Long Overdue Update

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted. It would be great if I could say that the landscaping was done but sadly it is all still a long way off.

There has been some progress however...

All dirt piles except the massive one at the top of the block have now been flattened. The front of the house is now ready for grass. We have scattered $100 of grass seed over approximately a third of it, unfortunately not much has taken at all, but one section has finally started so we are leaving it for a while to see how well it will spread. Our living room windows are disgracefully filthy, but because of all the dirt just in front of them it is not worth cleaning them as they will filth up again in no time. Bring on the grass and some nice clean windows!

The backyard is now neatly divided from the front with the addition of a colorbond fence. This new fence goes from boundary to shed, shed to house, house to boundary. I was concerned with how it would look but am very pleased to say I really like how it has come up.

Terrible terrible phone pic, but you can see the fence
and at least the grass is short  here. This photo was taken
a few months ago.

We have also dumped 15 trailer loads of dirt in the backyard and levelled it out quite a bit, as well as smoothing out the cut around the shed. The dirt was of course taken from our dirt pile out the front - not that it made much of a dint. We have now organised for concrete path in the backyard, running from the gate to link up to the portico outside the laundry, restarting again the other side and running across to the dining room door. It will also branch out to our clothesline. It is supposed to be started late next week. I can't wait. It's going to be done in Pompeii again, but unfortunately we cannot find a concretor who is willing to use flyash. We really were fortunate that our builders were open to using greener products.

A couple of weeks ago we received our first electricity statement. FINALLY. I was so excited to see that our average daily usage has dropped from 11.5kw in our old 16 square house to 8.3kw in this new 23 sq house. Yay us. Even factoring in the connection costs, we are still in credit $269 due to all the power we produced with our solar PV. I am also really pleased to say that despite the quite cold weather we have been experiencing, our house is capturing and holding the heat well. It's so wonderful to see our house working how we designed.
I'm also very happy to report that despite experiencing a very dry summer we did not even come close to running out of water whereas most people I spoke to who live around here were seriously low and getting very concerned. We did still make use of the kids paddling pool, and on the stinking hot days I was having showers twice a day so it's not because we went without anything.

The fruit trees we planted along the back fence are doing really well except the citrus which are alive, but have not grown much at all. I pruned them all last weekend, I've never pruned before so watched some You tube vids and spoke to some ladies at work to find out what to do! Hopefully I've done it right..

We visited the local native nursery a few weeks ago and purchased approximately 60 tubestock plants-around 15 different varieties. We planted 23 along the driveway the weekend after I bought them, but haven't managed any since due to a combination of bad weather and other commitments. So far, planted in a random mix there are Lightwood, Black She Oak, several different Callistemon, Slender Tea Tree, Honey Myrtle, Kangaroo Apple and Hemp bush. The next area to plant out will be the batter behind the house, but we have had an awful lot of rain of the last couple of weeks and this has highlighted the need for even more dirt in the backyard, so we will have to do that before we do the batter planting.
The study is also organised now and we have a better computer so I intend to pop in here a little more often again to update as things get completed. Thanks for sticking around all this time :)

Timbercrete

I've been getting quite a few questions about Timbercrete so thought it worthwhile dedicating a post to it.
Unlike conventional clay fired bricks, timbercrete takes a lot less energy to produce as there is no firing involved in the production, it is made with timber waste and concrete, and needs time to cure before use. Timbercrete is also capable of absorbing and containing carbon gases. It exceeds the highest possible fire rating, is impervious to termites and rot, has a higher thermal rating then standard bricks - and it's bullet proof  too!! Which I freely admit was not of high priority when we were deciding what to build our house with.  Please don't test this one out by taking pot shots at our house, if you would like to see video of bricks being shot then watch the video on this page http://www.timbercrete.com.au/about-products.html it will also give you more info about timbercrete.
We also liked that this is an Australian designed and manufactured product. They are hand made in Echuca. There are a variety of sizes, colours and even brick shapes to choose from. We decided to go smooth faced sandstone and couldn't believe our luck when there was someone local who was interested in onselling enough for our house due to changes in circumstance. As far as we are aware, there are only 3-4 other Timbercrete structures locally.

So Timbercrete manages to tick the environmentally friendly box and look good at the same time, and we are really pleased with how our house is looking.

Close up of one of our blocks

Windows

I thought it important to tell you why windows are such an important part of sustainable building. Apart from the obvious points like catching breezes and cross flow for air ventilation and allowing natural light to brighten a room, windows can also be an active agent in keeping cool air out and warm air in.
Double glazing contributes a lot to this, but there are other things that can help as well.
The windows we have chosen are all double glazed and also thermally broken. This means that the frames also help to maintain temperature unlike standard aluminium windows which conduct heat in and out of buildings constantly. Our windows are made from UPVC which along with wood frames are the best choices - with sustainably sourced timber probably the better option. UPVC however, not requiring painting, are a lower maintenance option. Additional to this, we also have Argon gas between the two glass layers. This is a transparent gas that again helps prevent the disbursement of heat.
The compromise we had to make for our window selection was we couldn't quite get the styles we wanted. Ideally we preferred to have double hung windows, but getting these in UPVC proved quite a challenge. There was one company who could do this - but they couldn't provide flywire for our high light windows and a retrofit option was not available. Their price was considerably higher too. So we have many Tilt & Turn windows - also known as European windows. These have two ways of opening. One like a door which opens wide, and the other where the bottom locks down, and the window tilts back leaving a gap at the top. I'm really happy with the windows we have chosen, I just wish I had paid more attention to which way they open as I should have had a couple opening in the opposite direction.

Tilt & Turn window closed. Without flywire looks  like a door

Tilt & Turn fully open (should have had this one open the other way)

Tilt & Turn window at tilt

Fly Ash

The concrete we have chosen to use, 'Ecomax', is a more environmentally friendly option because it contains a portion of fly ash as a substitute for some of the normal cement content.
Fly Ash is a by product from coal burning power stations. Briefly, it is the powder that is left behind in the exhaust gases from the combustion chambers of the boilers. Although it comes from coal burning stations, this is not local fly ash, as Victorian fly ash has a higher level of soluble salts which makes it unsuitable for use in concrete.
Fly ash reacts with lime in order to form a cement product. By using a proportion of fly ash in our slab (around 30% according to our supplier) not only are we reusing a waste product from power generation, but we are also cutting down on the embodied energy required to make cement. Embodied energy comprises all energy required in the production process including that used in the mining of the minerals, processing of the product and actual manufacturing, so we are cutting down on CO2 emissions as well.
Additionally, our concrete supplier also uses recycled water in the production of their concrete, so it's nice to know that mains water supply is being reduced too.
Hope this all makes sense!

A little about Thermal Mass

The reason we have decided to use polished concrete for a lot of our flooring is for it’s use as Thermal Mass.

Materials with high thermal mass, like concrete, help to stabilise temperatures within the house. On hot days, our flooring will help to absorb heat, releasing it slowly during the night with the use of cool breezes which should then transport the heat out of the house. On cold days if there is any winter sun available, because the slab is exposed it absorbs what heat it can and releases it in the evening. This should help us to cut down on our energy bills for both heating and cooling. Thermal mass effectively acts as a temperature battery, soaking up the heat when there is a lot of thermal energy available and releasing it slowly later on.

It’s not just the floor which will help with our temperature control, there are several other factors very important to utilise thermal mass effectively.

House design and orientation is a key factor which had to be considered. We had to make sure that our house was oriented  well so that we receive winter sun, yet shaded effectively (with the use of eaves as well as curtains and blinds) so that summer sun is kept out. With design, window placement was very important so that we can catch any available breezes, have them run through our house and exit again. Our design has also incorporated a double layer of windows in the living area, so we can open up both levels of windows at once. The hot air will naturally be drawn out the higher windows, whilst the lower windows draw cooler air in.

Finally, we are required to be active agents in assisting the process. In summer, we need to make sure all blinds are pulled to keep the sun from heating up the floor and absorbing unnecessary heat, and then at night, open all windows to catch any available breezes to assist with removing what heat has been absorbed. In winter the opposite is in effect, we have to ensure our slab is exposed to as much sun as possible during the day in order to gain the warmth needed for the house in the evening.

This is a basic explanation, for more detail check out the Alternative Technology Association website www.ata.org.au