Ben Trager

I suggest you also read up on
Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) in Buildings
Building product Safety Alert
OT, also factor in higher home insurance costs,etc,etc
Cheers
Chris

Yes, it’s a decent block but hard to find off the plan designs as they no longer release blocks that big so we looking at 15m wide or custom. Our house faces west so super hot in the afternoons. Its good though as we’ve lived here 5years so know where the good and bad spots are in terms of heat and cooling. Thanks for your advice.

I have to admit, I hate the term 'facing', when discussing the orientation of a home. In the past, this has meant which way the living areas have faced, usually meaning where is the backyard (so a southern frontage home was called north facing). Now most people seem to use 'facing' & 'frontage' interchangeably.

So I'm a little confused. I'm assuming by 'west facing' you do also mean it has a 'western frontage'.

If this is indeed a western frontage, this is not a bad block at all, particularly as it's a wide block. This gives you a good opportunity to get the orientation right, allowing sun in the home in winter time, excluding it in summer time.

But I wouldn't be looking for a floorplan with a wide footprint. You want to allow the sun inside in winter. You don't want to be overshadowed by your northern neighbour (as the sun moves across the northern sky). Build your home close to the southern side boundary, with a northern side yard. Your home will have sun streaming inside in winter, but these northern windows will be shaded by eaves in summer, when the sun is higher in the sky.

As you know, the western sun creates much of the problems in summer. It's good that the average western frontage can have a large double garage that will protect much of the home from that hot afternoon sunshine. But unfortunately we can't build a home that looks like a bunker, we need windows out the front, that will let that afternoon sun in.

I'd be trying to locate rarely used rooms at the front, to bare the brunt of this summer sun. Not the master bedroom, as it's often the case. Or any other bedroom that will be used frequently. Possibly a study, or a rarely used guestroom, if you are going to have one. Shade these windows if possible, with a tree, shutters, or vertical awnings, or use low-e glass.

The eastern sun is tricky. Yes, it occurs at a cooler time of the day, but it allows a lot of sun in the home. Warming the home in the morning, which often continues to warm with that western sun. So it's a very good idea to keep the eastern sun or of the home. A covered alfresco at the rear will help achieve this.

Yes, it's unfortunate that increasing building standards will often result in cost increases. But you can also see this as an opportunity.

Australian building standards are exceptionally poor internationally. We've been able to get away with it due to our mild climate & cheap energy costs. But things have changed. Energy costs have sky rocketed, & a changing climate means more frequent heatwaves.

A 6 star home will cost more than double to heat & cool than an 8 star home!

Don't just think about what your home will cost to build, think about how much money you'll be throwing away to heat & cool it. Year after year!

Luckily, you live in a climate (climate zone 5: Warm Temperate), which is the cheapest & easiest climate to achieve a high star rating, & more importantly thermal comfort.

Firstly, the most important thing, ORIENTATION!

Getting this right is absolutely free! Well, if you can find an appropriate plan that is. This will have a huge effect on your comfort, & the future build for the life of the home.

I'd implore you to read the Your Home website I linked above. Here's the section on orientation,

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design/orientation

Yes, it can be wordy, but this information is critical. Attached is a basic diagram. Build close to the southern boundary, far from the northern boundary (ie. northern side yard), living areas facing north, bedrooms south.

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/sites/defau ... 03_fmt.png

Yes, other energy efficiency upgrades will cost extra. But this is the time to do some, which will be extremely difficult, & expensive, if not impossible later.

One of these upgrades is wall insulation. Not something that is easily achievable later. An average stick build has room for R2.5 batts in the wall. This will greatly improve comfort.

You may be thinking about double brick, as is often the case in WA. Have to admit, I don't know what's achievable. I don't know much about this building technique, I really don't like this building technique. Give me a stick build, with a lightweight cladding any day (or something exotic like SIP's or hempcrete).

Ceiling insulation has a large effect on thermal efficiency. So I'd look at upgrade costs. Hopefully these aren't much. If they are, maybe you could add another layer of batts yourself.

A roof blanket, or sarking is something else to consider at the time of the build. As are wall wraps. I'd say correctly installed wraps are critical of you're looking for an airtight energy efficient home. If say, in the future, it's likely all homes will be built this way. But maybe the added cost would be more than you're willing to bare.

But also think about future upgrades. One that's critical, of you don't have the cash at the time of the build - though I'd try to find it soon after, as it will save you so much money - is solar PV. Make sure you design your roof to accommodate a large solar system. With that block you should have no trouble designing a roof with a large area for north facing panels. Just don't design a roof, with your average Australian hip & valleys. A million triangles, facing all sorts of directions. A nightmare for solar installation, expensive & inefficient.

Again, sorry, I'm not answering your initial question. Though I think this important stuff. It'll get you that star rating, improve your comfort, & lower your bills for a long time to come.

Summit homes is best bang for buck