What Is Comfort?
I recently mentioned comfort a fair bit in my Passive House Series. What I probably failed to address is, what does comfort actually mean?
To me, comfort in a home can be broken down into four categories. All of these are just as important as the other and excluding one could have a major impact on the way you live. It's also something that I feel needs to be spoken about in the early stages of design with your Architect and Building Designer.
Quietness - No one enjoys hearing cars drive past in the early hours of a Sunday morning, nor do we want to hear our neighbours partying next door when we’re trying to have a quiet night in. When compared to a conventional home, you will find that a Passive House is roughly 10 decibels quieter - and that's before making material selections that could further reduce the sound coming in from the outside. A quieter home has been shown to improve a child's ability to learn and study but also reduce heart disease and blood pressure in adults [1].
Air Quality – The air outside can be highly polluted at times. There may be a bush fire, dust storm or in Melbourne’s Inner West there are a lot of refineries. We also know that mould is prevalent in many homes and with the continued use of aluminium sarking and poor airtightness, this issue is only going to get worse. Mould, dust and pollen are some of the most common allergy triggers of asthma [2] and as a result, we need to start building homes that take into account these factors so that you take comfort in knowing that the air you're breathing in your home is filtered and clean.
Security – We often consider security as dead bolting every window and door or having an alarm system and CCTV - but this is not the only form of security. We also want to make sure we are secure from rises and falls in our indoor air temperature. We want our home to act as a giant battery - airtight and very well insulated, resulting in peace of mind that when those power outages occur we can still be comfortable in our homes for a very extended period of time!
Luxury – Yes, we all want that amazing front facade, that kitchen and living room that makes your friends envious when they come over for dinner but is this real luxury? We always talk about quality and nearly every person in the building industry flaunts the word "quality" despite there being so many poor building materials and "experts" out there. Quality should be subtle and almost unrecognisable. Although your finished results are important, the quality of the work should also take into consideration what is done behind the scenes. It's showing you what’s in your wall frame and how it’s framed out to prevent condensation and mould. It's showing you the external membrane and the detail in the sealing of your windows. It's showing you how good your trades are, taking the time to seal up external penetrations - ensuring what is important takes preference over the easy options. It's showing you how good your home will be in 5 years time, compared to when you first move into it.
Comfort is something that is hard to show. It's not flashy and you can't really show it off to your friends and family at the end of your build. It's discrete but so important. Make sure you put comfort at the top of that list because once your home is finished, it’s not something can be easily changed. Don't be one of those people who have house regret syndrome, wishing that they looked at the long-term benefits over the short-term ones.
[1] - The Adverse Effects of Environmental Noise Exposure on Oxidative Stress and Cardiovascular Risk