The Austral 8STAR House is designed to take advantage of natural airflow, lighting and heating to provide comfortable and energy efficient living in any street, all year round.
Starting with a design that took the local climate into consideration, this home combines features you’d expect from any Ausbuild designed home, with Austral’s range of building products that play an important part in the energy efficient construction of this home.
This case study will give you an overview of how the house was created and hopefully inspire you to do the same. You can get a feel for the house with a virtual tour video, view photos and find out how the features and innovations in the house work together to achieve the 8STAR energy efficiency rating.
View the video that showcases the main features of the Austral 8STAR House and go on a virtual tour of the home.
Classic Contemporary Comfort
Every feature in the 8STAR House has been included because it meets the expectations we have of a modern, well designed house.
From the positioning of the windows, to the choice of building materials, the Austral 8STAR House just feels right - cool in the dry, hot summer months, and warm in the cooler season. The rooms are light and airy because the home is oriented to make the most of winter sun and summer airflows, and the exterior has deeper roof eves to provide shade.
The classic brick exterior, roof tiling, striking internal brick walls and beautiful ceramic flooring are not only distinctive design elements of the home, but they also combine to store energy from the sun and replace the need for artificial heat and cooling.
And the home has been designed for today's family lifestyle - from the open plan living area and kids zone, to the private ensuite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe, to the alfresco entertaining area that's such a part of Queensland life, this is a house you will enjoy living in.
Effortless Energy Efficiency
Beautiful, welcoming and comfortable as it is, this wouldn't be an 8STAR house if it didn't have another, very important aspect to it. This house could save you up to 25% on your energy bills.
Click here to view a diagram that highlights the key features of the Austral 8STAR House that contribute to the energy efficiency of the home.
Combined, all these features work in three main ways to achieve 'thermal comfort':
1. Encourage natural ventilation and airflow through the building.
2. Manage how light and heat gets into the building.
3. Stabilise internal temperatures to reduce the need for artificial heating and cooling.
A significant factor in the 'thermal comfort' of the home is the use of Austral bricks, pavers, roofing, and masonry - products that have inherent 'thermal mass' which helps to store energy and stabilise temperatures inside the home. Find out more about thermal mass and why it is important for sustainable home design.
More about thermal mass: http://www.australbricks.com.au/qld/Sustainability/Thermal-mass-benefits
What to do next:
For more information about how to build an Austral 8STAR House of your own you can:
The Austral 8STAR House is now closed.
Contact Austral Bricks by telephone: 13BRICK (13 2742)
Take a look around this website, especially the section on
Sustainability.