| Keywords |
Sustainable design ; Thermal environment ; Indoor Air Quality ; Hydraulics |
| Abstract |
The Prosser house located on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia was constructed as an exampler of ESD (Ecological Sustainable Design). The aim of this paper is to present selected results gained from the environmental design and monitoring data of this prototype ESD home to give guidelines on future house design. Thermal monitoring data demonstrated that the passive ventilation and solar defense through the design of the building skin strategies can present comfortable thermal environment to occupants of the house with a little cooling energy, 2.21 KWh/day in summer. Annual energy of the house for heating and cooling consumed a total of 3.01 KWh/day compared to an average Queensland house consumption of 7.40 KWh/day. Indoor Air Quality tests demonstrated that the house has levels of CO below detectable limit and that CO2, respirable particles, VOC’s, polar compounds and formaldehyde are well within acceptable standards in the entire house. The only contaminant to exceed acceptable levels is the level of airborne micro-organisms, which reach a high level in the master bedroom and children’s bedrooms. The qualities of rainwater and grey water purified by the filtration system were to acceptable levels. And the use of rainwater and grey water in the house is expected nearly 87% of total water use for the test period. |