Book: Warm House, Cool House

I read the book Warm House Cool House (Inspirational designs for low-energy housing) by Nick Hollo.

Warm House Cool House explains the five primary principles behind designing homes for thermal comfort in Australia's various climatic regions:

1. Orientation of the main living areas toward the north, to allow maximum sunshine when it's needed for warmth, and to most easily exclude the sun's heat when it's not needed.
2. Glazing used to trap the sun's warmth inside the house when it is needed, and otherwise to shade and protect the house from unwanted heat gain or heat loss.
3. Thermal mass to store heat from the sun when it is required and to provide a heat sink when we need to be cooler.
4. Insulation to reduce unwanted heat loss or heat gain through the roof, walls and floors.
5. Ventilation to provide fresh air and capture cooling breezes.
   

These principles are illustrated throughout the book with photos, sketches and plans (including a colour section). All the examples are Australian from all our different climatic zones.

The principles and examples are discussed in the following contexts:

• new houses,
• project homes,
• higher density housing, and
  
• renovating and/or extending existing homes.