Are these homes Fitzroy’s most sustainable Victorian terraces?

Let’s take a closer look.

Simon Clarke, SHM's Managing Director covers this Fitzroy renovation project:

Where did we start?

Two original Victorian terraces homes. central Fitzroy, single story, around 130 years old. One had been abandoned for 35 years, the other clean, original, typical of the neighbouring homes. Victorian terrace homes generally rate poorly by any assessment. Low star rating in a NatHERS assessment, poor natural lighting levels, leaky, cold and with insufficient ventilation, not to mention challenging roofs for solar, small outdoor areas, on street parking, and difficult access for renovation. They were built in an era for keeping houses as cool as possible, as summer cooling didn’t yet exist. The amount of energy needed to heat the home was not to become a concern for another 130 years!

Why do we love Victorian terrace homes?

The attraction to these homes relates as much to location as to the beauty and proportions of the house itself.  It’s the vibrancy of the suburb, community in the street, and numerous advantages that comes with inner city density. These location advantages include multiple public transport options, choices for work, leisure, education as well as, proximity to the city centre and as a result the rest of Melbourne too. This is why Melburnians love these often cold, dark and leaky homes.

What was our motivation?

We not only wanted to renovate and beautify, we wanted, renew the way the house worked, to make it relevant, livable and sustainable for today and the future. (and we loved the pub across the road!)

To aim for high quality, high efficiency and high star rating homes. This is what we demand of all new homes today so a renovation should be no different. A home that is livable, sustainable and ready to take it through the next 100 years.

How did we do it?  

Primarily It was done with the determination and investment from the owner, considered design by the architect, and a willing and motivated builder. These elements together gave us an excellent beginning.

Secondary considerations included choosing suitable technology, efficient appliances, appropriate fixtures and finishes. These secondary elements were where some of the additional cost and complexities came into the design.  How many, to what extent and their priority came down to an assessment of what would give us the best results. Get these primary considerations locked in and the secondary considerations should easily fall into place. High efficiency and sustainable homes result.  The solar panels, battery, Heat recovery ventilation, appliances, high performance windows, were just the accessories, to be included if the budget allowed.

The Results

• Terrace 1 site area 130m2 GFA 145m2- 3 Bedroom 2 bath 1 car space - Terrace 1 achieved 7 stars with a Whole of Home assessment score of 120/150  (It has 7 kw solar panels )
• Terrace 2 site area 180m2 GFA 180m2  3 bed + study 2 bath 1 car space Terrace 2 achieved 8 stars with a Whole of Home score of 102/150 (It has 5 kw Solar panels)

Both Homes have...
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• Battery -14 kw Tesla power wall 2
• Tesla Backup Gateway 63A for backup power.
• Heat recovery unit HRU - Stiebel Eltron LWZ180 ventilation system
• Airconditioning- 7.5 KW Toshiba multi Split bulkhead AC system.
• Hotwater-Electric heatpump Apricus 260l. Controlled by phone app.  (Australian made) 6-year warranty.
• External Blinds- Motorised External  zipscreen blinds to east and west facing windows.
• Appliances- 100% Miele , inc Induction cooktop, with integrated down draft range hood, integrated fridge and integrated dishwasher. (All have a 10 year warranty)
• Windows – Binq UPVC high efficiency double glazed windows
• Bedroom Carpets- Supertuft 100% wool  (Australian made)
• Timber Floor & ceiling- 100% Reclaimed Timber 12 mm thx tongue and groove- (re-milled Messmate, mixed Victorian Hardwood structural timber) (OSMO hard wax finish, no VOC)
• Timber Stair- Solid timber Messmate treads, 
• Tapware/door hardware – Yabby taps, antique brass (Australian made)
• SS kitchen benchtop with integrated sink. Stainless steel external grade Kitchen tap.
• Hand crafted Steel island bench with leathered granite top
• Bathroom Vanities- Hand crafted steel wall hung vanity with Recycled Messmate vanity tops (OSMO hard wax finish, no VOC)
• Concrete Floor- Eco Pact by Holcim (30 % less embodied carbon content)- R1.0 cfc free insulated Double pour slab.
• Lighting- Bright Green &  Sonic 
• Ceiling Fans- high efficiency DC motors
• External Cladding- Ventilated cavity, Painted Weathertex, Weathergroove Fusion Smooth (Australian Made)
• Haymes Paints throughout -(no VOC)
• External walls 140 thick timber studs with R4 insulation
• External builders Wrap- Pro Clima Solitex Extasana 

It’s interesting to compare the difference of the two-house designs and analyse how each scored differently in the NatHERS Whole of Home Assessments:

• Both sites are terrace renovation projects.
• Both homes face the street to the West and Laneway to the east, with their long-shared boundary to the north and the south.

These site constraints gave little opportunity to include any north facing windows. We knew the poor orientation would challenge efficiency, from the beginning, so, it was critical to improve the Insulation, thermal performance, and window performance of the homes We made the decision to heavily insulate the walls, ceilings and floors. Walls were thickened to 140 studwork, to accommodate R4 insulation, building wrap, and ventilated external cladding. Floors were double pour slab with R1.5 between slabs, and R4 below lightweight floors in the existing front of the house. UPVC Windows were chosen for performance, just changing from good quality double glazed Aluminum windows to UPVC windows improved our star rating by around +0.5 star for each home. (This was also an increase in window supply cost of around 20%).
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There is more window area/ m2 floor area in Terrace 1, resulting in the slightly lower star rating. This is due to the smaller footprint, a north facing skylight in bedroom 2, and a condition on the planning permit to add more windows for light. At this point we realised if we couldn’t achieve as high a star rating as we wanted, we could improve our whole of house score instead. For this we needed high efficiency appliances, AC, hot-water and heat-recovery unit, we needed to maximise the solar panel capacity for the roof and consider battery storage. Quality European appliances with 10-year warranty were selected and the roof form was changed to a shape and orientation that maximised the potential for north facing solar panels.
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Terrace 2 was able to achieve a high star rating but lower on the Whole of house assessment. This was also due to a change requested by council. This time from a heritage standpoint council required a change to the upper-level roof form, from a simple pitched roof with a flat end, to a gabled end to reduce visibility form the street. This change in roof reduced the number of solar panels the roof could hold from around 9 kw of solar to 5 kw of solar. So, no changes to the windows in this house gave us 8 stars, but the roof change reduced the Whole of house score down to 102/150. These changes from planning reduced the performance of each house in different ways.
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Both house designs are impressive renovation projects by the team at SHM, designed to maximise energy-efficiency with design comforts. If you have a similar terrace or heritage home in need of a renovation, we'd love to discuss your project!