Orientation

=North Orientation= Winter sun provides warmth in the winter. Suns radiant heat as well as infra-red energy from the sun heat up surfaces that come in contact with it. Even timber floorboards and their polished surfaces reflect this energy into the room.



=Benefits of East aspect= On this site, the large verandah faces due East with a large North facing area. Benefits of this is that the sun in the morning for winter and summer enters the house. This provides early morning light for both winter and summer. IN winter the north aspect gets most of the days sunlight, during summer there is no sun at all and this verandah remains coolest part of the house for most of the day due to the height of the gable end above it.

Winter =Disadvantages of West= Cold and Hot winds blow most of the year, mostly from the west. Also the sun is at its hotests in its Westerly transit. The house has no windows and only one door to the west, and the largest expanse of strawbale wall is on the west end. The carport provides additional protectin from wind and sun.

=Disadvantages of South= Only sunshine is height of summer. During most months, rear of building is cold, damp and prone to frost. Makes heating the pool difficult. Solar water heating system barely gets to 21 degrees in summer. Requires heat pump to allow pool to be used year round as originally designed.



=Prevailing winds= Most winds are from the West throughout the year. Summer breeze arrives from the coast at about 3:00pm, temperature drop from 30 degrees to 10 degrees in under 10 minutes.



=Heat and Cold= Even there are extremes of heat and cold, the weather is generally benign. Drought over the last 10 years has had adverse affect on plants and animals, but the house has withstood all extremes.

=Living Space, Redundant Space and Services= This house was designed to limit redundant space and to have services such as laundry and pool pumphouse as far away from main living space as possible.

=Solar Passive Design concepts=