The idea: build an environmentally friendly, passive solar house in the hills, with a small ecological footprint that will keep us warm in winter, cool in summer.
The solution: Strawbale, mudbrick, stone house in the Adelaide hills
The challenge: Keeping on budget, getting trades people to take us seriously, build it in less than 18 months.
The outcome: Slightly over budget ;-) In Summer 24c inside when 40c outside. In Winter 18c inside when 4c outside. Halved our energy bills.
Our vision was to build an ecofriendly house within our budget and close enough to the CBD (Adelaide) to keep our jobs. Sound familiar? We took 5 years looking for a property only to find land prices sky rocketed while we did so. Eventually we landed a 10 acre block 20 minutes from the city and our dreams began to meet reality.