The reason that we’ve been so quiet on this blog recently is that we’ve been preparing for the next big project: renovating our house. Tomorrow is the official start date, and we’ll be blogging progress as it unfolds.

In theory, it’s not a big renovation. Like most federation houses, we have four beautiful front rooms, which we’re leaving unchanged. Then comes the rabbit-warren of rooms at the back, lean-to extension, etc. While the new house will be just 2-4m longer, it will mean demolishing the back of the house and re-building. Fun!

Needless to say, the renovation will incorporate a number of green features, including:

• A rammed earth wall, located in the middle of the house to increase the thermal mass of the house. (read more)
• A reverse brick veneer wall along one side, again to increase thermal mass (the rest of the construction will be wood frame).
• Double-glazing of all the windows (surprisingly hard to get in Australia).
• Plenty of insulation, in the roof, walls and under the floor.
• Carefully placed skylights to passively light the majority of the house.
• Actively ventilated roof space, to keep us cool in summer.
• Grey water system, with no moving parts.
• Low VOC paints and building materials throughout.
• Sustainable building products, where practical.

We’ll post more details on each of these aspects over the coming months. I’ll be the owner-builder and project manager, and will be directly involved in all the work for the next six months. Watch this space and wish us luck…