Sustainable House Design

Introduction

There are several elements that can be integrated into a new house design or retrofitted to existing houses that will provide significant improvements to the Ecologically Sustainable status of any house.
The integration of these elements vary considerably in their cost and benefit provided to the inclusion of the element into the household function. Four principle elements that provide the most significant benefit from a sustainability perspective:

VEGETATION MANAGEMENT
SOLAR ORIENTATION AND DESIGN
WATER USE AND REUSE
ENERGY EFFICIENCY

These pages provide a summary of ideas for property owners to consider when building a new house, renovating an existing house. Several of these elements can be easily retrofitted to existing houses without undertaking any major building work. The integration of the following Ecologically Sustainable elements are able to be applied for the full range of domestic housing from the 10 hectare rural allotment down to a 400m2 suburban block. House designs should incorporate the very latest ideas about planning a home, with adequate space for family activities while still providing private, quiet areas for mom and dad.See also House Design and Home

Common interest development - HOME