Wurundjeri Country
The North Fitzroy Sustainable House is an energy and water autonomous, three-bedroom contemporary house. It is an example of building sustainably in a heritage-listed inner-city suburb with demanding planning restrictions.
The house is passively heated by a central core of sunlight, a north-facing two-storey void that distributes light and heat to surrounding rooms. Shading devices block the summer sun but allow winter sun to penetrate deep into the building. The ground floor contains thermal mass in the form of a concrete slab and solid brick and stone walls where heat is stored warming the house. Windows that catch prevailing breezes provide passive cooling, while a two-storey void facilitates natural heat removal through the stack effect.
Rainwater is harvested and stored in underground 10,000 litre tanks and is used for all fresh water needs in the house. Grey water is recycled and used for toilet flushing and in the garden. The inhabitants, a family of five, use very little precious fresh water for showering as a Japanese bath allows them to bathe for as long as they want in solar heated water that is only changed once annually as it is constantly filtered by aeration.
Builder - Truewood Constructions