Jade Projects - 8 Star House

Midland Brick is proud to have been involved in the development, construction and launch of this now closed display home in Perth's south eastern suburb of Seville Grove.

The home demonstrated that when it comes to energy efficiency, West Australians have known best for generations, preferring double clay brick construction to achieve optimum thermal comfort.

At 8 Stars* the 8 Star House, Built in Brick, was the highest rating house in LandCorp's now closed Revolution Road display development, which showcased ecologically sustainable building ideas and featured other homes that rated between 5 and 6 Stars that were built from a variety of alternative materials.

The home was recognised with two national HIA Boral 2009 GreenSmart Awards for Energy Efficiency and Project Home of the Year, and three WA HIA-SEDO 2009 GreenSmart Awards for Energy Efficiency, Water Efficiency and Project Home of the Year. Judges said the home was designed to be stylish and comfortable while incorporating green features.

The home was designed using the findings of a rigorous 6 year research program undertaken by The University of Newcastle, Australian Research Council and Think Brick Australia into the thermal performance of Australian housing and design for Perth's climate.

The 8 Star House also proved that sustainability could be affordable. Built by leading HIA GreenSmart accredited builder, Jade Projects, the basic house model cost only $199,454** to build and took just 18 weeks to construct.

Add to this a greywater reuse system, photovoltaic power-grid connected roof cells, Solahart's new super efficient electric boosted hot water system, and brick wall cavity insulation and the 8 Star House achieves a 72% saving in water usage and 76% reduction in energy usage. This represents significant savings to the family budget over the year.
Constructed in double clay brick from local Perth manufacturers, including Midland Bricks' Georgian Granite Sett face brick and internal Maxibrick, the 8 Star House has showcased the benefits of traditional clay face brick for the average family home, which include superior energy efficiency, acoustic performance, durability and extremely low maintenance.

The spacious 183sqm (living space), three bedroom, 2 bathroom display home was ideally orientated to face due north, allowing the thermal mass in the double clay brick walls and tiled concrete flooring to absorb and release much needed warmth in winter and 'coolth' in summer. A removable shade sail was placed over the large glazed windows on the northern side to further protect the home from the sun's heat in summer.

Midland Bricks' Heavy Duty Grey pavers also featured in the home, and being clay, they won't fade and are low maintenance, natural, 100% recyclable and waterwise.

The home incorporates many simple and practical ideas new home builders can use in their own homes. In turn, the home itself was monitored by several sensors which will measure internal air temperatures and humidity and deliver findings back into The University of Newcastle and Think Brick Australia's research work.

Visitors to the home at Lot 184 Verdant Circuit, Seville Grove, learned about designing for Perth's climate, achieving energy efficiency and passive solar design through step-by-step signage throughout the house and a simple comprehensive guide to the 8 Star House which they could take home and apply to their own building projects.


*Using BERS rating tool
**Cost at time of completion