DEMO HOUSE - OPEN FOR VISITS

As part of the demonstration effort of the project, we have renovated a house in SS2, Petaling Jaya, Selangor to achieve a comfortable temperature the sustainable way. The demo house also utilises the sun to generate electricity and produce hot water.

Although this house does not have air-conditioning, it is quite cool indoor even on a hot sunny day. After renovation works, we have been consistently getting indoor temperatures around 28-30°C during the day.

What's more, we are making available publicly the renovation work, its cost and other measures taken to achieve this comfort.

Renovation efforts

The home gains heat mainly from the roof and secondly through the windows.

Therefore, the first step we have taken is to insulate the roof with rockwool and provide a "breathing space" between the insulation layer and the roof tiles. The attic space is also kept cool by ventilation.

Then we shaded the windows from direct sunlight with aluminum sunshades and lots of plants.

Plants are really good at providing shade. They look pretty, create oxygen, cool down the air and may attract a wandering squirrel. What more can you ask for?

Besides shading the windows, we also actively manage ventilation of the demo house. Let us first of all visually split the house into 2 sections - the first floor and the ground floor.

The first floor windows are opened in the evening and left open during the night to bring in the cool night air. Throughout the day, the windows are kept closed to avoid the hot afternoon air from entering the house. Heat from cooking is taken out by an exhaust fan.

Because no one resides in the ground floor during the night, for security reasons, the windows are opened only early in the morning and closed by late morning. But an exhaust fan at the back of the house is turned on from 9pm until 8am to draw cool air into the house through air vents in the front of the house.

A photovoltaic (PV) panel and solar hot water system is installed on the roof to utilise the power of the sun.

The PV panel generates electricity that is sold to the grid. At the end of the month, the electricity bill will show a net of electricity used and sold.

You are welcome to see our demonstration house.

For enquiries or appointment, call 03 - 7875 7767.

We welcome groups of 5 - 10 visitors for each visit, but require 2 weeks' notice in advance.

Project Manager: CETDEM

Project Funder: DANIDA

Partner Organisation: OVE