Lot 14 Riverside Ridge

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Overview

Lot 14 Riverside Ridge is a proposed sustainable home project located on the edge of the James Cook University grounds.

It features a large, comfortable solar powered home with easy access to James Cook University and the Townsville Hospital.

The home is also designed to cater for a range of internal layouts, providing flexibility and a range of economic opportunities, from home office to share accomodation.

If you have ever wondered about sustainable development in Townsville, the Lot 14 Riverside Ridge proposal is about as good as it gets.

The Proposed Structure

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Description

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The logic is simple: the world is dangerously addicted to fossil fuels.

While there is no immediate threat of the stuff running out, there are grave dangers associated with this addiction, in particular climate change and peak oil.

Climate change in Townsville means it gets hotter and drier.

Peak oil suggests that the price of oil will go up and up and up.

With these things in mind, it is appropriate to assist people to live with a minimal energy use, and for that energy to be clean and renewable.

This is achieved through energy efficient design and locating a home close to where people work, in this case, James Cook University or the Townsville Hospital.

The home
Imagine two seperate structures seamlessly formed into one big comfortable house.

The main structure is open plan incorporating lounge, dining, kitchen and outdoor deck and maybe even a mezzanine floor.

Below this structure is a large undercroft with a bike rack and mabe even table tennis.

The other structure structure has two storeys comprising either:

- 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms plus 3 powder rooms

- an office, master bedroom with ensuite, and four other bedrooms

Beneath the bedrooms are four car parking spaces, each with a power point to charge an electric car.

Energy Efficiency
Over 95% of the environmental cost of a building over a 50 year lifespan is associated with the energy consumption of its operation.

For this reason, Lot 14 Riverside Ridge has been designed to be extremely energy efficient.

First, the house will have a light coloured roof.

Light coloured roofs reflect heat, reducing the amount of heat that enters the home.

Second, the design allows the natural breeze in to the building.

Natural breezes provides passive cooling and greatly reduces the need for air conditioning.

The site is well located to catch the breezes, facing the north east and at an elevation of 40 metres above sea level.

Appropriate insulation is used in the ceiling and walls and solar film is used on western facing windows.

Landscaping will be integrated with the design to ensure the building is cool.

Air conditioning
In Townsville, air conditioniners should be though of like fire-extinguishers.

Have them on standby but design circumstances so that they are not needed.

In Lot 14 Riverside Ridge, the bedrooms are air conditioned, but should not need the A/C switched on too often.

The A/C system proposed is very efficient and flexible.

The open plan living area need not be air conditioned, although it can be if desired.

Solar Energy
Lot 14 has been designed with a view to offering a large surface appropriate for installation of solar PV powerstation.

Solar PV allows the building to produce all its own energy requirments from the sun.

The roofspace above the bedrooms is appropriately angled to capture maximum sunlight over the year and is large enough to hold a 6kW PV system which will produce on average 36kWh per day.

It is believed that this will be more than enough energy to power the home under normal circumstances.