More About Climate And Comfortable Housing

Places To Visit

Your local library will have books on low-energy building design. The National Library page will help you find your nearest Council library.

In Sydney, the Sustainable Energy Development Authority's Energy Smart Information Centre has information on energy use associated with heating, cooling, cooking, water heating, and home design and siting. They are on the third floor of the Sydney Building Information Centre, 525 Elizabeth St., Surry Hills NSW 2010. You can email them at esic@sbic.com.au or telephone them on (02) 9319 0022
((02) 1300 363 768 within NSW).

Energy Efficiency Victoria is on the ground floor, 215 Spring street, Melbourne 3000, near the corner of Lonsdale street. They have books, brochures and will rate your house or house plans for energy efficiency.

The Building Development Display Centre at 332 Albert St East Melbourne 3002 or phone them on 03) 9419 7488. They have displays of items such as double-glazed windows and insulation and consultants who offer free advice on low energy design.

RAIA's Architext bookshops at

Melbourne

41 Exhibition St
Melbourne VIC 3000
ph 03 9650 3474
fax 03 9650 3587
atextmel@vicnet.net.au

Sydney

3 Manning St
Potts Point NSW 2011
ph 02 9356 2022
fax 02 9368 1570
atextsyd@netlink.com.au

CSIRO bookshop at 150 Oxford St Collingwood 3066, telephone (03) 9662 7666.

Books

There are innumerable books available. Below is a selection of those written for Australian climates. Some are out of print, but they may be found in libraries.

ENERGY-EFFICIENT AUSTRALIAN HOUSING, second edition, 1997.
AGPS bookshops, $25, (1800 020 049)

DESIGNING HOUSES FOR AUSTRALIAN CLIMATES, 1981, from CSIRO Publishing $20-00.

PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN IN AUSTRALIA, Greenland, J. and Szokolay, S. 1985,
RAIA Education Division, Canberra.

WARM HOUSE COOL HOUSE: INSPIRATIONAL DESIGNS FOR LOW-ENERGY HOUSING,
Hollo, Nick 1995, A Choice Book, Australian Consumers' Association, Marrickville NSW, 172p.

ENERGY-EFFICIENT HOUSING FOR NEW SOUTH WALES, Ballinger, Prasad and Cassell.
Published by the NSW Office of Energy in 1992. This book is useful outside NSW;
it covers all climates except the hot, humid zone.

TROPICAL LIVING, 1993, NT Power and Water Authority, gratis, 1800 245 091.

TROPPO, Goad, P. 1999, Pesaro Architectural Monographs, Sydney, NSW, $49-95.

BUILDING IN HOT DRY CLIMATES, Saini, B. 1980, John Wiley, Brisbane, 176p.

DESIGN OF SUN-SHADING DEVICES, 1988, CSIRO Publishing, $30-00.

Building design professionals will be interested in the BDP Environmental Design Guide. It is available in a folder or on CD-ROM and can be ordered from the RAIA home page. The BDP national office may be contacted by phone on (03) 9650 4011 or fax (03) 9650 3364.

Links

Climatic Design of Buildings (click "on-line syllabus", under the heading RESEARCH)) is a useful summary of the topic from the Architecture department at the University of Hong Kong.

Energy Efficiency Victoria will rate your house plans for energy efficiency as well as giving design tips suited to a temperate climate.

Queensland's energyWise service.

South Australia's Energy Information Centre

The ACT's Energy Advisory Service

Western Power's SMART HOME page has useful tips for house design in a temperate climate, with particular reference to Perth conditions.

The Sustainable Energy Development Authority's AT HOME section has tips on making existing houses more energy-efficient.

CSIRO Publishing has books on building and construction.

The University of Tasmania's Architecture Department has developed detailed guidance material for the more numerate among us.

The New York State University's Cyburbia - Internet Resource Center for the Built Environment contains a huge directory of Internet resources relevant to planning and architecture.

The Arid Lands Newsletter from Arizona University's Architecture Department has an issue devoted to desert architecture.

Earth Sheltered Home Design is also relevant to anyone building in a hot dry climate. It gives down-to-earth instruction (pun intended) on designing and building an earth-sheltered home.

The US Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Network offers a wealth of information about energy-efficient building technologies.

The Energy Outlet, a US-based resource centre, has practical advice on landscaping and solar energy systems for a more comfortable home.

A Cool Roofing Materials Database has been prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a US research organization.

Standards Australia has many building-related Standards and handbooks for sale.

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