Landcom today opened Net Zero, its flagship Eco-Living Display Home at The Ponds in Sydney’s north-west. The eight star home is self-sufficient in energy, water and waste management and showcases leading-edge design and technologies.
Clarendon Homes was selected by Landcom to construct the Net Zero home as well as the earlier Benchmark and Greencycle homes. These three homes comprise its innovative Eco-Living Display Homes suite which highlights sustainability concepts and products for the project home industry and general housing market.
Steve Driscoll, Director, Sustainability and Policy at Landcom said, “The Net Zero home has been designed to challenge conventional thinking when building a home. It will make people think more carefully about how a home is conceptualised and built. The house has been designed so that it virtually has no bills for electricity or water because costs have been controlled by the design and materials used in its construction.”
“As water and electricity costs continue to escalate, people are looking for ways to reduce these expenses. The Net Zero home provides some clever yet practical examples of how to do this through a smaller sized dwelling with smart design features. This combination ultimately puts more dollars back into the pockets of home owners.”
“The Eco-Living Display Homes project has been an invaluable lesson is assessing how we can help home owners and the building industry become smarter when constructing homes to support the environment. People are becoming increasingly aware of their impact on their surroundings, but are not quite sure where to start to reduce their environmental footprint. This project has provided a great starting point. Home owners also need to understand that there are many cost effective sustainable products on the market now, they simply need to ask about them,” he added.
“Landcom and Clarendon have conducted a number of industry tours through the homes over the past few months and feedback from the industry suggests that the ‘ripples in the pond’ effect is already taking place. The Net Zero home and the other homes in the Eco-Living collection are starting to influence choices made in the building industry. For example, Clarendon Homes has already introduced six star rated house and land packages for their popular designs and incorporated what they have learned from their involvement in the Eco-Living Display Homes project into their business.”
Shaila Divakarla, Design Sustainability Specialist from Clarendon Homes added, “We are witnessing housing trends in the UK and Europe where people are moving towards a carbon neutral home status. It is a natural progression that Australian home owners are now seeking ways to also minimise their carbon footprint and associated expenses. Buildings are responsible for over 40 per cent of global energy use and over 33 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. This is a staggering figure which needs to be reduced.”
“The involvement with Landcom though this project has broadened our minds regarding new products that are available and the processes that can be implemented to create greater efficiencies when building a home. As an industry leader, we are now better equipped to take our new knowledge about best practice sustainability measures to the community.”
Features of the Net Zero home include a 4.5kW PV (photovoltaic) system positioned on the roof (24 panels) to produce all the electricity required by the house, LED lighting that uses very little power when compared to regular halogen downlights, a gas boosted solar hot water system and energy efficient appliances. All of these devices reduce dependency on conventional energy derived from fossil fuels. The Net Zero home incorporating these energy saving features will save 6.5 tonnes of CO2 every year when compared to the same home designed for compliance with energy regulations.
Water efficient features include a 10,000 litre underground water tank that supplies all the hot water and potable water to the house, an on-site grey water recycling system that supplies water to the toilets, laundry and garden, and hot water diverters which divert hot water that has gone cold back into the hot water pipes and then into the rainwater tank. All of these initiatives create a net zero water usage position.
Additional features of the home include a reverse brick veneer construction (i.e. bricks on the inside of the walls and timber on the outside) that better utilises the thermal mass property of bricks, thereby improving comfort in both summer and winter, a translucent door is featured on the garage which doubles as an outdoor entertaining area so that natural light is maximised. The kitchen and bathroom have moveable bench tops to enable older people or those who use a wheelchair to adapt the bench top to suit specific height requirements in the future. There are also several energy efficient appliances including a dish draw (instead of a dishwasher) and an outdoor sheltered area to dry clothes without the need for a dryer.
The Eco-Living Display Village Homes are located at Pebble Crescent, The Ponds and are open seven days a week from 10am – 5pm.
For further information visit: www.ecolivingdisplayhomes.com.au
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