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Building a green 10 Star home

How to build a green, energy efficient house with a 10-star energy rating.


Want to achieve a 10-star home, but don’t want to spend a motza? 

Think local, think orientation and think size.   Most of all, think passive solar.

Building a green 10 Star home That’s according to award-winning architect and West Coast Designs director, Terry Hodges.

In answering our reader question of the week – “How can I build a 10-star home for under $250,000?” from Benjamin Spiteri – Hodges says everything has to start with understanding the home’s local climate.


The 10 Star Challenge 

Award winning Perth architect, Terry Hodges from West Coast Designs, says it is quite possible to design a 10-star rated energy efficient home.

The 10 Star Challenge

“The Building Designers Association of Victoria run a competition every year for a house designed in this way and there are many designers who achieve it,” Terry says. 


Sustainable house design

Local climate should play a key role during the building design process in order to achieve a 10-star rating.
Sustainable house design
“A 10-star rated building would not need any artificial heating or cooling,” the West Coast Designs architect advises. The climatic zone of the region that the house is located in has an impact on the measures required to be taken to achieve a 10-star rating.”

Terry says that the best starting point to building a 10-star house is to make sure that the house has the correct orientation, so that the basic principles of passive solar design can be employed.

Passive solar design

“Add to this wall, floor and roof materials with high thermal resistance, combined with the use of double glazing where required,” Terry says.

The architect also recommends that the size of the house be taken into account first, before working out the building costs.

“The cost of a house is a function of the size, that is floor area and also volume.”

30-Mar-2012
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