Going green with luxury

Designed by award-winning Gold Coast firm MPS Architects, this house is a perfect example of how green design principles can work well in a house that's also designed to provide a luxurious lifestyle.

Developed as the first prize in Australia's Boystown Lottery, this home needed to incorporate all the luxury features that attract ticket-buyers. But the lottery organisers also wanted the home to be ‘environmentally considerate' – a first for the charity art union.

Positioned on a beautiful ridge at Tallai on the Gold Coast, the sweeping views, expansive windows, three bathrooms, and beautiful outdoor living areas certainly made it a sought-after first prize.  If ticket sales were anything to go by, that ‘green' edge has great appeal.

“We spent a lot of time researching which features we could incorporate to make it green and we've managed to include a lot of them in the design," says company director Adam Garton.

"Essentially it was all about designing a house that was as energy efficient as possible and had a high level of sustainability – by which we mean that it utilised natural resources well.”

Another important aspect was to consider the environmental impact of the building materials used, from the manufacturing process, right through the life-span of the product.

Adam chose 6mm HardieFlex™ Sheet for the exterior walls.

“We did that because it's lightweight, allows greater flexibility in design compared to other materials, is low maintenance and incredibly durable. And it also has a low level of embodied energy.”

‘Embodied energy' is a term used to describe the total amount of energy it takes to make a product.  From mining the raw materials right through to the manufacturing process, the lower the level the better in terms of how much environmental waste a product produces.

“Probably the most important energy efficient principle is the fact that the home is designed with good passive solar design requirements in mind,” says Adam.

That meant positioning the house on the site and designing it to ensure that there were as many north facing windows as possible to maximise the sun's potential in the colder months. Sufficiently sized eaves and overhangs were also important to allow the sun to stream indoors during winter, but keep it at bay during summer.  Clever sliding walls were installed to ‘zone' off certain areas and reduce how much warmth is required to heat the house during winter.

“When you employ passive solar design principles, the house will naturally stay warmer during winter and cooler during summer and what artificial heat you do need won't cost as much because you're using less of it.”

Other ‘environmentally considerate' features include positioning the garage on the home's west side to shield it from the harsh sun; insulating the ceiling and walls to minimise heat gain and loss depending on the season; and allowing a breeze to flow beneath the timber floor to keep the house cool in the summer months.

Photo-voltaic solar cells have been installed on the roof to convert sunlight into electricity. Waste and storm water are recycled for garden irrigation. And high-quality energy efficient appliances and fittings are used in the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry. 

“I do believe that more and more people will start to adopt ‘green' design principles into their homes – many of which don't even involve major constructional considerations. Even something as simple as installing ceiling fans in strategic locations can contribute to how well your home stays cool naturally during the summer."

“As a country it's something we have to address. And with this house we've shown that designing a home to be environmentally considerate doesn't have to mean sacrificing any luxurious features. In fact it's all about working out how to do things better – better for the home owner and better for the environment.”

Read our article Going green for good which explains the principles of envirnomentally friendly home design, with ideas for your home.