Knauf Australia proudly supplied plasterboard to Sapphire House, one of the homes that were on display on Sustainable House Day this year.
For more than 19 years Sustainable House Day has been providing visitors with the chance to inspect houses that have been designed, built or renovated with sustainability in mind.
On Sunday 15 September thousands of Australians once again had the opportunity to visit some of Australia’s leading green homes – houses that are environmentally friendly and more energy efficient.
Sapphire House, built by Blue Eco Homes, is located in the Blue Mountains in Faulconbridge, NSW, and will initially be used as Blue Eco Homes’ flagship display home.
It is one of just two fully certified Passive Houses in NSW and one of only a handful countrywide. Sapphire House is however the first to be built to Bushfire Attack Level Flame Zone (BAL-FZ) regulations, the highest bushfire risk rating.
Passive House design is a construction concept that focuses on energy efficiency, comfort, affordability and ecological design. The concept originated in Europe, but is fast gaining popularity in Australia. It is generally regarded as the future of housing.
According to Blue Eco Homes, Sapphire House has a carbon-zero rating and relies on building physics, location climate data, carefully integrated minimal building services and technology, including solar PV array to achieve optimum energy efficiency.
The design incorporates high performance glazing, insulation and an airtight building envelope that ensures the home’s internal temperature is maintained at a comfortable level ranging from 20 – 25 degrees with minimal reliance on artificial heating or cooling. It is 90 per cent more energy efficient than the average home.
Knauf supplied MastaShield, SpanShield and WaterShield to the project.
