Building Green Ballarat

Green Homes - Greensmart Professsional Builders Ballarat

When building a green home, Twomey Building is the premier green and sustainable homes builder to call. Twomey Building is an accredited Greensmart Professional. They understand the requirements of good design to improve your home's energy efficiency and sustainability. 

The most important design principles to achieve optimal energy efficiency are:

•  Solar passive design
•  Site orientation
•  Glazing
•  Correct insulation and use of reflective products for our climate
•  Thermal mass
•  Cross ventilation
•  Low wattage lighting and appliances

These principals are vital towards building an energy efficient and sustainable home and can be easily achieved without high costs.

Basic examples of green design is solar passive design, where the design locates living areas and windows to the north elevation of the home to capture the winter sun. As the winter sun shines in the north facing windows it warms the room, the concrete slab, and any internal masonry. This also creates thermal mass.  Thermal mass is the warming of the masonry surfaces by day and the release of the warmth at night.

The combination of the following principles: solar passive design, thermal mass, good insulation to external walls, ceilings (to suit our climate) and quality glazing will assist your heating system and lower your energy costs.

Then for summer, our green building will minimise the affect of the hot summer sun by roof/ eave overhangs or shade systems to fully shade north facing windows. East and West facing windows are minimised and well shaded. External walls need to be well insulated with air cavities including a reflective foil product, to reflect heat back outside. 

Placing opening windows and ceiling fans in positions to create air flow through the home. This assists in cooling living areas and making the inside of the home comfortable minimising the use of air conditioners lowering your energy costs.

The selection of low wattage lighting fixtures, electrical and water appliances is also an important part of ongoing energy savings.

These basic sustainable and energy efficient building practices will  easily achieve high energy ratings, well above current 6 star energy rating requirements.  A 6 to 7 star energy rating can be easily achieved in conventional home construction without extra high costs.  

It's only a matter of time when the value of homes is determined by its energy rating and its performance.

Most home designs still struggle to achieve a 6 star energy rating because of poor design and site orientation. Designing your home to suit your land, incorparating basic energy efficient principles (mentioned above), sustainable practises including solar hot water, water harvesting, water efficient fittings and appliances and maybe a back to grid solar panel system will assist your homes performance to use far less energy.

These practises are encouraged when building green with Twomey Building in Ballarat and surrounds.