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Eco living on a grand scaleIt’s not just one light home that Boris Planinac is building – it’s 17. |
| Seventeen townhouses on the edge of Canberra – slap bang in the middle of an impressive $4 million landscaping project – to be precise. Planinac is general manager of Pavilion Homes, the company behind the Springbank Waters project that will bring eco living on a big scale to the Casey suburb. The new homes, due to be completed early next year, will be a shining example of eco living and Australian home design in the area – as the designs are 6-star energy rated. Springbank Waters is part of Springbank Rise, a new estate in Casey. “It’s a premium estate,” said Planinac. “About $4 million has been spent on landscaping and creating the lake and community centre.”  A lightweight boutique developmentThe Pavilion Homes townhouses will form a small, architecturally designed boutique development of light homes.The two-storey townhouses will be built in two blocks: one row of seven townhouses will look out across the lake and the park, and the other 10 houses will overlook parkland with impressive views to the rear across the city. The upper levels of the homes will be of lightweight construction to minimise necessary steelwork and to enable the homes to take advantage of the sun. The lightweight construction also allows for a raked ceiling in 10 of the homes, with a north-facing window to capture the sun. Living areas are upstairs in the townhouses, providing better views across the area and to make the most of the heat captured by the raked ceilings from the sun. The living areas also incorporate a decked area overlooking the park. “It was important to us to make these lightweight and eco friendly homes,” said Planinac. “The upper levels of the homes will be made from lightweight materials to allow us to create the raked ceilings easily and cost-effectively. Rather than being a typical development, we have designed, at extra expense, these ceilings to allow the sun into the rooms. “On top of this, internal party walls are also lightweight and, externally, there will be weatherboard cladding to the top wall sections.” Altogether, there are five different designs for the 17 new homes, each with either three or four bedrooms.  Sustainable homesThe Springbank Waters townhouse designs have a raft of features to make them sustainable, eco homes, on top of the raked roofs to capture the sun’s heat.
There will be a central storm water collection tank, so all rainwater will flow from the homes to a central tank to be recycled. Some of the installations in the homes are also green, including the taps and toilets. All taps in the homes will be WELS rated, which means they meet water-saving standards set by the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Scheme. And all toilets will be low flush.  Display home open nowConstruction is about to begin on the project and will run until between December 2012 and April 2013, depending on the weather and the registration of the titles with the council.There is currently a display home open across the road from Springbank Waters, which shows 99% of the inclusions that will be in the new homes.  |
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