Residential Environmental Ethos

Guy Herschell Architects,

• Are passionately supportive of the local skill base and locally available product and material. Where possible, I will seek to source locally available materials, specify local products and utilize local skills in an effort to reduce carbon travel distances and return value to the local economy.

• Recognize that timber preservatives used in buildings are inherently toxic and where possible will endeavour to specify less toxic timber treatment.

• Will seek to specify timbers from local sustainable sources.  I monitor the output of local saw-millers and prefer to specify locally grown and sourced Eucalypts and Cypresses in preference to imported hardwoods.

• Understand the importance of insulation for energy efficiency and comfort. The first item of a client’s brief is usually ‘a warm house’. I will seek to specify insulation in excess of building code minimums and prefer to specify natural wool insulation to timber wall cavities.

• Understand that site specific building orientation and façade treatment can impart significant reductions in energy consumption and improvements in internal environment.

• Can integrate a range of environmentally friendly ways to heat your new home and hot water which are appropriate to the design, climate and household considerations.  I have embraced a number of new technologies including geothermal heating and cooling where heat is extracted from the surrounding ground and will continue to explore a range of interesting technological developments.