3 WAYS TO HELP YOU ASSESS AND IMPROVE YOUR HOME'S SUSTAINABILITY
1. Jump straight into reading the TACTICS page to see the key aspects of sustainable housing, then go to the SELF-ASSESSMENT page and use the information there to begin the assessment of your home.
2. Enjoy reading this CESH page introducing Sustainable Building Design, move onto the TACTICS and 7 PRINCIPLES pages, then begin your SELF-ASSESSMENT using either the ‘new home’ or ‘existing home’ assessment form.
3. If in Melbourne, use the CONTACT form to book an on-site assessment of your home with a CESH consultant.
CESH
CESH is a community-education group and consultancy, focused on Sustainable Building Design, advising on home sustainability levels and improvements.
We speak with Community Groups, NFPs and Councils on achieving more:
Comfortable,
Energy Efficient,
Sustainable,
Homes.
CESH - TACTICS
TACTICS is a free and freely available set of 7 online learning modules (found on the TACTICS page) for home self-assessment, to guide positive changes.
The modules are ideal for individuals doing a home assessment.
7 TACTICS PRINCIPLES
7 principles, based around Solar Passive Design, guide both new home design and changes to existing homes, so they become more comfortable, more energy-efficient and more sustainable. With an increased understanding of the many aspects of a home that determine how it feels and operates, we all can make positive changes.
WHAT TACTICS DOES
TACTICS assists home owners, designers, builders and tenants to make a home function at its best level in its climate, by embracing 7 principles.
TACTICS explains how a home’s design, materials and use can be improved for the benefit of the owner, occupier and planet.
How a CESH TACTICS Assessment works
TACTICS modules are designed to be used with a phone or PC.
Simply read the 7 TACTICS principles as you move around your home,
noting what you find as you progress through the modules and your rooms.
You may find yourself moving chairs into the winter sun, sealing gaps with tape, discussing habit changes with house-mates,
reading the usage patterns on your energy bills and/ or making notes for upgrades.
At the end of the modules you’ll have a great understanding of your home, plus new ideas and notes for making changes.
*
If you are designing a new home or doing major upgrades, you’ll be able to make significant impactful decisions such as;
planning optimum solar orientation, making greener material choices, contracting quality construction, designing cooling air-flow passages and comfortable room layouts, installing highly energy-efficient power systems, and much more.
WHY WE NEED MORE SUSTAINABLE BUILDING DESIGN
Humans are creatures of comfort, always seeking an optimal temperature for themselves.
On a planet where temperatures vary by over a hundred degrees ℃, we seek a very small comfort range of around 18-23 ℃ at all times,
a costly pursuit with high financial costs and harmful emissions.
As we spend a great proportion of our time inside buildings,
our comfort levels are closely tied to indoor environment conditions,
though our buildings are not designed or built for good temperature control.
Most Australian homes require constant conditioning to meet our demand for thermal comfort.
CESH TACTICS leads to more sustainable housing, so we can be more comfortable naturally and passively.
Passive design principles are easiest to adopt when designing/ building a new home, though most features of TACTICS passive design
can also be added to existing homes through renovations/ retrofits and other home adjustments.
CESH TACTICS
CESH
CESH is for Comfortable Energy-Efficient Sustainable Homes.
CESH focuses on Sustainable Solar Passive Building Design, which focuses on natural and free heat, cooling and light.
CESH explains what to consider when assessing an existing home, or new home plans, and outlines where improvements can be made.
CESH do on-site visits and talks in Melbourne, speaking to groups in person.
TACTICS
TACTICS promotes 7 principles of Sustainable Building Design, based on the natural and more affordable way to heat and cool a home by working with the climate.
Details of the principles are on The 7 PRINCIPLES page.
A self-assessment gives an enhanced understanding of your home, how best to design and use it, and gives you a list of changes to improve your daily life in the home.
ON-SITE
In addition to the free self-assessment modules, we offer group seminars and on-site* assessments of a home’s design, structure and operation. A written report is provided with each home-site visit/ assessment. It explains the elements of sustainable building design and use, and how it applies to your home.
(* Currently only in Melbourne)
BENEFITS
Benefits can include:
1. Your home holding a comfortable temperature on its own, passively.
2. Direct natural sun rays becoming the home’s heating system.
3. Lower power use and lower energy costs.
4. Potentially no more gas bills.
5. Lower building Life-Cycle Costs (LCCs.)
6. Less harmful emissions creation.
7. Increased home value.
Easy To Follow
No prior knowledge of sustainable building design, construction or architecture is needed to benefit from a home assessment, as the 7 TACTICS principles can be easily understood.
You’ll learn how to reduce your reliance on heating and cooling appliances, so that instead of finding comfort with high financial cost and carbon emissions, you’ll become comfortable in a way that’s also less harmful to ourselves (financially) and to future generations and the planet. CESH’s 7 TACTICS principles help to design/ re-design / retrofit and use buildings more sustainably and passively.
Comfort Science
CESH is a ‘comfort science‘ tool, designed to lead you into direct action for creating immediate improvements in your home and any level of their adoption is a positive step.
In less sustainable housing, many poorer aspects of a home are a result of others’ decisions, such as inferior material choices or poor building orientation…but with TACTICS, the key consideration is you, as you are the key to change and improvement over the whole life of your home, via long term planning, better decisions, and your new daily habits.
Solar Passive Building Design
Solar Passive heating and cooling design works with the local climate to maintain a comfortable temperature in the home naturally and reduces or eliminates the need for mechanical heating or cooling.
It works on its own, with no human input needed, but can be further enhanced by an engaged household occupant.
A solar passive designed home delivers a lifetime of benefits, with features such as optimum orientation, correct thermal mass, good insulation and glazing all combining to take advantage of natural sources of heating and cooling, such as the sun and cross-breezes.
It also minimizes unwanted temperature gain and/or loss in the home,
Financial Benefits
Most changes made by adopting CESH TACTICS principles can be measured financially, by checking an upfront cost against the financial benefits of the change.
Financial methods to use include, Return on Investment (ROI) calculations, Pay-Back Period (PBP) analysis and ‘increased market value’.
These calculations show that many improvement options are financially beneficial to the owner and/or occupant, and how some financial benefits can be achieved without any upfront investment.
With consideration of available grants/rebates and long term savings from green initiatives, there is often an excellent ‘Business Case for Sustainability‘ (BCFS).
CESH TACTICS
If you are ready for improvements, the self-assessment modules are ready for you now,
or you could contact us for a group talk or site visit.
For any queries, simply fill out the form on the contact page or email us.
Email: info@cesh.com.au
TACTICS Information and Home Self-Assessment: Free at any time.
CESH TACTICS: Melbourne on-site talks and assessments: available through request.
CESH ABN: 63 247 066 902
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