~Year 8 Integrated Assignment Oral~
~Teacher: Mrs McLellan~
~Regan & Brandi~
1.
We designed our house, firstly because of its practical layout. Also, it is positioned facing
west so that the sun rises to the back of the house near the kitchen and lounge room so in
winter it will be warm. An energy efficient house can help reduce water and energy
consumption whilst increasing renewable and natural energies. This will in time help reduce
our carbon footprint emissions. Our plan and construction materials contain solar panels,
skylights, compost, solar hot water system heating, plants/trees, energy saving light bulbs and
much more. It is important for us to incorporate these ideas into Northern Queensland homes
as we have long months of heat and humidity. Capturing and reusing the natural energy that
comes from the sun and storing the water that is produced from our monsoonal weather are
two of the plusses that we can take from living in North Queensland.
2.
Our house design includes features such as, a thermal heating blanket for our pool which will
help retain heat from the sun. This will make our pool warmer, therefore reducing the need
for an energy draining heater. All of this saving on energy consumption.
On the Southern side of our house we have a rain water tank and a solar hot water system.
Using rain water collected in the tank and reducing the use of town water will save on our
water bill. The solar hot water system will have a huge impact on our water heating energy
consumption. Also, on this side we have our compost bin and worm farm which will recycle
kitchen and garden waste. This helps reduce pollution and waste and lowers emissions.
Reducing our household waste by up to 30%.
Inside our house we have 9 skylights, 4 in the kitchen, 3 through the hallway and 2 in the
garage. These help minimise energy consumption by using natural light during the daytime
instead of light bulbs. We placed them in the areas that would be used more frequently.
In the bathroom, kitchen and laundry we have fan vents. These are useful as they remove
heat, steam, exhaust from the dryer, water vapour and algae from the exterior throughout
rooms. Also in our house we have a main pipe for plumbing. Roof Turbines are good to
maximise coolness in the house, catching the cooler air from outside and circulating it
throughout the roof cavity.
As you can see on the roof of our house we have designed solar panels, an excellent way to
provide clean, green and renewable energy powering a wide variety of devices, generating
and supplying us with electricity in our home and appliances.
3.
We designed this Model to reduce energy consumption and maximise coolness by including
the following: solar panels, fan vents, a roof turbine, a compost bin, worm farm, clothesline,
trees & plants, a thermal heating blanket for our pool, solar filter, water tanks under the house
& rain water tanks, a hot water system, fan vents, skylights, tinted glass, roof insulation, and
a white reflective roof.
4.
Our compost bin and worm farm have a positive effect in helping to reduce pollution by
decreasing kitchen and garden waste making us more environmentally friendly. The
faults of having a compost bin are that we need to take the time to use this compost
properly as some scraps aren’t able to be decomposed.
Skylights are great for providing light throughout the house during the day. This means
less use of light bulbs, saving on your energy bill. Some disadvantages are that plastic
skylights can sometimes cause condensation and leaking problems. They also create a
weakening in the roof for cyclones to penetrate. Another problem, is, when the weather is
overcast and there’s a storm there’s no sunlight to shine through.
The fan vents help out a lot when there’s heat and moisture in the air, leaving the area
cool and dry. If not used the moisture and heat will form cracks, leakage and algae in
walls creating stagnation in the interior. The disadvantages may be extra use of energy if
you forget to turn them off.