Backyard of the future
- shows the way in conserving mains water.
A semi detached residence at Clovelly
in Sydney which received a Gold Medal in the 2004
Green Building Awards and shows the water saving
solutions which can be adopted in an individual
renovation or new home building project to conserve
valuable mains water supplies.
The Clovelly house was designed
to meet best practice in architecture, urban design
and environmental design
A principal outcome in water saving
is a 75 percent reduction in town water use.
This was achieved through selecting
readily available concepts and products implemented
by the architects Kennedy Associates Architects
and environmental engineers ENVDS.
The Clovelly house has three compact
rainwater tanks in the backyard which can store
nine thousand litres of rainwater collected from
the roof.
The tanks are frequently filled
by regular rainfall.
The tank storages provide the cold
water for the bath, showers and hand basins as well
as the swimming pool.
They are equipped with a Davey Rainbank®
controller which automatically switches the
water source from the domestic mains to the rainwater
stored in the tanks whenever a demand is created.
The RainBank® automatically
determines to use the rainwater first and then mains
water only as a back up, or as the supply should
there be no water available in the tanks.
Another water conservation initiative
is that the grey water generated by the house is
biologically treated in a tiered vertical planter
established alongside one of the boundary fences.
The treated grey water is then used
for the washing machine and the toilet flushing
needs of the house.
Architect Simon Anderson from Kennedy
Associates Architects who designed the project,
said that the house was a well established property
which the owners had lived in for almost twenty
years.
"They elected to renovate their
property and wanted to effect a number of innovations
beyond the normal applications of passive solar
use and environmental design.
"The water saving solutions
are complemented by a number of features, ranging
from enhanced thermal performance, to extensive
use of natural light with low wattage light fittings,
solar water and pool heating and provision for solar
power generation.
The use of renewable materials including
sustainable timbers and the selection of low volatile
organic compound paints and floor oils are additional
features.
"Both the owners and ourselves
and the other professional consultants who contributed
their expertise are delighted with the results achieved.
"I consider the Clovelly house
shows that there are readily available solutions
and products to conserve water, reduce energy consumption
and maximise energy efficiency at the domestic home
level" Simon Anderson said.
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The backyard view of
the Clovelly house shows the 9,000 litre
rainwater storage tanks at right and
the three tiered filter system which
treats the grey water generated by the
house for reuse for toilet flushing
and the washing machine.
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The Davey RainBank® controller
is achieving a rapidly growing installed base in
both homes and institutional building projects where
a tank water storage system traps rainfall and employs
it for regular needs, including toilet flushing,
garden watering and supplementing swimming pool
supplies, by simply diverting the use away from
the high value mains water supply.
For more information on the Clovelly
house Gold Medal Winner of the 2004 Green Building
Awards contact Simon Anderson, Kennedy Associates
Architects on 02 9557 6466
For more information on the Davey
RainBank® controller contact the Davey Customer
Service Centre on 1300 367 866 or see www.davey.com.au/rainbank
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