Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Apr 21, 2016 11:06 am Help. I am having trouble getting energy rating for a small freestanding art studio addition to our home. Are there any exceptions that may apply? To be specific my wife is 62 and disabled with osteoporosis and damaged knees from a car accident. She can't do much to contribute to our very low income, but she has a gift to paint art in oils and so make a little money. If she can't do this she gets depressed and feels useless. We only have a small home with no space for the painting so I want to build a little studio for her to paint in. Trouble is we can't get energy rating 6 stars because she needs south facing windows to get enough natural light to paint without strong sunlight. My question is – can there be an exception made or avoid energy rating for a purpose built art studio used for a small home business of producing paintings for sale? If we can't build it I know my wife will get more depressed and her health will go downhill. Please be friendly and helpful as this is a serious problem for us. Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 2Apr 21, 2016 1:21 pm You might look into Solar Skylights as an option to avoid South windows, keep North windows for the Energy Rating, but keep them shaded. There may be simpler and cheaper ways to diffuse the Northern windows. Just one brand I've seen http://kimprod.com.au/illume/index.html Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 3Apr 21, 2016 5:01 pm Thanks for the suggestions. However as I said, south facing windows are priority for my disabled wife to paint in good daylight without direct sun. Also that's the direction of our only pleasant views and it is so important for her to have pleasant surroundings while painting her pictures. Main rain/ storms are from the north west. Does anybody have any other ways of meeting the energy efficiency provisions of the Building Code? Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 5Apr 21, 2016 5:23 pm Knowing the additional parameters eg views, Studio and a Business possibly adds to the complexity or could make it easier. Like JB1, your Energy Rater could suggest alternatives. Failing that, a good Building Designer is likely to know more of the regulations. I don't know if a room used as a business is subject to the same standard as a a house. Depending on local codes, you might find calling it a Workshop alters the standard quite a bit. In my case a workshop was permitted without any windows at all, just a need for fan and ventilation. A lot depends on the definition of a habitable room, including what that room is designated as, all in the semantics. A Building Designer was a great help in working out this approach. Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 6Apr 22, 2016 11:16 am It may be possible to build a garage / or workshop that would be suitable for her purposes, perhaps modifying it a bit after construction to make it better. If building it as a habitable space, it may be possible to build the south wall in a different way that will give both insulation and light. Obviously there's the high performance windows, but if you can't go far enough with that you may be able to do something like operable wall panels that open outwards to let the light in, basically like 100mm thick shutters with insulation inside them, that when closed up will keep the heat in. For the purposes of energy analysis it would be the same as wall. They could be hinged or sliding. Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 7Apr 25, 2016 10:20 am Home improvement nightmare. If you are on a low income and thinking of building an extra room or building a new house, think again. Yes we have spoken with the Planning manager at our Council (3 times). Full 6 star energy rating is required for the free standing studio. It's going to cost us a lot as well as a big fee to the energy rating consultant. Then we have to get owner-builder approval. Wait time in WA is up to 9 weeks for that. Plus fees for that and course fees if they say. Although the materials cost is only $9,000 we want to build ourselves because we have the experience and we cannot afford a builder on our low income. But the rules now say we have to add on a cost for our own labour! Our council say $15,000 which will put the total over the $20,000 limit and needs owner-builder approval. Then the council want a second planning approval fee to amend what they class it as. Then they want the building permit fee. Then they want us to pay an engineer's fee even though full engineering drawings and calculations and even timber cutting lists, wall, floor and roof frame diagrams have been provided by the timber supply company. That is a total of seven, yes seven fees in all. Plus all this taking about 5 months before building can commence. By then a lot of good building weather has gone. We started back in December planning to be ready to start the build by April (Yeah, right!). All this for a standard small freestanding building for my disabled wife to do her paintings. We have built homes and additional buildings easily many times in the last 40 years and it has NEVER been this complex and full of red tape. Even the council planner and my builder of 30 years experience told me they hate all the crap that has been brought in these last few years. Makes their work hell. It is now like a sledge hammer to crack a nut. And the worst thing for us is, the Government have made it all too hard, time consuming and Expensive. It is quite impossible for low income people to afford home improvements or build their own home. Means less people will own their own home and less home improvements will be done. Government don't care. If this rings true for you reading this, please publicise it all over Facebook or anywhere. The government and departments responsible deserve all the backlash. Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 8Apr 25, 2016 2:46 pm have you looked into just building a shed of the same size, u can have a shed lined but since its a class 10a building it doesn't require the energy report, just glass sliding doors on the south side instead of roller doors and you should be set? Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 9Apr 25, 2016 5:19 pm Tried shed idea first. Our house is timber frame on stumps so is studio. We already have a shed and carport so council won't allow another shed. My disabled wife needs it to produce her artwork paintings for sale. Re: Energy Rating exceptions and flexibility of rules 10Apr 25, 2016 6:57 pm Have you considered something that is portable? Like a tiny home on skids or trailer? Build thread http://tinyurl.com/llgc7yk 10 years ago was a different software than we use now. it has had a lot of changes over the past years. Improvments to the software and changes to how Nathers models need… 8 1512 1 1927 "is it exempt or do I need to get permission from council" Call your Council and ask them 1 1581 |