Projects> Spring Hill "Enviro-Cottage"

New Project

Sustainable Home Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage”

Location

32 Isaac Street, Spring Hill

Display period

Saturday, 9 October, 10am to 4pm
Saturday, 13 November, 10am to 4pm
Saturday, 4 December, 10am to 4 pm

Project summary

Sustainable Home the Spring Hill "Enviro-Cottage" is a new project that has been endorsed by the Smart and Sustainable Homes program. This project is the renovation of an existing Queensland early 1900's worker's cottage. The objective is to turn one of Brisbane's oldest traditional residential properties into a showcase of sustainable development and environmentally friendly living.

This project seeks to demonstrate sustainable development and sustainable living ideas, solution and options which can be employed by anyone renovating existing housing stock, even when challenged with the many constraints facing such renovations including council building codes, existing dwelling condition and design, and smaller block sizes.

The design allows for flexibility in household size and make-up. It contains a range of sustainable design features, including:

Demographic

Situated in historic Spring Hill, the Spring Hill "Enviro-Cottage" will be a beacon for sustainable housing of a refurbished rather than new residence typology. Dealing with existing conditions and constraints on a tight inner city residential block measuring only 10 x 30 metres, the replanning, refurbishment and extension of this early 1900 worker's cottage will re-engineer the house to accommodate 21st century and sustainable living requirements. The bespoke refurbishment also aims to preserve the historic nature of Spring Hill, the local neighbourhood and the streetscape for future generations, by maintaining the integrity of the original cottage whilst invigorating it with contemporary ideals. It is hoped that this residence will guide future sustainable refurbishments in the local area and across the wider Brisbane and Queensland geography.

Key Facts

Bathroom

3-bathrooms plus laundry in garage

Bedrooms

4 bedrooms/study

Local Council

Brisbane City Council

Climate Zone

Sub-Tropical - Climate Zone 2

Architect/Designer

Brian Steendyk Architect

Builder

Edsel W Ford

Project Coordinator

Phil Angus (Pro Tem Consultancy Services)

Consultant partners

Landscape architect - Brian Steendyk
Structural engineer - Crichton Engineering Pty Ltd
Hydraulics consultant - TBA

Major Sponsors

Construction

Commence: May 2008
Completed: TBA

Lot Size

Land: 304m

House Size

265 m2

Land cost

Approx. $500k

Construction cost

TBA

Key Goals and Objective

Goals

To reduce our impact on the natural world
To save water
To reduce energy use
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions
To showcase leading sustainable solutions

Project Objectives

To make a difference
To inspire others
To educate
To demonstrate social, environmental and economic sustainability
To influence leaders, so the leaders follow
To meet our responsibilities to our children and to future generations

Design Objectives

To maximise passive design to take advantage of natural energy flows to maintain thermal comfort –
through both summer and winter
To deliver maximum levels of comfort without mechanical assistance
To reduce or eliminate heating and cooling bills
To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from heating, cooling, mechanical ventilation and lighting
To ensure that as little as possible rainwater leaves the site
To become as self sufficient as possible for all water requirements
To recycle and re-use as much water on site as possible
To become self sufficient for all energy needs
To provide clean renewable energy back to the community

Materials Objectives

Choose environmentally preferred materials
Choose sustainable and renewable resources where possible
Re-use and recycle where practical
No rainforest or old growth forest products
Minimal or no use of PVC based materials
Minimise or eliminate materials which discharge toxins or allergens
Minimise waste
Re-use the existing building or parts thereof to reduce consumption of new materials
Use materials with a lifespan equivalent to the projected life of the building
Design for a 100+ year building lifespan
Create demand for new, efficient, low impact materials
Source local product where possible - minimise the energy used to transport materials
Minimise the energy used to heat and cool the building by using materials that effectively modify climate extremes

Minimise or eliminate emissions during use and manufacture

Sustainable Design features

General Passive Design Aspects

The Project plans to make use of the reallocation of land to the rear of the "Enviro-Cottage", which allows the opportunity to build a rear pavilion rather than simply extending the existing dwelling. This strategy reduces the existing building depth and allows for the penetration of northern sun into the central private courtyard located between the existing dwelling and the new pavilion. The rear of the existing residence will also be redesigned to incorporate a double height space that, with the use of external sun louvers to the glass roof, will allow northern light to penetrate the rear space as well as the internal courtyard. The western aspects are protected from the afternoon sun by use of fencing, masonry, no glazing, and perforated feature metal sheeting. This broad design concept (cut and separate, rather than simply lift and extend) maximises the passive solar function and efficiency of the entire dwelling, particularly the new living spaces.

Social Sustainability

Multi-use, modular design suitable for families, professional couples, or people with disabilities, catering from young couples through to families with older more independent children
Use of local Tuff stone to tie to area's heritage, including kerbing
Preservation of the heritage streetscape
Open front aspect to connect with local street life
Open design to aid easy surveillance, internal and external
High security features to all doors and windows with simple and consistent locking systems
Central site selected to maximise open house attendance and ensure excellent public transport options
available, as well as to encourage walking and cycling
The set back garage designed to de-emphasis the role of the car
The addition of 2 off street parking options takes 2 cars off the crowded local street

Environmental Sustainability

Maximum use made of solar passive design aspects to take advantage of natural energy flows and to minimise the scale of water, lighting, heating, power and other systems
No mechanical heating or cooling systems (solar options under consideration)
Capture, use, recycle and re-use of as much rainwater as possible which falls on the site (20-50K water tank, treated greywater)
Generation of required energy needs through onsite photovoltaic system and where possible provision of clean renewable energy back to the community
Use of environmentally preferred materials
No use of rainforest or old growth forest products
Minimal or no use of PVC based materials
Re-use of the existing building or substantial parts thereof to reduce consumption of new materials
Use of materials with a lifespan equivalent to the projected life of the building
Source local products and materials where possible, minimising the energy used to transport materials

Economic Sustainability

Use of passive solar design and enviro-products will drive future operational costs down to a minimum, or at the extreme end generate revenue. Such low running costs may reflect in higher sale price and better return on construction investment.
The Project aims to demonstrate sustainable design and living elements at the upper end of the domestic renovation market (given the inner-city site and land cost)
The Project aims to educate and inspire the higher end of the domestic renovation market to encourage take-up of enviro-products and passive solar design elements. Through wider take up at that level, scale
can start to be generated, driving more commercially attractive business cases for the wider mass market.
Modular design, flexible usage models, and choice of long lifespan materials, minimises any requirement for future renovations and other changes, minimising ongoing construction costs

Related links

The Spring Hill “Enviro-Cottage” website is at www.envirocottage.com.au.

Last updated October 2010