Sustainable Living And Design

Sustainable Design & Living With A MAAP House

Image of sustainable house seen through a footprint in the sand.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN & LIVING EXPLAINED:

How much energy do I use in my regular activities in heating or cooling my home and heating water to stay comfortable daily, weekly or even yearly? Where does that energy come from? What negative effect does my energy consumption have on the environment and on the earth’s limited natural resources? These questions are the

basis of sustainable design and sustainable living. The next step is to take action and ask; what can I do or change to reduce the impact of my activities and my comfort on the environment?

Sustainable design addresses the problem by creating spaces that require less energy to keep comfortable and by installing or utilising more sustainable energy sources such as solar, wind, gravity and tidal power among others. These decisions, made at the design stage of any building have a massive effect on energy consumption over the 10, 20 or 50 year life of a building. Sustainable design also addresses the materials used in a building, the energy used to produce each material and the chance to reuse or recycle them in order to minimise the need for raw materials in future.

Sustainable living addresses energy consumption on a daily basis based on the personal choices of building occupants. It also addresses the financial saving that comes with less energy consumption. Sustainable living is easier and simpler in a sustainably designed building because your comfort is part of the building itself. For example, if there is a natural breeze through the home in summer, then there is no need to turn on the air conditioner and use that energy to cool the space. Even though a home may be sustainably designed, sustainable living is still a choice such as opening a window instead of turning on the AC, or using an extra blanket instead of running a heater through the night. A sustainably designed home gives the occupants more options for comfort than just heating and cooling.

A Sustainable MAAP cabin nestled amongst the Australian bush and trees

MAAP HOUSE SUSTAINABLE STANDARDS:

The MAAP House system is developed on the basis of sustainable design, beginning with the materials that are selected as part of every build. Steel is well known as being one of the most sustainable materials because it is 100% recyclable, this is why our MAAP House structure is entirely made of steel from our piers to our wall and floor frames, we love steel! MAAP House walls

are cladded with magnesium board which is also recyclable and uses recycled building waste in making the sheeting for the panels. They are tough and durable as well as mildew and fire resistant, so all of our standard materials are sustainable.

All MAAP House roofs are Versiclad which spans incredible distances and has thicker insulation than a fridge, with 150mm thick polystyrene it achieves a summer R Value of 3.65 This is known as a cool-roof, it stops the summer sun from heating the house, and stops the warmth of the house from escaping out through the roof in the winter. All external MAAP wall panels are fully insulated to help keep the home cool in summer and warm in winter.

When a MAAP House is no longer needed or when it is needed elsewhere, it can literally be unbolted and removed to another site in the same configuration; or the materials can be recycled and reused in another project. After a MAAP House is removed from your property, there is no footprint left behind - no concrete, no bricks, not even the steel posts sticking out of the ground.

Because sustainability means so much to us; all of our houses include both a solar hot water system and solar power cells as standard inclusions for every job. The MAAP system is sustainable while meeting all requirements for a fixed home on-site with stringent building codes and requirements.

MAAP HOUSE SUSTAINABLE OPTIONS:

At MAAP House we know that building material choices and insulation are only the beginning of sustainable design and living, that’s why we encourage our clients to choose sustainable options and extras for their homes. For homes in cooler climates we recommend double glazing for all windows and glazed doors, for larger homes we recommend installing extra solar panels. We will also work with you to orient your home on your block to take full advantage of the lower winter sun in your windows while also providing shade from the higher sun during summer.

For those who want a full off-the-grid, leave-no-footprint-behind option, please talk to us about extra solar panels, composting toilets, rainwater catchment, large battery power storage and any other sustainable features you may wish to include in your home.

At MAAP House sustainability is in the very fibre of our buildings, because it’s about more than just kilojoules of energy or dollars and cents, it's about looking after our planet for future generations because this earth is the only one we’ve got!

Learn more about MAAP House sustainability...