owners to become more sustainable.  Others were purpose-built, with several still in the finishing stages. Several houses were planned to look like any other, but used design principles and building materials which make them thermally efficient. One of the straw-bale houses gives the impression of just being a mainstream house with a pleasant, inviting atmosphere about it.

The houses opened a lot of eyes.  Here’s some of the visitor feedback:

“It has totally changed the way I am going to build my house.”

“The houses were very impressive. We are glad we made the effort to go.”

“I learnt so much at the talk, it was brilliant! Now I know more on what to look for when buying a house.”

“I got my builder to turn my house around so that the living area gets some sun.  Is that what makes a house more "sustainable"?  It was just my idea.  The builder didn't discuss anything like that with me.”

“I have to admit I didn't start the day with much optimism, but was surprised by how far the general debate and level of discussion has progressed from a couple of years ago.”

“I really enjoyed the day – It was good to talk to like-minded people.  The volunteers were very helpful, and the system of using the signs was a good idea” (House owner)

In Mt Clear:

^ Example of Solar gain - sun hiting the thermal mass of the "eco" concrete floor

Insulating Concrete Form - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulated_concrete_form

^ Trombe Wall in Mt Clear:

" Modern Trombe walls have vents added to the top and bottom of the air gap between the glazing and the thermal mass. Heated air flows via convection into the building interior. The vents have one-way flaps which prevent convection at night, thereby making heat flow strongly directional. This kind of design is an indirect passive thermal collector. By moving the heat away from the collection surface, it greatly reduces thermal losses at night and improves net heat gain. Generally, the vents to the interior are closed in summer months when heat gain is not wanted"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombe_wall

An example of a passive solar ventilation system -  solar chimney (or thermal chimney or Trombe wall) is composed of a hollow thermal mass connecting the interior and exterior of a building.  When the sun enters the chimney, the air inside is heated causing an updraft. The interior air is pulled through the building, and when windows are opened at the opposite end of the house, a cooling air flow is achieved. This type of ventilation  has been in use since Roman times and are common in the Middle East.

Resources about sustainable building

A wealth of information on all things building and architectural

http://breaze.org.au/resources/links/21-architectural

Australia's Zero Emissions House

http://auszeh.org.au/demo_details.html