Where we live in Northern NSW it was very important for us to decide on a house design that was most adaptable to our local climate and topography. We chose to design a passive solar pole home.
Our climate is one of hot and often rainy summers and mild dry winters with cold nights and occasional frosts. For the hot summer months a pole home design allows for air flow underneath the floor. As this sub-floor area is shaded, the air flow becomes cool as a result, and keeps the wooden floor boards cool. For those very rainy weeks or months the pole home design allows the water to flow under the house in heavy rains thus requiring no special drainage or damp courses whilst avoiding the possibility of flood damage.
Topographically our land is undulating with a gently gradient running down hill from the back to front of the house. Building a pole home allowed us to avoid the need for a costly excavator to dig out huge amounts of earth in order to prepare a flat building site. We have a sub-soil surface of clay which swells when wet and contracts and cracks when dry and a pole home can compensate for this with each pole moving slightly up or down with no structural damage.
The pole home design allowed us some advantages over other construction techniques. Firstly, the pole home has no load bearing walls. This means that there are no walls directly bearing the weight of the roofing structure, allowing the roof to put up before any walls have been constructed. The roof can be erected within a much faster time frame with the walls to be erected at a later date giving the advantage of working under this roof for protection from the elements. When the roof is on and the flooring in all work can be done from the safe platform of the floor with the roof providing protection to the builder, tools and materials from the sun & rain.
After 5 years of living in our passive solar energy efficient pole home we love the advantageous this form of construction provides. Aesthetically it is very pleasing to the eye with the rustic look of the bush pole home blending in with the surrounds.
Discover more about our owner builder experience of designing and building our own energy efficient house by visiting www.reducingthefootprint.com
