insidenewsletter - Tertiary Education Facilities Management ...

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14 TEFMA www.tefma.com house of the future Mike Cooper is the Director of Facilities Management and Services, Southern Cross University - a position he has held for the past five years. Prior to this he was employed as the Capital Projects Manager during the period in which Southern Cross University underwent considerable expansion and restructure. Mike has more than years of extensive experience in construction, both commercial and residential, as well as property management, and holds a degree in management together with qualifications in Facilities Management and Building Sciences; he is from a trade background. Mike is a firm believer in the values and benefits of TEFMA and he is now in a position to 'give something back'. Southern Cross University has obtained the timber ‘house of the future’. The prototype house was developed for the Houses of the Future Exhibition and has been displayed at the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Olympic Park. The house represents an investment by the timber industry and its partners of approximately $500,000 in design, material and labour. The house, designed by Innovarchi Architects, explores the single family dwelling and its relationship with the environment through developing an idea about a surface that is metaphorically a piece of landscape, a surface that undulates to form internal and external spaces that blur the distinction between the natural and built environment. That surface or skin is simultaneously roof, wall and floor. In the future house, according to Innovarchi, there should be no distinction. This skin has several purposes: it is simultaneously a shading mechanism and a solar collector, it maximises water catchment and houses the water recycling systems. The skin also encloses the space that people inhabit inside the house. The house challenges the relationship between interior and exterior space and the application of timber building materials and timber-based products. It also serves to demonstrate that prefabricated buildings do not have to be uninteresting boxes but can be complex forms and spaces, and that timber is easy to construct, modify and move in large pre-fabricated pieces. While there are typical timber products used throughout, the house aims to test traditional notions about how timber can be used and what constitutes a timber product, with the added benefit of no great change to conventional construction methods. The prototype is an exploration into different design concepts, it is unique, incorporating new products and design and includes a paper/ resin cladding and third generation solar power cells used as a skylight. The paper/resin cladding, although not commercially tested, has withstood the extremes of the Northern Rivers (NSW) climate including more than 900 mm of rain so far this year. The Timber House showcases a ‘fully integrated environmentally sustainable design (ESD) solution’, incorporating some of the most upto-date technologies to deliver a home that is comfortable to live in and provides a sustainable housing option for the future. The Timber House aims to challenge traditional thought about how timber can be used and what constitutes a ‘timber’ product. It introduces advances in material technology, using fibre products that with carefully managed farming can be excellent renewable resources. The structure was pre-cut in Victoria and transported flat-packed to NSW. The building was assembled in six modules and transported to site on three separate trucks, two being wide loaders. Each module is required to be lifted by crane and sited on concrete block piers. The modules have been disassembled and reerected for the fourth time and have withstood the rigours of lifting, transportation and re-erection extremely well. Environmental features • the LVL (laminated veneer lumber) structure and plywood panels are renewable plantation pine. • the Australian hardwoods used are from eco-select sustainably managed forests • reduced embodied energy • carbon storage • the exterior cladding is a wood fibre and phenolic resin product • e-veneer is made from wood fibre rather than peeling logs • the cardboard foil composite insulation is fully recyclable
insidenewsletter AUTUMN/WINTER 2006 15 • solar Titania cells are an Australian invention using dye-based nanotechnology to generate electricity. Rainwater collection The structure of the house is designed in such a way that the surfaces of the house maximise rainwater collection and drain to central point. In effect, the surface area of the house is its own catchment area with storage contained underneath. Solar hot water On average, about 40 per cent of the energy used in a house is used to heat water. The solar water heater in the courtyard of the house uses the sun’s energy to heat water, thus saving valuable energy resources and helping to reduce greenhouse emissions. This system is different from conventional flat plate solar hot water systems, as it has tubes that maximise exposure to the sun as there is always a surface that is perpendicular to the sun’s rays. This results in a system that is up to 40 per cent more efficient than traditional flat plate solar water heaters. Solar energy is absorbed by special heat pipes located inside each tube, which contain a small amount of non-toxic liquid that turns to gas, creating heat transfer via a manifold. Solar power The house incorporates third generation solar technology in dye solar cells (DSC) that use dye-based nanotechnology to harness solar energy from direct or indirect light sources. The system is biomimetic and works by imitating the process of photosynthesis in plants. The dye cell has been called the first real revolution in solar energy since the establishment of silicon solar cells some 40 years ago. The house is impressive and contains a number of sustainable features that will enable the university to promote itself throughout the community, in particular school groups.® FACILITIES SUPERVISOR GEOFF COTTEE (RIGHT) AND CAMPUS SERVICES SUPERVISOR RICHARD HYDE.
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Page 13: wollemi pine - a green dinosaur FAC

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