Starproperty.

my
Sunday 15 June 2014

F E AT U R E D D E V E L O P M E N T S

By KELLY CHENG CHIALI

kellycheng@starmedia.my

rmed with no formal training, former management

consultant Stephen Ho, took
it upon himself to transform
a two-storey bungalow built
in the 1960s into a green home.
He consulted experts and pored
over numerous sustainable architecture books to come out with the
innovative design for his house.
The Ho residence possesses visual
aesthetic that maintains its balance
of form and function while incorporating the use of modern green
technology.

The foundation
The most important construction
element in a house design is the
foundation. Unbeknownst to visitors of the house, innovation is
right below their feet. Ho
revealed, Underneath this foundation are three layers of car tires to
absorb heat. This is a new technology that is rarely tested. I bought the
license for this technology to test it
out. What it means is that this place
actually maintains a comfortable
indoor temperature without the
need for active energy. The target
for the whole house is 26 degrees
celsius which is sufficiently comfortable to live in.

Solar shading
Using advanced computer software, modelling the facade design,
orientation and solar impact on the
house in a virtual manner was
made possible.
The ideal direction for houses is
a north-south orientation. My house
is totally not ideal. This is a nightmare for any designers who want to
make his a green house. This
house faces the west, which means
it receives very strong evening sun.
If the wall facing the sunset is a
solid wall, the wall will start to heat
up at about 4pm, explained Ho.
Thankfully, the locally manfactured ventilation blocks that were
part of the original structure of the
house proved to be an effective
solution.
I chose to keep the wind blocks
to break off direct sunlight and yet

23

Sustainable
architecture
the D.I.Y. way

Painstakingly designed right to the last

green detail, the Ho Residence is
an environmentally sustainable abode
right in the heart of Petaling Jaya.
let the wind go through. So, these
are breathable walls which are
inspired by traditional Chinese lattice screens he said.
This classic feature of 1960s
architecture hints at Hos flair in
infusing pragmatism with the aesthetic details of the house.

The roof
With such a wide area being
exposed to the sun and heat
throughout the day, it was critical
that the roof design to effectively
overcome the issue of solar gain.
The roof can cut off 60% to 70%
of the heat out if you design it properly. If you put your hand on the
layer underneath the roof, it is very
hot outside but you can barely feel
it. Once you cut off the heat coming
in, you will feel like you are sitting
under the shade of a tree. It just
feels warm but theres no heat penetration said Ho.
Ho also incorporated a layer of
100mm-thick rock wool and insulation foil to counter the effects of a
hot roof.
Rock wool is like a fiber that
prevents heat from coming in. Heat

inside will be dissipated by the

wind. So when you stop the sun
coming from the top, you already
have a cool space explained Ho.

Thermal chimney
Part of the homes natural cooling
system also relies on an air well
with a skylight. At the hottest time
of the day, the air well acts as a
thermal chimney, getting rid of the
heated air.
At the top is a polycarbonate
roof and on a hot day its very hot.
Up there, there are some gaps along
the side. When the hot air rises,
theres a void so it draws in cooler
air from the side. So, you create a
natural flow of air in the house
without using any electricity. My
house is on a hill so theres a lot of
cross-wind. Hot air goes up and just
gets blown away by the wind, said
Ho.

Solar Power
16 solar panels capable of generating up to 3.76kWp of electricity
were installed on the roof as well,
enabling Ho and his family to bene-

fit from Tenaga Nasional Berhads

feed-in tariff. Ho commented, Im
actually lending TNB my roof to
generate power for them. The energy that I produce does not go back
to me, it goes back to the national
grid because the energy from the
sun is not stable and it is expensive
to store electricity.
Since the PhotoVoltaic (PV) system was commissioned in 2012, it
has generated a surplus of energy
for the Ho residence equivalent to
about RM522 per month on average. Basically I built this to prove
the concept that you can actually
maintain and run a house at zero
cost. Its not that theres no money
involved, its just that if you can
generate money using the house,
you can use the money to pay back
all the other utilities bills and still
have money left, Ho explained.
The Ho residence is truly the
ideal showcase house for green
technology because although it has
the least ideal situation, using clever
innovation, building an environmentally sustainable home was
proven possible.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx