Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
  #16   Report Post  
Old 29-01-2007, 08:00 PM posted to aus.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 205
Default chookie wrote - was: FYI- water crisis story link:

yes bruce,

thermal qulaities work to change the extreme to more comfortable.

like the colder it gets if the home has natural capapbilities then the
ahrder the thermal qaulities work at keeping the home warm and the
same work in reverse.

the big draw back is people try to put the practise of thermal
qaulities into waht they currently live in, and waht they currently
live is is mostly making conditions worse in the extreme or either end
of the spectrum ie.,. adding heat when you want cool.

renewables will never be affordable in our current designed homes.

On 28 Jan 2007 17:39:49 -0800, wrote:


snipped
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/
  #17   Report Post  
Old 29-01-2007, 08:04 PM posted to aus.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 205
Default chookie wrote - was: FYI- water crisis story link:

snipped

Yeah. I do. I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever in the position to design,
or redesign my house. Thanks


Jen

have a read of our essay, so not only are you keeping in ind the
thought of building a truely comfy home, but even the next time you
buy you can use some of the processes to help you buy a modern home
that is that bit more comfy than its counterpart.

buy using the head not the heart.
With peace and brightest of blessings,

len

--
"Be Content With What You Have And
May You Find Serenity and Tranquillity In
A World That You May Not Understand."

http://www.lensgarden.com.au/
  #18   Report Post  
Old 30-01-2007, 10:37 AM posted to aus.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 301
Default chookie wrote - was: FYI- water crisis story link:

In article ,
gardenlen wrote:

yes planting in the right place using the right plant for a purpose,
unfortunately like the yuk factor brigade and the water issues
indoctrination has got too much of a hold, someone commented that
retro fitting is better than rebuilding i dunno lots of variable
there????

snip
so what of all the old inefficient homes?

natural progressinon would mean it could take oh i dunno 100 years for
the change to take effect on our resource useage?


Here in NSW there is now a programme called BASIX (building sustainability
index, I think). All new buildings put up in the last few years have had to
measure up on this index with things like good passive solar design, water and
energy conservation features, etc. It has also come in for extensions as of
last October.

The positive side is that at last developers have to do SOMETHING apart from
putting up badly-designed energy-sucking monstrosities. The negative side is
that they don't have to do MUCH, and in some cases it's just putting in
energy- and water-efficient appliances -- ie, no improvements to the structure
at all. The other problem is that it adds the need for yet another
consultant on to any building project. Even though our reno is a retrofit and
would pass BASIX easily, our architect advised us to lodge the DA before BASIX
came in for additions, just to avoid that extra set of consultancy fees.

With the McMansions -- from what I've heard, they are disposable houses.
Horribly expensive to maintain, but relatively cheap to build, and put up by
cowboys. THey'll all be knocked over in 50 years because they will be falling
apart at the seams... my house will still be going strong!

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue
  #19   Report Post  
Old 30-01-2007, 11:38 PM posted to aus.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 713
Default chookie wrote - was: FYI- water crisis story link:

"gardenlen" wrote in message
...
that's right. also, i think people underestimate how much plants can help
"rescue" a crap house, as well. (a subject pertinent for this group!)

but overall, i think generally good design had better become a more common
thing in australia soon!


yes planting in the right place using the right plant for a purpose,
unfortunately like the yuk factor brigade and the water issues
indoctrination has got too much of a hold, someone commented that
retro fitting is better than rebuilding i dunno lots of variable
there????


probably some variables, but in principle, i'd be in favour of retrofitting;
if only because it's bad enough something useless was built in the first
place - no point making the whole scenario worse by then wasting it
entirely! i'd think even the most appalling houses could be rescued with a
few changes & some landscaping in the right places... not to make it
"perfect". "good enough" has to be good enough imo :-)

if the house is so badly aspecteed along with the land and so poorly
designed with living cooking areas facing the wrong way maybe any
money spent on retro fitting could be seen as a bad investment, like
utting new tuyres on a car wher the body and motor are falling apart
hey??


hm, i don't know. the last house we were in before we moved here had big
kitchen/dining windows & a bedroom all facing due west :-/ that needed some
"rescue" but we were renting, so there's that. it was very unpleasant in
summer, but if i'd owned it i'd have started with landscaping & it would
have been easy to do a couple of other things & it would have been fine (or
any rate, good enough).

until people ahve lived in a purpose built home they will never know
the difference, and anoteh thing for young families wanting to get a
start, this home is very affordable this one at that stage cost
$50,000 to build but at a maximum would ahve pulled up well under
$70,000 that then would have been 22 meters long and 7 meters wide. at
the size it is in the pic's it 15 meters long which is as i have said
the size of a modest family 3 bedroom home of the 70's and 80's
standard.

there are lots of families up there living in those prefabs that are
only 6m X 12m 3 bedroom, funny thing our home cost about the same as
them only lots more comfortable.

so if the community bites the bullet and demands change what then? do
we start stipulating estates with only the right aspect lans being
used and only homes that are of the 'warm-house/cool-house' ilk?

so what of all the old inefficient homes?


well, that's it. if people know how to make some inexpensive improvements
that make a big difference, they can do so :-)

natural progressinon would mean it could take oh i dunno 100 years for
the change to take effect on our resource useage?

maybe instead of wasting tax payer dollars feeding us potty water and
keeping insolvent farmers afloat and paying for water tanks that
simply won't make any difference.

maybe we bit the bullet and and demolish these monoliths?


i just really think that's the more difficult option :-) change takes time,
nothing happens overnight. i don't know what the answer is, but it involves
doing things better from this point on.

however, you need to keep in mind that all water has been recycled from the
dawn of time, & many people in aust drink water that someone else used
upriver - scare tactics about water purifying aren't helpful!!!
kylie


  #20   Report Post  
Old 30-01-2007, 11:44 PM posted to aus.gardens
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 713
Default chookie wrote - was: FYI- water crisis story link:

"Jen" wrote in message
...

"Chookie" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Jen" wrote:

But summer is generally 'very' hot, with the occasional snow, flooding
and
many very cold days. And winter is generally 'very' cold with snow etc,
but
occasionally has warm days.


You might be surprised -- the average summer temp in Sydney is only about
26
C; probably a bit hotter where I am. That's not "very" hot, though we do
of
course have heatwaves. And unless you are in Antarctica, your winters
are NOT
very cold. I'd be surprised if you got -10 C very often.

Contrast Moscow, where it can get to 40 C in summer and -40 C in winter!

I can understand building houses to suit hot
climates, or very cold climates, but Australia has both. What about
central
Australia, they have super hot days, but super cold nights.


You design for where you live, not for a mythical average across our
enormous
country!



I live in Victoria. This summer we've had many above 40 days, but we've
also had snow. Where I live there's often snow in the winter 1/2 hour
away, and occasionally here. But it can still be steaming hot, or dry, or
cold and snowing even in summer. I'm not talking average across country
here!


a well-insulated construction doesn't suffer vagaries of heat & cold so
much, it's stable & minimises that problem for the most part. of course,
summer & winter indoor temperatures are going to vary a bit - that's life.
it's really not the point what weird weather events might happen
unexpectedly - you plan for stability, and according to sun access in winter
& keeping it out in summer, etc. if you have windows in the right places etc
with the right fixtures for your climate you can control indoor temps quite
easily (regardless of how otherwise "good" the house is). and so on.
kylie


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules

Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
FYI- water crisis stroy link: George.com Australia 57 06-02-2007 07:53 PM
i wrote... 0tterbot Australia 71 12-01-2007 10:56 AM
FAO Chookie - chooks Aprill Allen Australia 4 28-12-2005 06:20 AM
A pre-spring ramble............sent the day after I wrote it--- madgardener Gardening 11 10-03-2004 06:12 PM
Any one know a link to calculate a weir width for a fall I can't find my link. Mickey Ponds 2 16-08-2003 04:22 PM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 08:02 PM.

Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 GardenBanter.co.uk.
The comments are property of their posters.
 

About Us

"It's about Gardening"

 

Copyright © 2017