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Passive House Anglesea

The brief: In late 2020, not long after the excruciating Melbourne lockdown, the owners of Altereco Design, Claire and James decided to get out of the Big Smoke in favour of a sea/tree change. They found an overgrown undeveloped plot of land in a 60’s subdivision in Anglesea, in the  Surf Coast. Quite simply, the brief was for a home that respected the weekend getaway vibe of this coastal hamlet. Nothing outlandish, somewhat understated if you will. Guided by the mantra; “freedom = knowing you don’t need more than just enough”, this 138m2 home is modest in scale but big in performance and comfort. The result is a respectful nod to the Mid-century beach house with a high performance twist. Whilst the future location of their business was unknown, the property had to contain a separate creative space to allow the couple to work from home. However, considering this may not be a permanent workspace, ultimately this space had to provide flexibility, for either subletting or long term international family and friends.

Architectural features: a house built on stilts that is adorned with a long north facing veranda covered by a deep but low pitch roof. Whilst this suits a passive solar design, maximising good orientation is also applicable to a successful Passive House. The elevated dwelling is a modest 120m2 and contains what feels like a generous two bedroom home. The under croft of the house incorporates the garage (40m2) and a studio (18m2), plus sufficient space for concealing all services and rainwater tanks.

Performance: Passive House Low Energy

Star rating: 7.4 stars

Health & Comfort: Zehnder C200 MHRV will be installed. Striving for Passive House to ensure indoor comfort.

Energy: All-electric system, eliminate dependency on unreliable rural grid and fossil fuel power. 6.66kW PV array, future proofed with the inclusion of a micro-inverter (can be expanded), plus the installation of a 13.5kW Tesla Powerwall. Estimated Annual Energy consumed: 6800kWh. Estimated Annual Energy produced: 6900kWh. Net-zero.

Environment: Water Management: Harness all roof stormwater for use in the home and garden. Site Coverage: Maintain as many existing messmate trees as practically possible considering the bushfire requirements. Water Management: 15000 litres of water storage. Collected from the entire roof (144m2) through a direct feed system. Site Coverage: 25%

Resilience: BAL-29 Bushfire Construction. Durable & low maintenance cladding material selection on ventilated façade.

Airtightness: 0.58 ACH. The house designed for good cross flow ventilation and to maximise summer sea breezes.

Thermal Envelope: R9 Roof, R5 walls, R6 floors. Roof and walls include 40m woodfibre insulation board.

Putting Sexy Into Sustainability: Tick.