Tools & Resources
Breaking The Mould With Ecobodes
Western elevation of Ecobode home which features roofing, guttering and walling made from both ZINCALUME® steel and COLORBOND® steel.
| Location: | Keinbah, New South Wales |
| Country: | Australia |
| Architect: | Dick Clarke of Envirotecture |
| Products Used: |
ZINCALUME® steel COLORBOND® steel |
| Awards: | Environmentally Sustainable Building, BDA NSW Design Awards |
The Ecobode, designed by Dick Clarke of Envirotecture, is an award winning design concept for a sustainable home which broke the stereotypical project home mould. The Ecobode 180L was the winner of the Environmentally Sustainable Buildings category also receiving a commendation in the Houses Less Than 250 square metres category at this year's BDA NSW Design Awards.
In the floor plan of the Ecobode 180 square metres, orientation is the primary consideration. The 180 square metre family of designs includes four fundamentally different floor plans for adaptation to the four major orientations. Series L has a long axis orientation. The design, technical details and documentation are available for purchase by builders from ecobodes.com.au.
This truly sustainable three bedroom project home in Keinbah NSW, is owned by a couple who wanted uncompromised passive design and on-site sustainability, in an upper middle project home price bracket. The brief also specified that the building should have some eye catching feature that announces its point of difference to passers by and that the construction system must be conventional enough to allow average tradespeople to build it without special training. The 180 square metre home features three bedrooms, two living areas, kitchen, meal room with large patio, garage and carport.
Accredited building designer Dick Clark, who specialises in sustainable designs, commented: "We achieved the passive design through reverse brick veneer construction, high levels of external envelope insulation, large oriented double glazing, site specific shading for controlled solar access, cross ventilation and the layout zoned for varied uses."
The home has a 7.9 Star rated thermal performance and is energy neutral (zero mains electricity) with a 3.5KWp PV system off grid and water neutral (zero demand from external infrastructure) with rainwater harvesting and waste water recycling. With its good day lighting and efficient lighting, the need for operational energy provided for by the standard integrated PV system, is minimised. In addition, the rainwater harvested is used for all or the majority of household purposes and waste water treated on site for reuse in the landscape.
Ecobodes use carefully sourced materials that minimise impact on the broader environment and ease the pressure on the planet. The home therefore features roofing, guttering and walling made from both ZINCALUME® steel and COLORBOND® steel. Both were chosen for their low maintenance and low service life as well as to increase bushfire resistance and maximise rainwater harvesting.
Dick added: "ZINCALUME® steel in particular was chosen for the striking roof design because of its vernacular character and to enable easy construction as well as achieve the aesthetic of the eye catching twisted roof plane, impossible with any other building material."
