WA - construction techniques will have to change.

Almost all new domestic contruction is double brick and colorbond. The few exceptions are concrete for multi-units and the two storey home builders that do non-double brick second storey. For example, 101 Residential uses MasterWall (1) and Ben Trager uses EIFS thermal panels (2). The difference between these systems and double brick upstairs is that double brick thermal and acoustic performance is generally poor whereas an externally insulated facade system has excellent thermal and acoustic properties (3).

That said, there are some exceptions to the norm. One notable example is Josh's House in Hilton, built by Josh Byrne (from Gardening Australia) to live in.

The external walls of the house is a combination of double brick, reverse veneer brickwork and lightweight timber framing (5). The house has been constructed with 70 channels of data logging to determine the detailed thermal and operational energry performance of the house. The performance to date is very impressive considering the build cost was almost identical to double brick and tile (6). Needless to say, I am a huge fan. Who wouldn't want to live in a house that is a comfortable temperature almost year round but cost no more than a conventional house? The builder was just a run of the mill contract builder, Highbury Homes (7).

There are some more unusual examples too. The Green Swing development at 96 Rutland Avenue, Lathlain uses a combination of straw bales combined with reverse brick veneer construction and passive solar design principles (8). This is a great project where the owners could not afford to build a house each in Lathlain, so they got together, bought a site, build a main residence each and two apartment. The aparments were sold to help pay for the project. I can see the project from the train. It look great! Do I need to mention that getting council approval was a nightmare? (9). Needless to say, the R-Codes don't really set out an assessment framework for grouped dwellings and multiple dwellings on the same lot.

Anyway, sorry for the wall of text but this is a subject that I am very passionate about or perhaps slightly obsessed with :D

(1) http://www.101residential.com.au/faqs/
(2) http://www.bentragerhomes.com.au/the-ben-trager-difference/
(3) http://www.adelaidecitycouncil.com/...ion_for_exterior_walls_and_facade_systems.pdf
(4) http://joshshouse.com.au/about-the-project/
(5) http://joshshouse.com.au/about-the-project/the-property/house-plans/
(6) http://joshshouse.com.au/wp-content...-Year-1-Performance-Report-Design-Version.pdf
(7) http://www.highburyhomes.com.au/about-us/building-green/
(8) http://sustainablehouseday.com/item/the-green-swing-development-unit-2/
(9) http://www.thegreenswing.net/pages/96rutlandave/planningapproval.html
Cool, thanks for all that info, I want a Josh Byrne's house!
 
Such the opposite of Brisbane building - real food for thought.

The funny thing is you see massive cracks in brick buildings that may end there days and yet timber buildings can subside a foot and you just need to shave a few doors or put some packers under the stumps. :D

My mother in law is from WA and now I understand why she only looks at brick!
 
Cool, thanks for all that info, I want a Josh Byrne's house!
Judging by the photos, it's a nice house! It does take a bit to operate though. I went to a seminar that he ran on the house about a year ago and he said that all houses should come with an operations manual. He explained how the house worked and I have been doing the same things where I am (opening windows, closing blinds etc) and I have significantly cut down on heating and cooling costs, even though there was no passive solar design considered when the house was built.

Anyway, if you want a house like that it was built by a local builder :)

Or if you want your own builder to build using the materials and construction methods, there is a lot of technical specifications on the web site. Josh encourages everyone to consider passive solar design when building and provides the technical resources as a public service. Pretty cool.

The sales pitch for the house is: standard building materials and construction techniques at the same cost as traditional building but drastically lower heating, cooling and gas bills. What's not to like? :D
 
My mother in law is from WA and now I understand why she only looks at brick!
Even though Aaron's excellent initial post comes across slightly rant like, I think it actually underestimates how ingrained double brick culture is in Perth. I go to house inspections of new houses and people actually knock on the walls to make sure they are brick.
 

Yea we are currently building 6 units, 2 storey here in WA with hebel. As you can read from that link it's far superior from many other building techniques IF built correctly.

This current build would have German made double glazed windows so once completed would yield an 8+ star rating and cost just $1,950/sqm for turn key.

[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]
 

Attachments

  • current1.jpg
    current1.jpg
    968.3 KB · Views: 195
  • current2.jpg
    current2.jpg
    1,009.1 KB · Views: 173
  • hebel2.jpg
    hebel2.jpg
    657.9 KB · Views: 169
  • hebel1.jpg
    hebel1.jpg
    853.1 KB · Views: 203
Yea we are currently building 6 units, 2 storey here in WA with hebel. As you can read from that link it's far superior from many other building techniques IF built correctly.

This current build would have German made double glazed windows so once completed would yield an 8+ star rating and cost just $1,950/sqm for turn key.

[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Looks great.

Did you struggle to find a builder?

Is that a timber or steel frame construction?

What is your estimated build time?

Any chance you can PM me the address. Would love to drive past for a look.
 
Ad is a bit misleading, the arcactive rating doesn't relate to energy, yet they're making it sound like they have a 9 star energy rating...

Adrian Abel isn't the kind of guy to say something if it doesn't have it. Pretty sure they have the energy report that says 9 stars. I would be surprised if it didn't.
 
On a similar note I have requested a quote for a waffle pod slab for my new PPOR as it is M class soil (clay)

Waffle Pod Slabs have been used extensively in the Eastern States to overcome clay soils reactiveness. They also use less steel and less concrete.

http://www.build.com.au/ground-level-concrete-slab-subfloor

The other option for my block is to dig out 400mm and put in 1000mm of A class sandy soil.

Theoretically waffle slab SHOULD be cheaper however as it's not used much here it might not be. It will be interesting to get the 2 quotes.

People that are building on M class blocks (possibly Ashfield, Beckenham, Midland etc etc) should consider asking for a waffle pod slab quote.
 
Last edited:
Looks great.

Did you struggle to find a builder?

Is that a timber or steel frame construction?

What is your estimated build time?

Any chance you can PM me the address. Would love to drive past for a look.

SOP, we do both construction and development. Currently we are developing and building this ourself.

It's steel frame construction, more expensive than other materials but much better overall.

Build time is 3 months but we tell people 4-5 months for some wiggle room.

Give me a call and I can meet you on site and show you around. I'll PM you my number.
 
Last edited:
Even though Aaron's excellent initial post comes across slightly rant like, I think it actually underestimates how ingrained double brick culture is in Perth. I go to house inspections of new houses and people actually knock on the walls to make sure they are brick.

call it "borne of frustration".
 
Adrian Abel isn't the kind of guy to say something if it doesn't have it. Pretty sure they have the energy report that says 9 stars. I would be surprised if it didn't.

Fair enough. I know Adrian as well and agree he's an ethical operator so maybe it just wasn't worded right.
 
People that are building in M class areas (Ashfield, Beckenham, Midland etc etc) should consider asking for a waffle pod slab quote.

Is ashfield clay? The Structerre report i have says its sand (Class A) but i think the report just state the majority of cases are sand.
 
It's time for WA to wake up and smell the coffee. We need to dramitically change our construction methods to light weight, well insulated homes with large eaves. Modern homes with Bauhaus and minimialist-inspired facades are fine, but your living areas do not need a 2.143 x 3.61m window facing North with minimal eaves.

Simple changes, at grass roots level, will always make more of a difference than band-aid solutions to the status quo.

I don't agree. Josh Byrne's house is 9 star or so I think? It has:

- Double brick construction on a concrete pad.
- Only one double glazed window - the rest have double curtains and pelmets
- Cavity insulation is simple foil backed foam with ventilation on both sides - none of these ridiculous foam filled cavities
- Has major north facing glazing with minimal north facing eaves - because it works.
- Has a solar system to keep the sun off the roof.

But I totally agree that the star ratings are up the creek. Don't like the rating someone has given you? Just find someone else to do the calculation until you get the right answer.

And the focus on R-value totally ignores the ventilation benefits of the cavity in cavity brick. Just take the tiles off the top of a cavity brick wall in the sun. You'll get blasted with hot air from the chimney effect. Which is never taken into account in the star ratings. Conduction insulation (R-value) is only useful if you are trying to create a fridge in a tropical climate or a hot box in a cold environment. In a mediterranean climate, thermal mass, window placement, ventilation and cavity ventilated bricks are most important - convection and radiation protection trump conduction insulation by far in the Perth real world but you won't get a computer model to tell you that. Putting ground insulation is completely unnecessary if the sun gets to the slab in winter and is kept off it in summer.

Plant a grape vine over all that north facing glass with no eaves and you will be perfectly protected from the reflected summer radiation. It's really not that hard...

IMO double brick and concrete slab construction remains the most practical and real world energy efficient construction method available for Perth, provided it is designed and utilised correctly. Which of course, is very rarely the case - but of course that can be changed with some knowledge of simple physics. Oh - and it is still the cheapest.

BTW, growing up in Perth in the 80s, I can only remember people ridiculing ethnic Italians and Greeks. Nowadays, everyone is drinking real coffee, eating squid and appreciating wood fired pizza but back then it was Anglo meat pies and Emu Export all the way baby! We had to work hard to find some decent wine in the Swan Valley - Margaret River was only just starting to plant grapes and everyone was wondering who was going to drink that stuff in Perth!
 
Judging by the photos, it's a nice house! It does take a bit to operate though. I went to a seminar that he ran on the house about a year ago and he said that all houses should come with an operations manual. He explained how the house worked and I have been doing the same things where I am (opening windows, closing blinds etc) and I have significantly cut down on heating and cooling costs, even though there was no passive solar design considered when the house was built.

Anyway, if you want a house like that it was built by a local builder :)

Or if you want your own builder to build using the materials and construction methods, there is a lot of technical specifications on the web site. Josh encourages everyone to consider passive solar design when building and provides the technical resources as a public service. Pretty cool.

The sales pitch for the house is: standard building materials and construction techniques at the same cost as traditional building but drastically lower heating, cooling and gas bills. What's not to like? :D
I have seen bits and peices regarding his build. Would be easiest to just go with the same builder.
I'm all for using different materials, energy efficiency and quicker build time.
 
Back
Top