We're pretty happy with our brushed finish but if I had the money I'd have gone for the Diamond Dave finish - mirror smooth, like a giant bench-top, although that…

Thanks for the reply! Can I ask what brand and model of rangehood you're using? And how well it handles smell depending on what kind of things you cook?

Some good info here:
http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blo ... hrv-or-erv
I see what you're saying, but in climates like mine and other zones where HRVs are used we don't really…

Thanks for the info Alex - are you Northern NSW? Either way a very different climate to my 500m altitude southern Tas
ERVs are intended…

How are you going 3 years on? We're in the same situation - going with a tightly sealed home using a zehnder HRV. Venting outside is a big problem with…

Hi to anyone still watching this thread. We're back to a new design with an architect and just got our model back from assessment - so far 9 stars. We're…

Thanks for the info Variegated! Are you building it yourself or through a fixed-price quote builder?

Would love to hear from anyone who's either built or been quoted for builds on especially high-performance homes i.e. 8+ star or passivhaus standard. Including things like triple glazing, ERV/HRVs.…

There need be no compromise with tight-sealed homes - you need to ventilate with a heat-recovery system!
We're aiming for exactly that with our new home. We plan to use a…

What's this product you're planning to use Builda?

Are they all not suitable for multiple level construction? The SIPS website has demos of houses going up that are 2-story.

Fantastic! So exciting to see versions that aren't rectangles.. I was sort of thinking I'd have to keep to that for building cost, but if they're fairly basic right-angles it…

Wow mate there's some really interesting ideas there How long did it take you to whip all those pro drawings up??? Think I owe you…

Hey thanks for the sketch Kiwi but the wife and I couldn't abide a laundry/bathroom combo. It's going to be the main door and it just doesn't sit well having…

Naa in Winter it's going to be the main entrance to the house.. can't have that blocked cos someone's in the toilet. Yeh I don't like the bathroom there either...…

Anyone know off-hand the space requirement for the staircase? I was basing my allowance on the designers single direction one which seems about 4.5m including landing. What about if it's…

That was from the designer, we hadn't even considered that before Having seen it though I'm quite intrigued:
- it could mean we have a main…

Yes would really like a loo downstairs near the rear door, and I think the earlier comment of putting a shower in the powder room was good. So bathroom ideals…

what I did it in AutoCAD.. honest

Ok so I had a go at redoing downstairs to allow for staircase exiting somewhere in the middle of upstairs (against South wall).
What you think of this? Haven't worked…

you missed out on an awesome burger at Marmalade Cafe chuq =D

Ok we've been scribbling and erasing and cursing and .... and...
Some thoughts we've had:
- Think we need to ditch the offset of floors at the…

I think a good idea would be for me to edit the OP as I change our direction and narrow down requirements.

Wow, I leave work.. bath the munchkin, wash the crayon drawings off the walls ( ) and get onto the puter to find there's so…

Wow such fast feedback, thanks guys
I've got the graph paper out atm drawing my idea up rather than relying on the finger squiggles on the…

Will answer your posts in a sec.. just going to throw this up. My ipad squiggles for the upstairs after mulling the layout last night. Think I got something if…

PLANS!!
We received our first draft from our designer I'll also post our sketch of the layout that we provided to them which they've recreated very…

Cyclone i'd also be interested to hear how your unit is performing?
I intially got onto HRV/ERV units when reading about the Venmar product. Apparently the Australian distributor is no longer…

Thanks for the reply Casa2. Is that a passive system or are those loops connected to a heat-pump? (for cooling)

I've previously looked into ground-source heating solutions like ?? and discovered they could be hugely expensive here in Tas at least. Someone suggested I look at ones that use a…