ICHIJO Homes win HIA GreenSmart Award with Energy-saving Home Design

Home builders ICHIJO homes have won the 2013 Housing Industry Association (HIA) GreenSmart Award for the Harmony 28, a home with a 8.2 Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS) rating.

ICHIJO's sales manager Nick Marino accepted the award. He said the company is delighted with the recognition of the home's energy saving capabilities which benefits homebuyers who choose an ICHIJO home.

"The Harmony 28 features four large bedrooms, luxurious ensuite, stunning open plan kitchen that overlooks the dining and living areas through to the alfresco making entertaining a breeze.

"The design, with its high ceilings and openness gives a feeling of spaciousness and luxury and there is a home theatre for quiet moments", Marino added.

The ICHIJO Harmony 28 home is modular, rigid, and super insulated. It features an insulation property of R6.3, which is nearly three times the insulation of a normal brick-veneer wall.

The walls are wrapped with a bracing board with 70% more structural timber, making it stronger. The ICHIJO i-Smart double glazed windows have an argon gas infill, cutting 99% of UV radiation coming into the home, and are fitted into a uPVC frame. These achieve a U1.9, or nearly four times the heat insulation properties of a brick veneer home.

The Harmony 28 homes also use Hydrotect tiles on external walls that are self-cleaning by using the power of UV rays to decompose whatever adheres on it, allowing the rain to wash it away. ICHIJO also uses H2F structural members for its frames and a Homeguard physical barrier to provide double protection against termites.

In addition to structural improvements, ICHIJO aims to maximise the use of solar power. The homes are fitted with a 1.5 kW solar PV panels, which when combined with a heat pump, will produce hot water for a day in four hours, using electricity generated by the PV.

Excess electricity produced by the PV can be used for other purposes, such as cooling the home. Surplus electricity will then be sold back to the grid.

ICHIJO homes also use a mechanical ventilation system to filter the incoming air and recover heat from stale air. This has won it a “Healthy Home” stamp approved by the National Asthma Council, the first in Australia.

Other energy-saving initiatives include the use of LED lighting saving 60% energy savings, and the installation of low water usage toilets and showers with a minimum of a three-star rating. A Clipsal cent-a-meter will also be installed, showing the amount of electricity being used at any time so residents can monitor usage.

The Harmony 28 Home will be on display at HomeWorld Gledswood Hills, and will be open for inspection for Sustainable House Day, held on September 8.