Building for Queensland’s Climate

There are many things that affect the comfort levels of a home in Queensland, that may not apply in other States of Australia, or in other parts of the World. Whilst Queensland Climate is moderate by tropical standards, by Northern European standards it can be oppressive at times. Even people from Mediterranean climates and that includes Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne might find Queensland’s climate hard to coup with from December to February, unless they design their homes for the differences and their comfort in mind.

The solar aspect of your home and why its important

When building a home, its important to consider many things, but the most neglected topic I have seen is Queensland’s temperature and climatic differences some of these differences are touched on below.

Solar aspect of homes.

Whether or not you believe in the theory of climate change, most people would agree that it is prudent to accept that climates around the the World are changing, with violent swings between hot and cold, drought an flood.

So what has this got to do with building a home in Queensland?

In case you are wondering what the heck has got to do with building my new home, I would suggest plenty. the comfort levels within your home are largely impacted in how well the home is designed, ventilated, located and positioned and orientated towards or aspect to the Sun.

Yes you can mitigate these issues with heating and cooling and insulation, but the more energy you use to heat and cool your home the worse climate change is said to get.

Queensland Climate differences

One thing I have noticed moving from the Southern States of Australia. to Queensland is the differences of two key elements of climate, humidity and night to day temperature different.

Queensland’s higher humidity

In Queensland the air contains more moisture than say in Adelaide. So a day that registers 32 degrees centigrade here in Brisbane, can seem more unbearable than a day in Adelaide when the temperature hits 40 degrees. The reason is that moisture in the air prevents you from cooling down because your perspiration does not evaporate from your body as freely, whereas a fine hot dry day in Adelaide will feel very hot, but bearable.

The solution is designing the homes with the ability to draw air through the home, have higher ceilings, and use ceiling fans as a low cost, low carbon footprint methods of achieving a comfortable home.

Slight temperature differences between night and day.

In Brisbane, if you check the whether reports you might be amazed that there are many times tiny differences between the maximum day time temperature and that day’s night time minimum temperature. Sometimes it can be as little as 2 degrees Celsius.

So the issues of Insulation need to be questioned for Queensland homes, and the use of light weight construction materials.

This makes it essential to think about maximising the airflow through bedrooms, something that people in the Southern States of Australia might think silly.

Summary of Building for Queensland’s Climate.

Climate affects the comfort levels with in a home.
Homes designed and constructed for a particular climate will maximise the comfort levels and in their homes, without the need for high energy consumption.
Good airflow through your home is essential in Queensland’s climate. to help cool the home and the occupants.

Building for Queensland’s Climate